Danger, Desire, and Disclosure: A Postqualitative Trauma-Informed Approach to the Ethics of Secrets and Emotion in Qualitative Research

Abstract

Qualitative research is full of spilled secrets, but what are the ethical implications of researchers/participants disclosing secrets in an interview? In this article, I explore the thicket of ethical issues surrounding disclosure and spilled secrets in qualitative research and propose a postqualitative model of trauma-informed research to navigate this thicket. I apply my unique model to five key ethical issues: (a) the significance of disclosure in interviews and the implications it has for the data collection and analysis process, (b) the catharsis participants can experience from spilling secrets and the risks this cathartic process can pose for the researcher, (c) how “insider” researchers can be adversely affected by participants sharing secrets, (d) the ethical issues that surround reciprocity and researchers sharing their own secrets, and (e) the role of silence and refusal in the interview and whether rapport-building and interviewing techniques can be considered a type of manipulation.