"Do Thyself No Harm": Protecting Ourselves as Autoethnographers

Autor/in	Chatham-Carpenter, April
Titel	"Do Thyself No Harm": Protecting Ourselves as Autoethnographers
Quelle	In: Journal of Research Practice, 6 (2010) 1, (13 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1712-851X
Schlagwörter	Researchers; Ethnography; Autobiographies; Eating Disorders; Ethics; Writing Processes; Writing for Publication; Defense Mechanisms; Peer Evaluation; Authors; Writing (Composition); Self Disclosure (Individuals); Emotional Response; Reflection; Risk; Mothers; Parent Child Relationship + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Researcher; Forscher; Ethnografie; Autobiography; Autobiografie; Autobiographie; Appetite disorder; Essstörung; Ethik; Abwehrverhalten; Author; Autor; Autorin; Schreibübung; Emotionales Verhalten; Risiko; Mother; Mutter; Parents-child relationship; Parent-child-relation; Parent-child relationship; Eltern-Kind-Beziehung
Abstract	Autoethnographers have grappled with how to represent others in the stories they tell. However, very few have written about the need to protect themselves in the process of doing autoethnographic writing. In this paper, I explore the ethical challenges faced when writing about a potentially-ongoing disorder, such as anorexia, when the research process triggers previously disengaged unhealthy thinking or behaviors for those involved. In the story-writing process, I felt a strong pull to go back into anorexia, as I immersed myself in my research on this topic. The compulsion to publish became intertwined with the compulsion of my anorexia, illustrated by the need to control both and present a certain "face" as a researcher. Using a meta-autoethnographic format, I walk the reader through the choices I made in an attempt to protect myself as a researcher in the process of publishing an autoethnography about anorexia. I also explain the lessons I learned, which can be applied to persons doing autoethnographies on topics that may affect their own personal well-being. This paper reveals the importance of writing through our pain in an ethical fashion and that the ethics of doing autoethnography is not just about protecting those implicated in our stories, but also ourselves. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Athabasca University Press. 1200, 10011-109 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 3S8, Canada. Tel: 780-497-3412; Fax: 780-421-3298; e-mail: aupress@athabascau.ca; Web site: http://www.aupress.ca
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10