“Is That How You Would Talk About Your Brother?” A Diss on Deficit-Based Approaches to the Study of Imprisoned Masculinities

• In Event: Latina/o/x Criminology #2: Critical Perspectives on Conducting Ethical Carceral Studies: A Chicano/a/x /Latino/o/x/ Practical Approach

Abstract

Objective: This paper outlines the struggles, politics, and care work involved in researching formerly imprisoned men. Drawing on the author's reflections in navigating the research process, he interrogates the disharmony between formal academic research and lived experience.
Methods/Data: The paper relies on ethnographic experiences and interviews with formerly imprisoned Black men and Boys in Washington, D.C. and Oakland, California, to interrogate deficit-based research practices and theorizing.
Results: In recognizing the disharmony between formal academic research and lived experience, the author presents a path forward and new ways of thinking about carceral masculinities.
Conclusion/Implications: The implications of this paper suggest that researchers should more firmly ground their research process in the communities they are a part of or persons they are in community with.

Author

• Rod Martinez, University of Maryland, College Park