The workshop is intended for researchers, doctoral students in the fields of law, criminology, victimology and broader social sciences who engage in qualitative research, especially research on vulnerable populations, victims and perpetrators of crime and other sensitive or traumatic topics. It is also particularly intended for young researchers and doctoral students who are at the beginning of their research journey and who are or will be encountering methodological, ethical and personal challenges of such research in their work.

You are kindly invited to attend a workshop organized in collaboration with Prof Dr Olivera Simić entitled Qualitative Research with Vulnerable Populations: Working with Victims and Perpetrators of Crime. The workshop will take place on Wednesday, 8 April 2026, at 10:00, at the Institute of Criminology at the Faculty of Law Ljubljana.

In this workshop, we will explore the benefits and costs of undertaking qualitative research in legal and social sciences, in particular, qualitative data collection methods that require immersion in a specific social setting or group, such as ethnography, participant observation, or interviewing. We will discuss in-depth and semi-structured interviewing with vulnerable groups, including a critical discussion of reflexivity, positionality, and vulnerability.

We will also discuss ethics when working with humans, particularly vulnerable populations, such as survivors and perpetrators of crimes (“ordinary” and “extraordinary” crimes/mass atrocity). Is there a difference in speaking with the victim versus the perpetrator? What are some of the key ethical issues one has to take on board when working with vulnerable populations?

In relation to such research, managing well-being and recognising vicarious trauma are two of the topics that researchers dealing with sensitive topics have raised in recent years. We will tackle the risks of vicarious trauma when undertaking sensitive research and explore various ways to stay healthy and safe when researchers work involves direct exposure and engagement to highly vulnerable populations, traumatic material such as trauma narratives, reports, interviews, visual material, and media content. This will be a hands-on workshop, and participants will be invited to discuss their current project and the methodology they plan to use to execute it.