The dangers of doing fieldwork have received little consideration within the criminological literature. This article examines the author's experiences over the last five years studying policing and security in Colombia. It reflects upon a number of issues relating to the personal safety of the researcher and to the ongoing viability of doing field-based research in such an environment. The project `survival' skills of adaptability and methodological pluralism are contextualized and argued. The importance of local supports and acknowledging personal limits is also stressed. The need for criminology to look to anthropology and other field-oriented disciplines is suggested if criminology's quest for relevance in a globalizing world is to be successful.
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