Black and Minoritised Ethnic Prisoners' Percepions of Sport and Physical Activity

Methods

Summary

The study will entail reproducing the following research techniques across 4 prisons in England:

1-1 interview with senior governor(s).

A Group interview with physical education instructors.

2 or 3 focus  groups of Black and minoritised ethnic prisoners.

Challenges

In prisons there are always issues of security and a need for risk assessments. These issues will be considered broadly through the prisons' ethics approval process and also through my own institutional ethics procedures. 

There are always power relations concerning officers and prisoners which might impact the willingness of prisoners to share their honest views of their experiences. Working within the first set of issues concerning security and risk, prisoners' focus groups will be facilitated and attended only by external personnel, wherever possible.

Issues of anonymity and confidential are amplified in a prison context. Adherence to the prisons' and my own university ethical processes, and the consent of the prisoners will guide this element of the study.

Pre Analysis Plan

All of the data will be qualitative though there may be some institutional documentation (reports, policies) that will supplement the context of each prison.

All interviews and focus groups will be recorded and transcribed verbatim.

In this type of social study there is no hypothesis. An interpretivist approach will be used that will treat the realities of the prisoners and officers as socially constructed, that is as a 'lived reality'. Therefore, key themes and categories will emerge organically as they are critically read and/or triangulated with other respondents in the interview sample.

Variances of viewpoints are expected and will be explained using a critical race studies theoretical standpoint.