Expanding the Future of Community-Engaged Research in Criminology

• In Event: Community Engaged Research on Crime and Justice

Abstract

Community-engaged research (CER) is built on the notion of a mutually beneficial partnership between researchers and community partners that advances both science and the interests of the community. When fully implemented, CER provides methods to identify and balance key goals for both parties; increase community capacity to understand and solve problems; improve scientific understanding of social problems; and lay the foundation for activism and policy change. Yet, criminology under-utilizes CER methods, which are used almost exclusively in ethnographic studies to highlight the cultural and contextual influences on crime. In the current paper, we build on a synthesis of the CER literature and the lessons learned in our CER on community violence to offer ideas to advance the use of such methods in criminology. Our goal is to increase the long-term benefits of science for the communities most impacted by street crime.

Authors

• Annord Kismet Okyere, Michigan State University

• Carole Gibbs, Michigan State University

• Jennifer E. Cobbina-Dungy, Michigan State University

• Louie Rivers, III, North Carolina State University

• Alaina De Biasi, Wayne State University