Youth-Led Antiracism Research: Making a Case for Participatory Methods and Creative Strategies in Developmental Science

Abstract

In this article, we conceptualize youth-led antiracism research in developmental science. First, we discuss how Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) principles converge with critical race epistemological approaches to knowledge production. Second, we propose that youth-led antiracism research requires a commitment to multiple ways of knowing, countering paternalism, focusing on structural racism, and activist scholarship that advances racial equity. These commitments are necessary to challenge how White supremacy culture shapes social science research paradigms. We weave existing empirical evidence and theory on YPAR with counter-storytelling methodology to identify various participatory methods and creative strategies that exemplify these commitments and emerged from co-creating research projects with ethnically and racially diverse youth. We conclude with implications for developmental science and offer guiding questions that may help scholars reimagine research in partnership with youth in ways that advance racial justice.

Dismantling systems of racism and oppression during adolescence: An agenda for anti‐racist research

“…Involving adolescents in the research process is not a simple or easy endeavor and requires some paradigm shifting and much power sharing (Ozer, 2016). Although all anti‐racist research need not be participatory, these approaches embody the anti‐racist research principle of honoring and centering the voices of those who experience oppression and marginalization (Aldana & Richards‐Schuster, 2021). Isn't it only logical that adolescents experiencing systemic racism should help shape knowledge of how systems of oppression affect them and how these systems can be changed?…”

“…One long‐standing and active debate among academics, particularly in anthropology and sociology but also across the social sciences, is whether and to what extent a researcher can study a racial or ethnic group, or other social group, to which they do not belong (Dwyer & Buckle, 2009). For a long time, social science has been guided by white supremacist logic that we can do research that is objective and thus being a white outsider studying racially and ethnically minoritized populations can be done without bias (Aldana & Richards‐Schuster, 2021). White scholars have rarely been asked to explain how they approach their research on minoritized groups, which aligns with white supremacy culture in which whiteness is invisible and unquestioned (Helms, 2020).…”

Advancing scholarship on anti‐racism within developmental science: Reflections on the special section and recommendations for future research

“…Qualitative and mixed‐method approaches can continue to play a critical role in facilitating the understanding of factors that shape the development of anti‐racism in youth. Additionally, participatory research designs have the potential to inform how children and youth begin to make meaning of racial injustices and the processes that lead to critical action (Aldana & Richards‐Schuster, 2021; Aldana et al, 2019; Ginwright, 2007; Sun et al, 2022). Regardless of the methodology or approaches utilized, there must be intentional application of an anti‐racist lens in measurement, analysis and interpretation of data (Ford et al, 2018; Suzuki et al, 2021).…”

“…Accordingly, more research is needed to better understand how youth are actively interpreting and making sense of the messages they receive, as well as how they are exerting influence on their contexts (Bañales et al, 2021; Hope et al, 2019; Hughes et al, 2006; Loyd & Gaither, 2018; Williams et al, 2021). Research to date indicates that youth may be important drivers of anti‐racism in their more immediate contexts, underscoring the need for the incorporation of bidirectional and transactional models in research on the development of anti‐racism in youth (Aldana & Richards‐Schuster, 2021; Hazelbaker et al, 2022). Lastly, developmental stage can be understood as a context driving possibilities for the cognitive and behavioral manifestations of anti‐racism in youth (Hope et al, 2022).…”

“…Moreover, anti‐racist interventions must balance the need to meet individuals where they are (which includes a supportive context where mistakes can be made in the process of learning) with the need to protect individuals, particularly those holding marginalized racial/ethnic identities, from additional harm inflicted through the process of participating in the intervention. Findings from developmental science can be leveraged to ensure that interventions are developmentally appropriate and responsive to youths’ intersectional identities, social positionalities, and lived experiences (Aldana & Richards‐Schuster, 2021; Anderson et al, 2020; Bañales & Rivas‐Drake, 2022; Hazelbaker et al, 2022; Hurd et al, 2022; Umaña‐Taylor et al, 2018). Greater attention to intervention approaches that support youths’ participation in individual and collective action to dismantle systems of racism, white supremacy, and other interlocking systems of oppression in a global context are sorely needed (Williams et al, 2022).…”