Description
Researchers of sensitive topics such as gendered aspects of peace and conflict need to address complex ethical issues – including psychological dimensions of their research – often with few resources or little awareness of the need for emotional safety and support (Howe 2022). This paper draws on my own experiences as qualitative field researcher, in particular from my current research project on the transgenerational travelling of war experiences. It asks: How can we increase the emotional safety of research participants and of researchers in projects with sensitive research topics? I argue that there is a need for a deeper understanding and awareness of trauma and for training in and the application of trauma-sensitive mindfulness skills in the area of peace and conflict studies. Research institutions have a responsibility not only to address emotional safety of research participants, but also of their researchers. Some academic institutions require the review of emotional safety through Research Ethics Committees (McKenzie et al. (2016), but this is usually research participant focussed and does not address the issue of what additional support is required for researchers to ensure their own well-being while working on trauma related topics (Williamson 2020). This paper proposes a trauma sensitive research framework including ‘trauma-informed methodologies’ and makes a contribution to the wider discussion of research ethics of fieldwork in the particular area of gender, peace and conflict.
