Conducting anthropological fieldwork in northern Ghana: emerging ethical dilemmas

Abstract

This paper discusses two ethical dilemmas that I encountered when doing fieldwork on so-called witch camps in northern Ghana, places of protection under the auspices of an earth priest or chief for women who have been accused of witchcraft and banished from their communities. Many codes of ethics attempt to pre-empt ethical dilemmas and provide guidance on how to deal with them. This paper presents situations that are not covered in these codes. For a young and inexperienced anthropologist conducting fieldwork, such situations can be very daunting and disorienting. While codes are helpful, the specific research environment as well as the positionality of the researcher contribute in shaping the research. The article deals in particular with the ethical dilemma of a “multiple respondent” and the (im)propriety of access to data that I encountered during my fieldwork, in order then to discuss the problems inherent in anthropological codes of ethics more widely.