Juggling Ethics in El Barrio
Juggling Ethics in El Barrio
Anthropologists, being scientists whom deal with humans and their society, commonly find themselves at ethical crossroads. However, the ethical responsibilities and challenges that anthropologists face are multi-dimensional in the sense that they include all aspects of society. Anthropologists must take into account the ethical responsibilities he or she has for himself/herself, the people he/she is working with, the general public, and, in certain cases, for his or her own family; examples of which we will see in our dive into Bourgois ' In Search of Respect. The location and subject that Bourgois studied was undoubtedly the reason that he faced ethical issues which most ethnographers may not typically see to such a degree. Bourgois ' obvious disgust in exposure to rape and self-masochism within the El Barrio society created confusion and betrayal within himself.
Regarding adolescent gang rape, Bourgois cries, "Caesar 's voyeuristic bonding and sexual celebration of Primo 's brutal account made me even more disgusted with my friends ' I felt betrayed by Primo" (Bourgois 2003:205). This statement is one of many throughout the book that portrays the author 's disappointment and ethical struggle while spending time in El Barrio. An interesting part of Bourgois ' statement that further magnifies his internal ethical struggle is how he referred to Primo and Caesar as quote-unquote "friends" implying that, at least at this point, Bourgois didn 't consider them real friends because of their cruel actions in rape. Furthermore, it seems that Bourgois only questions his relationship with Primo when the subject of rape is involved. Throughout the book it became evident that Bourgois cared for Primo and actually did consider Primo as a dear friend: "As a friend of Primo 's, I was worried about his escalating alcohol and narcotics consumption and wanted him to confront his problems." (Bourgois 2003:125). Philippe 's dichotomy regarding his
Anthropologists, being scientists whom deal with humans and their society, commonly find themselves at ethical crossroads. However, the ethical responsibilities and challenges that anthropologists face are multi-dimensional in the sense that they include all aspects of society. Anthropologists must take into account the ethical responsibilities he or she has for himself/herself, the people he/she is working with, the general public, and, in certain cases, for his or her own family; examples of which we will see in our dive into Bourgois ' In Search of Respect. The location and subject that Bourgois studied was undoubtedly the reason that he faced ethical issues which most ethnographers may not typically see to such a degree. Bourgois ' obvious disgust in exposure to rape and self-masochism within the El Barrio society created confusion and betrayal within himself.
Regarding adolescent gang rape, Bourgois cries, "Caesar 's voyeuristic bonding and sexual celebration of Primo 's brutal account made me even more disgusted with my friends ' I felt betrayed by Primo" (Bourgois 2003:205). This statement is one of many throughout the book that portrays the author 's disappointment and ethical struggle while spending time in El Barrio. An interesting part of Bourgois ' statement that further magnifies his internal ethical struggle is how he referred to Primo and Caesar as quote-unquote "friends" implying that, at least at this point, Bourgois didn 't consider them real friends because of their cruel actions in rape. Furthermore, it seems that Bourgois only questions his relationship with Primo when the subject of rape is involved. Throughout the book it became evident that Bourgois cared for Primo and actually did consider Primo as a dear friend: "As a friend of Primo 's, I was worried about his escalating alcohol and narcotics consumption and wanted him to confront his problems." (Bourgois 2003:125). Philippe 's dichotomy regarding his
Cited: Bourgois, Phillipe 2003 In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press Kottak, Conrad Phillip 2006 Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity New York: McGraw-Hill Peters Golden, Holly 2007, Lecture, September 6 Ann Arbor, Michigan 1998 Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association. Electronic document, http://www.aaanet.org/committees/ethics/ethcode.htm, accessed October 18, 2007