Street people addendum

So, I wrote the other day about an out-of-the-blue e-mail I got about where to find homeless people and prostitutes to interview.

The whole e-mail exchange was pretty bizarre in and of itself, and I guess I was struck more by the person's naivety about researching the subject, more than giving an educated response.

That said, my pal Rebecca, who does good work in the social services field, had some excellent advice for the person seeking to interview the homeless, etc:

I just spent a few moments catching up on your blog. I read the entry about the crazy people and wanted to give you some advice to pass on to the person looking to interview homeless people or prostitutes, which is this:

That type of field work is dangerous. Wilmington is plagued by many of the same conditions that plague Baltimore; one of these problems is heroin addiction and trade. The areas in which one is likely to find homeless or prostitutes on the street, one is also likely to find violence. Add to that the fact that homeless people are often suffering from some type of mental illness makes it even more risky to approach them without preparation.

This person should absolutely not go wandering around Route 13.

This person's best bet is to try to find subjects for his/her research project through a case manager at some type of shelter, transitional housing program or recovery program for sex workers. He or she should be able to find such programs in the phone book, through churches, or by contacting the City of Wilmington.

He or she should also be prepared to follow informed consent procedures that are appropriate both culturally and in terms of literacy level, and should be prepared to offer subjects some sort of incentive (e.g., grocery store gift card) for their time. In short, he or she should be prepared to treat these people with respect and dignity.

I do this type of research often in Baltimore and know how difficult it can be to do it both safely and without hurting those you're trying to help. I'd hate to hear about someone -- the researcher or the subject -- getting hurt because someone didn't know what they were doing.