In this paper we intend to reflect on the methodology and field work of the research "Trajectories and narratives of adolescents: deleterious effects on the course of life and the infractional response". This research was designed to investigate the life course of 373 young people who were prosecuted by the Juvenile Justice System (SJJ) in the city of Belo Horizonte. Between November and December 2016, we collected data on these adolescents through documentary analysis of the Individual Assistance Plan (PIA), a mandatory document integrating the processes of the Juvenile Justice System in which a technician tells some points of the youth's history. Later we sought to find these young people in the territory to conduct a narrative interview, in order to know the young person's view of their own history. The search process was recorded in field notes, which depict encounters, mismatches and perceptions about the situations experienced. In the present work we ask what are the necessary conditions for the displacement of an attitude of suspicion for the establishment of empathy relations between the researcher and the research subject. We will also reflect on the context, in which the researcher's own approach arouses the suspicion of the research subjects.