Beyond the Belmont Principles: A Community‐Based Approach to Developing an Indigenous Ethics Model and Curriculum for Training Health Researchers Working with American Indian and Alaska Native Communities

Abstract

Highlights Community‐based consultation led to identification of culturally‐grounded ethical principles. Culturally grounded principles support research with American Indians and Alaska Natives. Including culturally based principles in an ethics training curriculum supports research with AI/AN.

Working Together to Advance Indigenous Interests with Community Psychology

“…By situating community members as authorities over their own experiences, these projects were better able to infuse existing bodies of knowledge with Indigenous peoples’ self‐determined representations of community life. Further, these projects support a parallel process of Indigenous self‐representation in knowledge dissemination, as illustrated by projects aiming to Indigenize psychology curricula (Schmidt, ), Indigenous research ethics training (Parker et al., ), and using Indigenous art and artists in research evaluation/results dissemination (Straits, Tafoya, Cordero, Tsinajinnie, & Jose, ). These efforts amplify and reinforce Indigenous self‐representation in bodies of knowledge that circulate through academic and community settings.…”

“…Contributing authors underscored the importance of attending to relationships within and surrounding Indigenous community collaborations. As one article noted, “very rarely are the mechanisms of ‘CBPR gone wrong’ examined” to offer guidance on how to maintain good relationships among collaborators (Rasmus, Charles, et al., ; see also Parker, Pearson, Donald, & Fisher, ). Reflecting on the relational context of federally funded collaborations with Indigenous communities, researchers raised seldom‐published concerns “about replicating colonial relations through pursuing research framed by priorities of federal funders and academic institutions” (Wendt et al., ).…”

“…The authors in this special issue refreshingly reflected on dimensions of research often omitted from the literature, and from the diverse relational arrangements they described, we can hear multiple perspectives contributing to a richer conversation in Community Psychology about how researchers, practitioners, and institutions (e.g., the Society for Community Research and Action) might think differently about the relational contexts of community research and action so as to better inform future work with Indigenous communities. For example, how might the responsibilities of Community Psychologists be differently construed if attention to relational context was oriented toward responding to common Indigenous cultural sensibilities (e.g., Parker et al., ) versus sociopolitical interests of particular Indigenous nations (e.g., Quayle & Sonn, ; Fraser, Hunter, Lemay, & Splicer, )? Further engagement in these conversations can deepen our understanding of Community Psychology's foundational principles (e.g., “sociocultural competence”, “reflective practice”) and their relevance to Indigenous community research and action.…”

Community Psychology and Indigenous Peoples

“…In “Beyond the Belmont Principles: A Community‐Based Approach to Developing an Indigenous Ethics Model and Curriculum for Training Health Researchers working with American Indian and Alaska Native Communities,” Parker et al. () demonstrate this intersection between mainstream ethical protocols in psychological research and Indigenous research by essentially “Indigenizing” ethical protocols and training. Using community‐based participatory methods, these researchers developed and evaluated a culturally grounded ethics training program that, in keeping with Indigenous values, is now available freely, which will assist in training anyone on ethical protocols and procedures when working with Indigenous communities.…”

“…(), John‐Henderson et al. (), Kading, Gonzalez, Herman, Gonzalez, and Walls (), Parker, Pearson, Donald, and Fisher () and Wendt et al. ().…”