The ethics of drug use research and ‘wild self-care’: a dialogue between a postgraduate student and their supervisor

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article outlines the experiences of a postgraduate student conducting research on drug use and ‘wild self-care’ in the format of a dialogue with their supervisor. There is a wealth of literature on the ethics of drug use research, the unique issues postgraduate students contend with during their tenure, researcher emotions in the field, and how self-care can be included in the research process, but there is surprisingly little literature discussing the intersection of these issues. Furthermore, it is established good practice for qualitative researchers to engage in reflexive thinking and writing as part of their data analysis process, yet this does not appear to be commonly applied in qualitative drug research. The structure of a dialogue between the postgraduate (Simon Clay) and their supervisor (Gareth Treharne) is used to critically analyse issues of participant and researcher vulnerability when conducting field work, intoxication, and the potential benefits of researchers being more reflexive and open about their personal relationship to substance use. The role of ‘wildness’ and ‘wild self-care’ are used to explore the study of drug use and the research process in general through a series of questions for researchers to consider in practice.