I personally enjoyed Garcia’s close and personalized ethnography of those in her community and their experiences with drugs – how it affects their lives, what it does to them on a physical and emotional level, and how it intertwines with larger infrastructure and policies that defines their demographic. Because Garcia included personal stories in her ethnography, such as the father who decided to use heroin for his crying child, there was an emotional aspect that I believe draws in readers and allows them to better resonate with the subjects and understand their situations in a way that evokes active response. Thus, here, Garcia seems to approach her work in not through an objective route, but a route that inspires others to advocate for safer communities and policies surrounding drug use. As a result, she pulls in the importance of public health professionals and their value in communicating and educating safe drug use. However, more than policies and regulations, there is value in that such communication is made on a personal and interpersonal level in order that individuals, families, and generations of families are protected from the harms of drugs in the long run.
Here, Garcia clearly has a personal connection with the community she is interviewing and observing, which I believe I will be able to tie into my own research. I am wondering, however, how Garcia is able to detach herself from this personalized approach to ethnography – or rather, is this emotional aspect what is projecting and motivating the intention behind her work? As a Korean American woman who will be interviewing Korean American women, will I detach myself from their responses to my question or use it as way to promote self-appreciation and cultural appreciation in identity?