3.2. Qualitative research tools
3.2.1. Researching women’s experience
3.2.1.1. Feminist methodology
Feminist methodologies underpin the qualitative research of this study. Allen and Walker (1992:201) assert that:
Feminist methodology takes women’s concerns seriously and aims at understanding and undertaking research which is beneficial for women not just about women.
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Women in general and female prisoners and ex-prisoners in particular, fall into the category of vulnerable people, and as Milner and Moore (1999:103) contend, their ability to make personal decisions is significantly reduced. According to Kerry Daly (1996:3-4) qualitative methods are appropriate to the study of such vulnerable people. The vulnerability of women prisoners and ex-prisoners is due to the silencing of their voices by patriarchal systems, and because they are not accepted by society. Rebecca Campbell and Sharon Waseo (2000:783) argue that “the ultimate aim of feminist research is to capture women’s lived experiences in a respectful manner that legitimates women’s voices as sources of knowledge.”
Feminist methodology takes the stance that the process of research is as important as its outcome. This study has employed a feminist methodology since it challenges the passivity, subordination and silencing of women and encourages them to tell their stories (Maynard 1994:230), by providing the respondents with the space to express their experiences without fear and judgement, and by trying to find ways to empower them.
Maggie O’Neill (1996:131) points out her commitment “to women’s voices being heard and listened to” and to “action oriented” research, with the outcome of such research being
“knowledge for feminist praxis facilitating empowerment, resistance and social change.”
Therefore, a central aim in using such a feminist methodology was to construct a knowledge base which would be to the benefit of women and other minority groups (cf. de Vault 1999:31). Utilising such a process often creates a strong sense of solidarity between the feminist researcher and the participants in her research. Renzetti (1997:134), again confirms that “feminist methodology commits to giving voice to the personal, everyday experiences of individuals particularly those who are marginalised in society,” as well as to “improv[ing] the life conditions of the marginalised, and it transforms social scientific inquiry from an academic exercise into an instrument of meaningful social change.” The present study is very much action-based in its desired outcomes.
Sharlene Hesse-Biber and Denise Leckenby (2004:210) argue that the feminist approach to methodology opens up the opportunity for new types of questions about women’s lives, and those of other marginalised groups, to be addressed. These new kinds of questions mean that the research encourages the building of new knowledge, frequently leading to the development of innovative methods. This is seen in the present study
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in both the methodology employed, which contributes to direct pioneering engagement with female prisoners and ex-prisoners in the Zimbabwean setting, as well as in the study’s presentation of a new proposed approach towards and programme of rehabilitation. Hesse-Biber (2004:3) advocates for the employment within feminist research of various strategies aimed at constructing knowledge about women and their social worlds, as these are often sidelined within the dominant male society. Hence, Campbell and Waseo (2000:787) contend that:
Feminist research is to identify the ways in which multiple forms of oppression impact women’s lives and [to] empower women to tell their stories by providing a respectful and egalitarian research environment. They further state that a unique feature of feminist research is a more caring research environment that is non-hierarchal.
Claire Renzetti (1997:134) exhorts researchers to begin from their own experience, freely sharing information about themselves and their views with those they are studying, while emphasising adherence to a feminist ethic of care by advising or assisting when requested to do so. Such self-disclosure, leading to reciprocity, rapport and trust between the researchers and the researched increases the success of the process of research, which in this study was achieved through the researcher’s openness with the participants about her personal experiences as an African woman. In fact, some of the participants in this study had been in the Chikurubi Female Prison while the researcher was working there as a chaplain. This further solidified t h e i r mutual trust and interest in the project.
Uwe Flick (2007:7) emphasises that ethnographic research can be undertaken from an alternative feminist approach. Feminists generally distance themselves from the traditional separation of a researcher and her or his ‘subjects,’ since such a distinction between the two parties has been a tool of oppression, serving mainly the interest of those in power, which has usually excluded women. Concerning the elements of a research project Flick (2007:7) states that:
[T]he traditional idea of the detached researcher in control of all the elements of a research project was an authority figure par excellence, and his power was only enhanced by the enforcement of norms of objectivity and neutrality in the conduct of research.
Through closely identifying with the community they are studying, feminists turn this relationship into more of a partnership. With the overarching aim of explicitly promoting
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the interests of women, they reject value neutrality as a scientific ideal. As a consequence, ethnographic research becomes imbued with empathy, subjectivity, and dialogue, so as to fully explore the experiences of women. Again, Flick (2007:8) argues that:
The traditional ‘interview’ (which implicitly casts the researcher in role of power) is also rejected in favour of a more egalitarian dialogue, often embodied in the form of the life history in which a person is encouraged to tell her own story in her own way and on her own terms, with the minimal prompting by the researcher.
This kind of life-history approach to ethnography contributes by giving a voice to people historically marginalised, while also ensuring that a holistic picture is captured by the researcher, rather than separating this picture into analytical component parts, as commonly takes place with other interviewing techniques (Flick 2007:8). Such a methodology can be characterised as a narrative approach. The present study employed the narrative or story telling approach in order to allow the participants space to express themselves fully and openly.