Cultivating trust in criminological research: an applied knowledge equity approach

Arrondelle, Donna and Conway, Marc (2023) Cultivating trust in criminological research: an applied knowledge equity approach. Criminal Justice Alliance (CJA) Improving Trust in the Criminal Justice System and Research Symposium, University of Westminster, London.

Abstract

Participatory approaches across the social sciences emphasise the importance of building trust between ‘researchers’ and ‘participants’. Yet, despite a wealth of sensitive and insightful research, a proportion of participatory approaches perpetuate power asymmetries, not least when ‘lived experience voices’ are included to advance existing research agendas. Importantly, voices get included but the parameters for inclusion are not set by ‘participants’. We - an experts by experience (EbyE) sentenced to imprisonment together with an academic - employ a knowledge equity approach to examine the substantive topic of friendships in prison and make an academic contribution to the literature on masculinities and intimacy during incarceration. We argue that using a knowledge equity approach is a productive way to enhance trust through further disrupting power imbalances between EbyE of CJS and the researchers/ institutions they choose to work with. We build on the shift towards more joint creative participatory methods where power sharing is promoted and EbyE have a more central role in setting the agenda for how their voices are included. Taking a Freirean-inspired dialogic approach, from the decision to collaborate through all stages of initial research topic formulation, data generation, data analysis, writing, publishing and conference participation, our innovative method allows us to explore and enhance possibilities for empowerment for the EbyE author involved. We utilise academic collaborative writing to co-produce an academic article submitted to a CJS journal. In this collaboration we create a space where the EbyE author is afforded agency to write their experiences in their own words rather than have their words interpreted by a researcher. We suggest these conditions create a far more relaxed position for the author to share their experiences, which arguably encourages heightened openness surrounding their friendships during incarceration from which deeper insights flow. We suggest that this approach builds trust and respect by moving away from role of EbyE as ‘research participant’ to a more influential ‘participant author’ increasing capacity for unadulterated expression, especially poignant given that meaningful expression was diminished during incarceration. In doing so we are struck by the transformative potential of our method which could be well applied across CJS research and beyond.

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Contributors

Author: Donna Arrondelle

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