The researcher’s risk at fieldwork in violent contexts

Abstract

This article presents a reflection on the ethnographic exercise and the deep interview tool, in conflict contexts focused on research subjects socially labeled as “dangerous”. It shows the characteristics of the deep interview as a method and its production in the framework of investigations that have subjects that are difficult to approach as informants. The depth of the interviews are formulated as axes for reflection, on the one hand, and on the other, the need for protocols that offer minimum guarantees for researchers when treat certain issues and informants, in specific contexts in Mexico. This article seeks, through the voices of the authors, to expose a series of methodological missteps when conducting interviews with hitmen and drug traffickers, out or inside prison, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The relevance of topics related to organized crime is increasing, however, the real possibilities, free of risk during fieldwork are less and less, which keeps the discussion open on the methodological rigor in sociological and anthropological topics.