The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession along the Rio Grande

Angela Garcia’s study of New Mexico’s Española Valley is an ethnographic study of individuals living with addiction and social inequality. The term “ethnography” has Greek origins: éthnos refers to people and nations, while gráphō translates as “I write.” Ethnography is a form of qualitative study that requires the researcher to make determinations about the experiences of individuals and societies through observation and interviews. Frequently used in anthropology, ethnography often involves the researcher participating in their subjects’ culture and setting. This form of immersion positions the researcher within the daily lives and practices of a culture.

Ethnographers examine how different elements of a setting and culture fit together. The researcher’s goal is never to generalize about a culture or to develop a comprehensive analysis. Instead, ethnography examines how individual pieces within a culture and a person’s life fit together, and it offers insight into how those elements interact with one another. Researchers use various data collection methods, including observation notes, surveys, and interviews. The goal of these methods is to gather information while minimizing the researcher’s individual perspective and bias within the work.

Ethnography has many advantages. It gives the researcher an in-depth understanding of how cultures and communities function, as well as the contexts that shape and inform them. It also employs a holistic approach, allowing the researcher to consider how various aspects of a culture such as language, economics, rituals, religious beliefs, social structures, hierarchies, and family life work together and impact one another.

An example of ethnographic research can be found in contemporary cinema. The 2018 cult horror film Midsommar, directed by Ari Aster, features a group of anthropology researchers who choose to immerse themselves in the culture of a remote pagan community in Sweden called Hårga. They participate in rituals and observe how community members interact with one another. The film’s viewers gain insight into the culture alongside the researchers as they observe the community’s feasts, maypole dance, and ceremonies. The film raises questions about the ethics of ethnography and the role of the researchers within the community. Garcia raises these questions herself as she navigates her relationships with patients and her own feelings about their choices and perspectives.

Ethnographic research requires a constant watch over ethical questions, including those about the researcher’s role and level of participation. The field of study can create complex ethical dilemmas about the relationships between the researcher and subjects. Furthermore, ethnographers present themselves as sympathetic and honest participants, but subjects may have limited knowledge of the scope of research or how they will be presented in the researcher’s findings. Another critique of ethnography refers to the idea that the results of ethnographic studies are context-specific, meaning they refer only to the experiences observed during a specific time under specific conditions. Readers of ethnographic studies must consider this to avoid generalizing cultures and the experiences of individuals.

Critics of anthropology argue that researchers often impose their individual perspectives upon their subjects, asserting that the researcher can never remain truly unbiased and that objective methodology is not necessarily objective. For example, racial biases can cause researchers to diminish the complexity of the cultures they observe for failing to align with Western-centric standards. Other issues include the fetishization or idealization of cultures by applying the concept of the “noble savage,” a racist trope that minimizes Indigenous cultures as being closer to nature and, therefore, innately virtuous.

Ethnographic studies are not confined to the physical world. Online ethnography, also known as digital ethnography or online ethnography, describes the application of ethnographic research to the digital world. In this field, researchers examine online communities and cultures through social interaction and observation. Digital ethnographic studies grew in popularity after the COVID-19 pandemic as many social communities emerged online.