Recent NPSIA PhD graduate, Rachel Schmidt, has published an article in the journal, Terrorism and Political Violence Volume 33, 2021 – Issue 2: Ethics and Terrorism, titled “When Fieldwork Ends: Navigating Ongoing Contact with Former Insurgents.”
Dr. Schmidt asks, “Once fieldwork is over, what challenges do researchers face, what are researchers’ obligations to participants, and what types of regulations guide this behavior—especially when participants are former violent actors? What are the power dynamics between researchers and participants, how does gender affect these dynamics, and how do these relationships guide future interactions? For example, how do researchers deal with post-fieldwork requests for money or assistance? And how do scholars decide what to publish, and when, if they have received threats, or if threats to their participants change?” (Schmidt, 2021)