Research Seminar: Qualitative Methods with Vulnerable Populations: Working with Survivors and Perpetrators of Crime
Dear colleagues and students,
Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies
Research Seminar: Qualitative Methods with Vulnerable Populations: Working with Survivors and Perpetrators of Crime
You are cordially invited to attend the seminar entitled “Qualitative Methods with Vulnerable Populations: Working with Survivors and Perpetrators of Crime” on 3 July 2026 (Friday). The information about the seminar is shown below:
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Date: |
3 July 2026 (Friday) |
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Time: |
11am – 12:30pm (HKT) |
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Venue: |
D3-LP-13 |
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Topic: |
Qualitative Methods with Vulnerable Populations: Working with Survivors and Perpetrators of Crime |
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Speaker: |
Prof Olivera Simić (Professor, Griffith Law School) |
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Abstract: |
This seminar will explore the benefits and costs of undertaking qualitative research in the legal and social sciences, particularly qualitative data collection methods that require immersion in a specific social setting or group, such as ethnography, participant observation, or interviewing. Prof Simić will discuss interviewing with vulnerable groups, including a critical discussion of reflexivity, positionality, and vulnerability. The session will also consider different ethical concerns when engaging with survivors and perpetrators, such as whether there is a difference in speaking with the victim versus the perpetrator, and what key ethical issues one must take on board when working with vulnerable populations. She will also address managing well-being and recognising vicarious trauma and explore various ways to stay healthy and safe when research involves engagement with highly vulnerable populations and traumatic material. |
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Moderator: |
Dr Anita Chan (Associate Professor, Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies) |
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Language: |
English |
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Registration: |
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*1.5 hours of ELAT will be counted for the students upon their participation in the seminar.
About the Speaker
Prof Simić is a feminist and a human rights activist. She was born in the former Yugoslavia and lived through the Yugoslav Wars (1991-1999). She was nineteen years old and studying the first year of a law degree in Bosnia and Herzegovina when the Bosnian War broke out in 1992. Initially a refugee and later a migrant, she lived and studied in Europe, the USA, and South America before coming to Australia in 2006. In 2014, Prof Simić published a memoir of her experiences during the Bosnian war, Surviving Peace: A Political Memoir. She has published five monographs and eight co-edited collections, as well as numerous book chapters, journal articles and personal narratives. Her writing has appeared in The Conversation, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, Griffith Review, and Lawyers Weekly. Her work draws on interviews with victims, perpetrators, and bystanders of the wars, focusing particularly on post-war trauma. Her latest book, Lola's War: Rape Without Punishment (2023) and Madam War Criminal: Biljana Plavsic, Serbia's Iron Lady (2025), continue this focus. Prof Simić was a nominee for the Penny Pether Prize for Scholarship in Law, Literature and the Humanities, and won the Peace Women Award from Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF, Australian branch). Lola's War has been shortlisted for the Australian Legal Research Book Award 2024.
Should you have any inquiries, please contact Ms Wallis Kwok of SSPS at wlkwok@eduhk.hk.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Yours faithfully,
Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies (SSPS)
The Education University of Hong Kong