Ana Barbeiro e Carla Machado Qualitative research and psycho

Ana Barbeiro e Carla Machado
Qualitative research and psycho-cultural approaches to deviant behavio
Ousar integrar - revista de reinserção social e prova | n.º 8, 2011: 93-106.
Abstract
In this paper, the authors discuss the relevance of some historical, theoretical and
methodological features of qualitative research to a psycho-cultural approach to
deviance. Specifically, three methods are presented: ethnography, life stories and
grounded theory. Some common features of these methods are: their potentialities of
articulation with other methods, their plasticity and their procedures grounded in
research contexts, experiences and meanings lived by participants. The role of the
researcher, as well as the constructed and dialogical characteristics of both process
and products of research, are also emphasised in these approaches. In this way,
qualitative methods seem particularly adequate to a psycho-cultural approach to
deviance, allowing the research of “hidden” phenomena and a comprehension of
deviance that takes into account its cultural norms. Thus, qualitative research is as a
methodological device which allows an alternative to traditional psychology’s
ethnocentrism.
Keywords - cultural psychology, deviant behavior, qualitative research, ethnography,
life stories, grounded theory