The prison officer. Methodology of social research in a case study found in Northern Patagonia, Argentina (2012-2014)

We are hereby letting the readers be acquainted with a methodological itinerary in the study of those prison officers performing functions at jails located in Argentina's Northern Patagonia (2012-2014). The objective of this article is to contribute to the analysis of methodological matters linked with the study of the prison agency, particularly that relating to officers ranked at the bottom of the ladder in this hierarchical and top-down structure because, by performing an indispensable and at the same time invisible activity, they are in permanent contact with the detained population and suffer both the imperative weight of the institution along with the claims and complaints, bad behavior and variable moods of those having been legitimately deprived of their freedom.