Errors, Reflexivity, and Methodological Lessons: The Importance of Adopting a Gender Perspective in Research on Women Who Use Drugs

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to take as an object of reflection an interview with a woman in treatment for her problematic drug use, re-reading her experiences from a gender perspective, which in turn allows us to exercise methodological reflexivity to show errors and draw lessons. We analyzed a semi-structured interview with a woman from popular sectors, a former drug user in treatment, in a research on therapeutic devices in the Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. We pose a series of questions that were not asked during the interview, valuable to deepen the understanding of her experience. We identified as methodological flaws the elaboration of an interview guide without a gender perspective, its use with insufficient flexibility, and a lack of sensitivity in listening to emerging issues in her story. We draw three lessons for the design and implementation of qualitative research with a gender perspective: to develop tools that take into account the particularities of the trajectories of women in vulnerable situations; to use the interview guide flexibly; and to reflect on the gendered nature of the interview interaction.