Nothing About Us Without Us: Collaborative Research in Prison

• In Event: 3432 - Intersectional Methodologies

Abstract

Participatory Action Research (PAR) has emerged as an alternative framework which attempts to break from dehumanizing and exploitative practices associated with traditional research methods. PAR is an epistemological stance which (1) positions community members as knowledge producers, (2) conducts collaborative research on issues of importance to the community, and (3) emphasizes action as a direct result of research to address social justice issues impacting the community.

Rather than conducting research ON people who are incarcerated, this project conducted research WITH people who are incarcerated. This research paired PAR with traditional qualitative methodologies and was conducted by members of the Education Justice Project (EJP), a college-in-prison program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Incarcerated community members were involved in every stage of research design: formulating research questions, creating an interview protocol, and creating a theoretical framework based on the data.

This paper is co-authored by Dr. Sheri-Lynn Kurisu, the outside researcher, and Mr. Orlando Mayorga, an activist-scholar who was an incarcerated community member at the time of research. This paper provides examples and guidance concerning how to better center the voices of incarcerated individuals in the process of researching in carceral settings, helping to assure that those directly impacted by these practices contribute to shaping them. This paper then presents select findings on community-building, social movements, and civil society in prison. The presentation will inform audience members about PAR and challenge them to explore the impacts that PAR could have on research with other marginalized communities.

Authors

• Sheri-Lynn S. Kurisu, California State University San Marcos

• Orlando Mayorga, Northeastern University/ Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation