Aiming for Opportunity, Equity, and Justice By Utilizing Participatory Research Methods to Address Gender-Based Violence

Academic researchers historically enter communities, collect data, and leave, without subsequent follow-up with the community on how findings can be used to advocate for opportunity, equity, justice, and systemic change to address community problems. In particular, traditional research practices with communities that experience violence (sexual assault, interpersonal violence, dating violence, and the effects of suicide) can perpetuate power and control dynamics resulting in individual and community trauma. It results in people with institutionalized power (researchers) taking what they want from people with less power (marginalized communities). Without intent, these interactions can reflect and reconstruct the very dynamics social work scholars wish to understand and change.

One way to address this problematic, “power-over” approach to research is to use participatory research (PR) methods. PR methodology was derived from Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970) which engages community members in identifying concerns that are grounded in their lived experiences. It involves engaging in critical reflection and dialogue about participants' visions for opportunity, equity, and justice, and identifies solutions that are feasible and strengths-based. A hallmark of PR methods is the involvement of community members throughout the research process- from conceptualization of research questions, to data collection and analyses, dissemination, and ultimately in the practical application of knowledge to benefit the community. This approach is highly complex, immensely challenging, and hugely rewarding due to the time required to build respectful, power-sharing relationships and its benefit to the community. It holds great potential for capacity building, and for developing culturally relevant participatory research informed interventions in community settings which support community-driven social change.

This roundtable convenes scholars experienced with PR methods to address issues related to gender-based violence [GBV], with two goals: 1) Generating discussion about the benefits and challenges of using PR to address GBV 2) Exploring how participatory methods could be infused into existing research agendas and 3) Identifying key issues related to PR in addressing GBV. Presenters from four institutions will share diverse strategies they have implemented in six studies, and will promote roundtable participants' critical learning by demystifying participatory methods, particularly for researchers who are interested, yet hesitant. Following brief presentations, the roundtable will become an open forum by inviting dialogue about participants' ideas, experiences, and questions, and exploring the discussion's implications for advancing social work research on GBV.

The first presenter will provide an overview of how PR methods are a valuable component of a research agenda that aims to promote opportunity, equity, and justice and how researchers can leverage their expertise for this purpose. Subsequent presenters will share varied examples of how they used participatory methods, highlighting ways they navigated logistical challenges for participatory research studies with indigenous communities, pregnant and parenting teens, as suicide prevention, to address campus sexual assault, and with mothers/youth that have experienced family violence. Each presenter will speak to how challenges associated with PR can be overcome and how PR both benefits individual research agendas and the communities with which we work.