Investigar en cárceles. Apuntes para futuros científicos sociales

This article is the result of a reflection on the possibilities and difficulties of empirical social observation in prison, from the perspective of sociological methodology teaching applied to university degrees in criminology. What is here exposed is based on the practical experience accumulated by the authors via multiple studies carried out in Spain and in different Ibero-American countries. A first draft of this text was created with the purpose of being used as practical research notes for students of criminology who began their training and had no professional experience in this field of study. This version has been adapted, so that it may be used generally by researchers and students of social sciences who need a basic guide to the design and execution of social research projects in prisons. The paper assumes a didactic orientation; it is a proposal that offers guidelines to improve the teaching and application of the research methodology in the penitentiary systems. Este documento es el resultado de una reflexión sobre las posibilidades y dificultades de la observación social empírica en la cárcel, desde la preocupación por la enseñanza de la metodología sociológica aplicada a las titulaciones universitarias de criminología. Lo aquí expuesto se apoya en la experiencia práctica que los autores han acumulado a través de múltiples estudios realizados en España y en distintos países de Iberoamérica. Una primera versión del texto fue creada para ser utilizada como apuntes prácticos de investigación para estudiantes de criminología que comenzaban su formación y no tenían por tanto experiencia profesional en este campo de estudio. A esa versión se le han introducido las adaptaciones oportunas para que pueda ser utilizado de manera más general por investigadores y estudiantes de ciencias sociales que necesiten una guía básica de diseño y ejecución de proyectos de investigación social en cárceles. El texto tiene una orientación didáctica, es una propuesta que ofrece claves para mejorar la enseñanza y aplicación de la metodología de investigación en los sistemas penitenciarios.This article is the result of a reflection on the possibilities and difficulties of empirical social observation in prison, from the perspective of sociological methodology teaching applied to university degrees in criminology. What is here exposed is based on the practical experience accumulated by the authors via multiple studies carried out in Spain and in different Ibero-American countries. A first draft of this text was created with the purpose of being used as practical research notes for students of criminology who began their training and had no professional experience in this field of study. This version has been adapted, so that it may be used generally by researchers and students of social sciences who need a basic guide to the design and execution of social research projects in prisons. The paper assumes a didactic orientation; it is a proposal that offers guidelines to improve the teaching and application of the research methodology in the penitentiary systems