Taking Refuge in the Branches of a Guava Tree

Abstract

Issues of anonymity of place, participants, and visual images are well documented in social science research (Wiles et al., 2008). However, in this article, I move beyond issues of the immediate concerns of anonymity to a wider application that encompasses the position of research participants, the researcher, and that of individuals who are unaware that they are a focus of research. The research study focused on the experiences of mothers and daughters residing in a marginalized housing area in urbanized South Wales, United Kingdom. The article draws specifically on data that present the darker side of family life and explores the affective landscapes of trust, confidentiality, silence, and the unintended consequences that encroach upon, and beyond, research relationships in indigenous qualitative inquiry.