Emotionally Involved: The Impact of Researching Rape [Hardcover]

Rebecca Campbell (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415925916 | ISBN-13: 978-0415925914 | Publication Date: December 7, 2001 | Edition: 1

Tackling difficult issues, Emotionally Involved gives a vivid picture the challenges researchers who studey traumatic events face. It is essential reading for researchers, therapists, fieldworkers, for those on the frontlines of rape crisis and domestic violence work, and for anyone concerned with the role of emotions in social science.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Emotionally involved is an important exploration of researching-the-researcher...Campbell argues convincingly that researching researcher's emotions...can more accurately reflect the nature of the rsearch process. -- Lora Bex Lempert, Contemporary Sociology
Breaks the silence among those who study victims about how emotionally difficult researching rape is..challenges the belief that emotions have no place in science. -- The Chicago Tribune
This is a powerful and painful book. It is powerful because it helps shape a new discourse about compassionate research. This book is about how to do a kind of research that makes you cry, research that makes you feel deeply about violence and rape and their effects on women's lives. -- Norman K. Denzin, co-editor of Handbook of Qualitative Research
Campbell shows how emotions are a fundamental feature of social research, making this book an important contribution to the research methods literature.. I strongly recommend this book to counselors, therapists, social workers, rape crisis workers, victim advocates, psychologists, sociologists and anyone else who works with crime victims or studies people who have experienced trauma, violence, or injustice in their lives. -- Patricia Yancey Martin, co-author of Feminist Organizations: Harvest of the New Women's Movement
Emotionally Involved is a groundbreaking study of the way emotions affect both researchers and research outcomes. Beautifully written, this compelling book is an invaluable resource not only to those who study gender violence, but also those concerned about research methods in all fields. -- Stephanie Riger, co-author of The Female Fear: The Social Cost of Rape
Emotionally Involved is a powerful critique of victimization studies that are coldly objective and a compelling argument for feminist research methodologies that incorporate multiple perspectives. The book acts as a forewarning of both the risks and benefits of getting involved in working with sexual assault victims. -- Mary P. Koss, co-author of No Safe Haven: Male Violence Against women at Home, at Work, and in the Community
Steeped in the traditions of rational positivism and social science, Campbell challenges the scientific paradigm that elevates cognitions. Arguing that emotions can inform and enhance research, she interviews a team of researchers who collected data for a study of rape and investigates the ways in which the women's stories of rape elicited powerful feelings from the researchers. . Qualitative and field researchers will appreciate the arguments and the creative methods for thoughtful use of affect to enrich research findings. Offering guidelines for conducting research that is emotionally passionate, this is essential reading for students, researchers scholars, clinicians and advocates of philosophy of science. -- S. M. Valente, University of Southern California, CHOICE, June 2002

About the Author

Rebecca Campbell is Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is Director of the Sexual Assault and Rape Prevention Evaluation Project at the Michigan Public Health Institute. She has also been a Rape Crisis Counselor and advocate for over ten years.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (December 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415925916
• ISBN-13: 978-0415925914
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,534,846 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A much needed look at the emotionality of research, February 24, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Emotionally Involved: The Impact of Researching Rape (Paperback)

There are many taboo subjects in the world of academic research, and emotional involvement with subjects is certainly one of them. Here Dr. Campbell refutes the idea that there is such a thing as value-free, non-biased research when exploring the experiences of survivors of sexual violence. Using examples from her own research, she explores how the researcher's thoughts and feelings shape the research process itself, and demonstrates that emotional involvement can enhance the quality of research with survivors of sexual violence.

As a doctoral student involved in research on violence against women, I found that the book helped me with some of the difficulties I encountered trying (and failing) to remain objective as I interviewed women about their experiences with violence at home and in the workplace.

I recommend the book for researchers everywhere engaged in the delicate process of understanding how members of both sexes cope with psychological difficulties.