RT Article
T1 A level playing field: conceptualizing an empowering research framework for criminologists who engage with marginalized communities
JF Critical criminology
VO 25
IS 4
SP 559
OP 575
A1 Deckert, Antje
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1845912160
AB Some criminologists use empowering research approaches but fail to deliver on their promise to empower marginalized populations. This article explores the origins of such failures, identifies deficit perspectives as the main culprit, and explains how deficit narratives in participatory research advance marginalization processes. Distinguishing key channels of power in research - power of knowledge, power to self-direct, and power of socio-political influence - reveals that (contrary to deficit discourses) marginalized social groups are not powerless, criminologists wield less socio-political influence than frequently suggested, and power in research relationships distributes inconsistently, incongruently, and heterogeneously. To counteract deficit thinking, empowerment is defined from a counter-imperialist perspective. Given that the opposite of imperialism is self-determination and that the concept of empowerment origins in self-determination theory, the latter is used to conceptualize an empowering research framework, which is designed to enhance knowledge of all research parties and meet their need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 573-575
K1 Academic Discourse
K1 Autonomous Motivation
K1 Community Researcher
K1 Power Imbalance
K1 Research Relationship
DO 10.1007/s10612-017-9367-6