title: Sensitivities: emotion-work and resulting personal effects in researching Black lesbians.
abstract: The issues of self-disclosure, empathy, sharing the lives of others, developing rapport, and emotional memories are presented in relationship to the conduct of qualitative research interviews with Black lesbian students attending a historically Black university within a southern U.S. regional context. The challenge of doing such sensitive research is discussed from my perspective of also being a Black lesbian researcher, and the questions that this raised for me.  Specific examples from the interview experiences are provided of self-disclosure, empathy, and rapport with the student participants.  Conclusions suggest the need for building a community of social support for female scholars of African descent who study and serve Black lesbian populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Work, Winston-Salem State University, 601 S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Winston-Salem, NC 27110, USA. lewismi@wssu.edu
authors.forename: Michele K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology*; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D035844:Researcher-Subject Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D012650:Self Disclosure; D012944:Social Support