Transcription: voices from prison

Now that I've completed my interviews with inmates about their subjective experience of video links, it's time to transcribe the audio recordings. It is such a slow process as I'm aiming to create an accurate record of their voices, with all the idiosyncratic phrasing, paraverbals and utterances that come with conversation. As I go backwards and forwards through the recordings, I recall each person's face and body language. Their (now) disembodied voices reveal something of their personality or emotional state during the interview: despair, distress, powerlessness, resignation as well as apathy, distrust and considerable humour. I've also become aware of the background noises - the sounds of incarceration as prisoners and officers interact (not always politely), doors slam, announcements or reprimands are made over a PA, and then there's the slightly invasive muzak ('The first cut is the deepest') of Gloria Jean's cafe at one correctional centre.
I recorded 31 interviews and I've now transcribed 21 of them ... only ten more to go! Here I am contemplating spending more time in front of the computer screen: