Relationships between Gatekeepers and Researchers: The Experience of Conducting Evaluations into Parenting Programmes in Community and Penal Settings

This chapter discusses the often problematic process of gaining and sustaining access to individuals or groups via institutions when conducting criminological research. The chapter will consider issues of power, ethics and hierarchy in conducting research with so-called vulnerable populations, namely those incarcerated and those subject to criminal justice sanctions in the community. The chapter discusses the pluralistic nature of the gatekeeper-researcher relationship and asks whether gatekeepers are the most appropriate people to decide whether others should take part in research, highlighting the very real tensions between the powerless and the powerful.