Decolonizing Research Methods for Family Science: Creating Space at the Center

Abstract

North America has a strong legacy of colonization, and a decolonizing agenda has importantWorldwide there is an emergence of decolonizing, indigenous epistemologies and research methodologies. These research methods challenge the status quo and the superiority of Western academic research and focus on agendas meant to honor subjugated, marginalized,

Integrating Life Course, Globalization, and the Study of Racial and Ethnic Families

“…According to his analysis, throughout the 20th century, the life course has become “individualized.” So, for example, individuals decide to marry when they find an appropriate partner who is of a socially approved age rather than adhering to the requirements and constraints that come from their natal family. This assumption about the transition to individualized decision making is, however, again based on a White middle‐class normative model that has not been adequately explored from a racial‐ethnic or social class perspective (Bermudez et al, ). Although historical research on families has discounted and revised simplistic models of family change, today we still base many of our analyses on models that presume homogeneity in values and practices rather than on heterogeneous or pluralistic models of societal customs and beliefs.…”

“…Termed the Standard North American Family (SNAF), this was perceived as the ideal social arrangement and became the basis for much of social policy (Stacey, 1993, 1996). Families that deviated in any manner from this standard were understood to be deficient, unhealthy, or flawed (Bermudez et al, ; Coontz, ; Walker, ). Because many racially and ethnically diverse families often exhibit different structural and ideological features from those exhibited by SNAF, they were uniformly understood to be “deviant” and in need of “repair.” Despite a current scholarly move away from such pejorative designations and analyses, the theoretical and methodological literature on families has not kept up with new understandings about these families in U.S. society, or more globally for that matter.…”

“Thank You for Including Us!” – Introducing a Community‐Based Collaborative Approach to Translating Clinic Materials

“…Decolonizing clinical practices offers a strength‐based, non‐pathologizing stance and uses culturally responsive interventions to consider families within their multiple socio‐political cultural contexts, while paying special attention to their communities, support systems, traditions, and values (Bermúdez, Zak‐Hunter, & Silva, ; McDowell & Hernandez, ; McDowell et al., ; Waites, Macgowan, Pennell, Carlton‐LaNey, & Weil, ). A decolonizing lens is especially relevant for working with marginalized, immigrant, and/or ethnic minority families in the United States (Bermúdez, Muruthi, & Jordan ).…”

Wâhkôhtowin: The Governance of Good Community–Academic Research Relationships to Improve the Health and Well-Being of Children in Alexander First Nation

“…Decolonizing ideologies and practices offer an opportunity for researchers to decenter the existing power structure of neocolonial research paradigms and knowledge production (Bermúdez, Muruthi, & Jordan, 2016). Decolonizing research that addresses important health determinants for Indigenous peoples, such as culture, family, community and self-determination, can be a powerful tool to improve the health and well-being of First Nations children (Castleden, Morgan, & Lamb, 2012;Greenwood & de Leeuw, 2012;Irvine, Kitty, & Pekeles, 2012;Willows, Hanley, & Delormier, 2012).…”