Paper Short Abstract:

Traditional western criminological research approaches place researchers as experts within dominant academic paradigms, with limited power and agency granted to Indigenous communities. This presentation focuses on unwriting stereotypical narratives of crime and deviance using the research design process of ‘working backward.’ We use two Canadian arts-based projects grounded in relational accountability (Henry et al., 2016) to demonstrate how we materially engaged the community in the creation process, leading to increased empowerment, relational connection, and broader social healing.

Paper Abstract:

Western criminological research approaches employ standardized processes where the researcher identifies an issue, develops the hypothesis, constructs the research design, analyzes information, and reports on findings. This formulaic process positions researchers as the experts within dominant academic paradigms, with limited power granted to communities. This presentation focuses on the unwriting research design process of ‘working backward’ to provide Indigenous communities with the ability to create and direct the research process from conception to implementation. We discuss how ‘working backward’ in community-engaged arts-based research is a decolonial approach that inverts traditional western research processes to foster community empowerment and broader social healing. Using two Canadian arts-based projects grounded in relational accountability (Henry et al., 2016) as examples, we discuss how the ‘working backward’ process strengthened the research approach and sought to rewrite the stereotypical narratives of crime and deviance. One was a digital storytelling project with Indigenous ex-gang members; the other was a body mapping project that worked with Indigenous women who had been incarcerated in a cultural prison. Throughout, we describe how our relationships materially engaged the community in the creation process, which led to increased social connections where participants felt they got to give something back. During the process, participants expressed that this is how research must be done with the community and that they were now more open to partake in other research activities.