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

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

This collection of papers seeks to discuss the various ways that Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x scholars engage in “ethical work” as it relates to Latina/o/x carceral communities whether currently/formerly incarcerated, gang-involved and/or system impacted. Drawing from critical theoretical/epistemological frameworks, and the emerging field of Critical Carceral Studies, these scholars raise questions concerning matters of methodology, epistemology, rapport building, and collectively reinvent what it means to engage in ethical practices when working with Chicano/a/x and Latino/a/x populations in criminology. From reflecting on what it means to withhold “valuable data” from findings when working with Mexican/Chicano gang-involved prisoners, engaging in care work for both the researcher and interview participants when experiencing traumatic policing, and navigating the tensions and disharmony between formal academic research and lived experience, is a necessary component to conscientious and ethical knowledge production involving system impacted individuals, these scholars demonstrate the material ways they enact decolonial praxis in their respective research endeavors. Ultimately, they urge scholars to approach Latinx/Chicanx racially criminalized populations with a sociocultural and epistemological framework that centers on compassion, cultural ethics, and integrity.

Sub Unit

• Area X. Critical Criminology / 77. Critical Perspectives in Criminology

Individual Presentations

• Resisting and Dismantling the Neo-Colonial-Carceral Order and Apparatus: Examining Cultural Refusal and Production Among Mexican/Xicano Gang Members through a Decolonial Ethics - Amy Andrea Martinez, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, CUNY; Sebastian Ortega, University of Chicago

• “Mind Playing Tricks on Me”: Reflections on Conducting Policing Research After Experiencing Police Violence in the Insane Empire California - Humberto Flores, University of California, Santa Barbara

• “Is That How You Would Talk About Your Brother?” A Diss on Deficit-Based Approaches to the Study of Imprisoned Masculinities - Rod Martinez, University of Maryland, College Park