Ciann Wilson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3804426 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ciann Wilson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ciann |
| FAMILY NAME | Wilson |
| SIGNATURE | WILSON C |
| AFFILIATIONS | Wilfrid Laurier University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 27 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 62 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 27 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2011 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
No Safe Place
The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences of socio-ecological stressors impacting 2S/LGBTQ+ individuals in the Waterloo Region in Ontario, Canada in the new wave of anti-queer rhetoric. Data was collected from semi-structured interviews with 2S/LGBTQ+ community members (N = 30) in the Waterloo Region. Braun & Clarke’s six-step process of thematic analysis was employed. Minority stress theory was used to assess how socio-ecological f…
Approaches to incorporating equity into program evaluation
The Medical System Is Not Built for Black [Women’s] Bodies”
While often framed as historical or ‘post’colonial, the pervasive legacies of anti-Black racism, rooted in the afterlives of slavery and the dehumanization of African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) voices, continues to shape the health experiences of young ACB women in Ontario, Canada. Using an intersectional framework, this qualitative study utilized focus groups (n = 24) to understand factors influencing access to sexual and reproductive health se…
Proclaiming Our Roots
Proclaiming Our Roots (POR) began as an academic community-based research initiative documenting Afro-Indigenous identities and lived experiences through digital oral storytelling. Since its inception, Proclaiming Our Roots has grown into a grassroots social movement focused on self-determination, cultural reclamation, and resistance to colonial erasure. This paper explores Proclaiming Our Root's evolution, from a research project to a grassroots…
I don’t want to have to teach every medical provider’
It is well-known that trans and non-binary individuals experience worse health outcomes due to experiences of violence and discrimination. For this reason, accessible healthcare for trans and non-binary people is crucial. There is a lack of Canadian literature on the experiences of non-binary people within the healthcare system. This study sought to understand barriers to healthcare among non-binary people living in a mid-sized urban/rural region…
Imperial algorithms
In this special issue, we invited contributions that critically examined issues of imperialism, colonialism, power, justice, etc. to expand the canon of anticolonial scholarship and critical scholarship in community psychology. Our two objectives were: (1) to build on the canon of anticolonial and critical race scholarship to cultivate an empirical and theoretical body of work and conceptual frameworks about racism and colonialism within the fiel…
We are mothers, sisters, and lovers too”
In Canada, there is a lack of research that addresses the sexual health and well‐being of African, Caribbean, and Black young women. This paper aims to gather perspectives of young Black women to address the social contexts of how young Black women navigate issues related to sex and sexual health. Young Black women experience unique dynamics in navigating their sexualities and sexual healthcare. The nuanced experiences stem from social contexts w…
Criminal Code reform of HIV non-disclosure is urgently needed
Exploring community enabling factors associated with recent HIV testing in a regional sample of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men
HIV testing and diagnosis are the gateway into treatment and eventual viral suppression. With gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) persistently over-representing new HIV diagnoses in Canada, combined with the evolving nature of community social connection, an exploration of factors associated with recent HIV testing is warranted. As most studies of GBMSM rely on samples obtained from larger metropolitan regions, examining HI…
Staying safe
Celling Sex was a community-based participatory research project that used a strengths-based approach to explore the agentic harm reduction practices employed by young women who trade sex and learn about their experience accessing health and social services. Fifteen racially diverse young women participated in interviews. They described how they tried to stay safe and advice for others. Each participant also individually made a brief digital vide…
Experiences of discrimination and its impacts on well‐being among racialised LGBTQ+ newcomers living in Waterloo region, Ontario, Canada
Discrimination (i.e. racism, homo/bi/transphobia) at both the individual and systemic levels may negatively impact the well-being of racialised LGBTQ+ newcomers living in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Current research about the experiences of LGBTQ+ newcomers focuses predominantly on homogeneous samples of gay men living in large metropolitan city centres. The present study aims to extend the current literature by exploring the experiences of…
Getting shut down and shut out
Participants predominantly expressed dissatisfaction in physicians' approaches to care, which were compounded by experiences of racism and discrimination. Findings demonstrate how ACB patients are marginalized and excluded from the healthcare syste Iimplications for better access to care included utilizing community healthcare centres, increasing physicians' capacity around culturally inclusive care, and increasing access to ACB physicians
Mixed-blood
In thinking through Indigenous-Blackness in colonial Canada, we explored the ramifications of the intersections of mixed-blood Indigenous-Black identity with colonialism, racism, gender, and social determinants of health, and how the outcomes of such intersections manifest as erasure, racism, and fractured identity. This critical research is nested within the larger Proclaiming Our Roots project, which uses an arts-based community-based methodolo…
Social support, discrimination, and Self-Esteem in LGBTQ + high school and Post-Secondary students
LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus) people, compared to their heterosexual and/or cisgender (non-transgender) counterparts, are more likely to be discriminated against based on their gender or sexual identities. Drawing on data from The OutLook Study in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada this paper examines discrimination and social support among high school and post-secondary students, and how they are related to self-esteem.…
The Muslimah Project
Prior research in Europe and North America demonstrates that religious discrimination against Muslim people, commonly known as Islamophobia, results in many negative mental health impacts, including depression, anxiety, isolation, and feelings of exclusion (Awan & Zempi, 2015). In Canada, Muslim women face a unique form of discrimination based on their religious, racial, and gender identities (Helly, 2012; Zine, 2008). Grounded in feminist inters…
Representations of fatness in Parents magazine
The authors investigate bodily pressures targeted at mothers through parenting magazines in a neoliberal cultural context. Theoretically rooted Foucault’s framework of biopower, the authors applied Foucauldian critical discourse analysis to examine messaging related to food and weight in Parents magazine. Findings highlight three key problematic discourses: (a) food practices are moral, physical, and emotional decisions made by mothers; (b) women…
Influences of sexual behaviors and vulnerability to HIV/Aids among heterosexual ACB youth living in Windsor, Ontario
Little research has investigated relationships among heterosexual African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) youth and the factors that influence their behavior and the behavioral expectations they have of their sexual partners. This study identifies influential factors of behavioral expectations, and how this behavior shapes vulnerability for human immunodeficiency virus. This article draws on data from the POWER project in Windsor, Canada. Six focus g…
A Space Where People Get It
This article is a methodological reflection of Bye Bye Binary, a community-based participatory research project (CBPR) that explored nonbinary youths' experiences of identity development, engagement in activism, discrimination, and mental health in Ontario, Canada. The arts-informed method of body mapping was employed in a workshop format to garner the experiences of 10 nonbinary youth (aged 16-25), in conjunction with additional qualitative meth…
Decolonizing Scoping Review Methodologies for Literature With, for, and by Indigenous Peoples and the African Diaspora
This article summarizes our deepened understanding of decolonizing research with, for, and by Indigenous peoples and peoples of African descent that emerged from conducting a scoping review of the methodological literature and reflecting on our review process. Although our review identified decolonizing methodologies as a promising approach, we questioned if our scoping review process engaged in decolonizing knowing. To unpack the epistemological…
It's a gap in awareness”
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent issue in all relationship configurations, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S) relationships. While the experiences of LGBTQ2S IPV survivors are understood, there are issues, needs, and challenges associated with service provision for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample (N = 10) of professionals (e.g., counselors, shelter managers, p…
Stay Strong, Stay Sexy, Stay Native
Background Taking Action II is a community-based participatory action research project that adopted a strengths-based approach to thinking about Indigenous youth HIV prevention activism. Eighteen diverse Indigenous youth leaders produced digital stories about Indigenizing HIV prevention during the summer of 2012 at a week-long retreat. Youth were interviewed twice: right after they created their stories and again after community screenings. In th…
"When you follow your heart, you provide that path for others"
Cultivating and supporting Indigenous peer youth leaders should be an important part of Canada’s response to HIV. This paper examines how a group of Indigenous youth leaders took up the notion of leadership in the context of HIV prevention. Taking Action II was a community-based participatory action research project. Eighteen Indigenous youth leaders from across Canada were invited to share narratives about their passion for HIV prevention throug…
Women are supposed to be the leaders’
Focusing on gender, race and colonialism, this paper foregrounds the voices of Indigenous young people, their histories of oppression, their legacies of resistance and the continuing strengths rooted in Indigenous peoples, their cultures and their communities. Exploring the relationship between gender and colonialism, the paper speaks to the lived realities of young people from Indigenous communities across Canada. Over 85 young people participat…
“Because we have really unique art”
Indigenous communities in Canada share a common history of colonial oppression. As a result, many Indigenous populations are disproportionately burdened with poor health outcomes, including HIV. Conventional public health approaches have not yet been successful in reversing this trend. For this study, a team of community- and university-based researchers came together to imagine new possibilities for health promotion with Indigenous youth. A stre…
Navigating Risks and Professional Roles
We examine ethical issues that emerged during a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study in Toronto, Canada, exploring sexual health attitudes and practices among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people (ages 17-26) labeled with intellectual disabilities. These ethical concerns included: (1) managing the risk of coercion, (2) consent to participate in the study, (3) issues of confidentiality and discl…
A Space Where People Get It
This article is a methodological reflection of Bye Bye Binary, a community-based participatory research project (CBPR) that explored nonbinary youths' experiences of identity development, engagement in activism, discrimination, and mental health in Ontario, Canada. The arts-informed method of body mapping was employed in a workshop format to garner the experiences of 10 nonbinary youth (aged 16-25), in conjunction with additional qualitative meth…
Seeking Safer Sexual Spaces
Young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people labeled with intellectual disabilities have unique sexual health needs that are not being met. Denial by others of their right to pleasure and the exercise of heightened external control over their sexuality are commonplace. Current research indicates that these youth are at heightened risk for compromised sexual health. This study aimed to explore the ways in which social and environmen…
The Muslimah Project
Prior research in Europe and North America demonstrates that religious discrimination against Muslim people, commonly known as Islamophobia, results in many negative mental health impacts, including depression, anxiety, isolation, and feelings of exclusion (Awan & Zempi, 2015). In Canada, Muslim women face a unique form of discrimination based on their religious, racial, and gender identities (Helly, 2012; Zine, 2008). Grounded in feminist inters…
Getting shut down and shut out
Participants predominantly expressed dissatisfaction in physicians' approaches to care, which were compounded by experiences of racism and discrimination. Findings demonstrate how ACB patients are marginalized and excluded from the healthcare syste Iimplications for better access to care included utilizing community healthcare centres, increasing physicians' capacity around culturally inclusive care, and increasing access to ACB physicians
It's a gap in awareness”
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent issue in all relationship configurations, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S) relationships. While the experiences of LGBTQ2S IPV survivors are understood, there are issues, needs, and challenges associated with service provision for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample (N = 10) of professionals (e.g., counselors, shelter managers, p…
Navigating Risks and Professional Roles
We examine ethical issues that emerged during a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study in Toronto, Canada, exploring sexual health attitudes and practices among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people (ages 17-26) labeled with intellectual disabilities. These ethical concerns included: (1) managing the risk of coercion, (2) consent to participate in the study, (3) issues of confidentiality and discl…
Stay Strong, Stay Sexy, Stay Native
Background Taking Action II is a community-based participatory action research project that adopted a strengths-based approach to thinking about Indigenous youth HIV prevention activism. Eighteen diverse Indigenous youth leaders produced digital stories about Indigenizing HIV prevention during the summer of 2012 at a week-long retreat. Youth were interviewed twice: right after they created their stories and again after community screenings. In th…
Criminal Code reform of HIV non-disclosure is urgently needed
Social support, discrimination, and Self-Esteem in LGBTQ + high school and Post-Secondary students
LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus) people, compared to their heterosexual and/or cisgender (non-transgender) counterparts, are more likely to be discriminated against based on their gender or sexual identities. Drawing on data from The OutLook Study in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada this paper examines discrimination and social support among high school and post-secondary students, and how they are related to self-esteem.…
Influences of sexual behaviors and vulnerability to HIV/Aids among heterosexual ACB youth living in Windsor, Ontario
Little research has investigated relationships among heterosexual African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) youth and the factors that influence their behavior and the behavioral expectations they have of their sexual partners. This study identifies influential factors of behavioral expectations, and how this behavior shapes vulnerability for human immunodeficiency virus. This article draws on data from the POWER project in Windsor, Canada. Six focus g…
Imperial algorithms
In this special issue, we invited contributions that critically examined issues of imperialism, colonialism, power, justice, etc. to expand the canon of anticolonial scholarship and critical scholarship in community psychology. Our two objectives were: (1) to build on the canon of anticolonial and critical race scholarship to cultivate an empirical and theoretical body of work and conceptual frameworks about racism and colonialism within the fiel…
We are mothers, sisters, and lovers too”
In Canada, there is a lack of research that addresses the sexual health and well‐being of African, Caribbean, and Black young women. This paper aims to gather perspectives of young Black women to address the social contexts of how young Black women navigate issues related to sex and sexual health. Young Black women experience unique dynamics in navigating their sexualities and sexual healthcare. The nuanced experiences stem from social contexts w…
Let's Talk About Sex
Arts-based approaches have been used to engage youth in health promotion activism and research in both local and international contexts. The application of art to research as a mode of inquiry has been a means of actively engaging marginalized communities such as youth in the research process in a way that allows them to creatively represent their thoughts and lives, while negotiating their power within the research environment (Wright et al. 201…
Let's Talk About Sex
Arts-based approaches have been used to engage youth in health promotion activism and research in both local and international contexts. The application of art to research as a mode of inquiry has been a means of actively engaging marginalized communities such as youth in the research process in a way that allows them to creatively represent their thoughts and lives, while negotiating their power within the research environment (Wright et al. 201…
Navigating Risks and Professional Roles
We examine ethical issues that emerged during a community-based participatory research (CBPR) study in Toronto, Canada, exploring sexual health attitudes and practices among lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people (ages 17-26) labeled with intellectual disabilities. These ethical concerns included: (1) managing the risk of coercion, (2) consent to participate in the study, (3) issues of confidentiality and discl…
Seeking Safer Sexual Spaces
Young lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people labeled with intellectual disabilities have unique sexual health needs that are not being met. Denial by others of their right to pleasure and the exercise of heightened external control over their sexuality are commonplace. Current research indicates that these youth are at heightened risk for compromised sexual health. This study aimed to explore the ways in which social and environmen…
“Because we have really unique art”
Indigenous communities in Canada share a common history of colonial oppression. As a result, many Indigenous populations are disproportionately burdened with poor health outcomes, including HIV. Conventional public health approaches have not yet been successful in reversing this trend. For this study, a team of community- and university-based researchers came together to imagine new possibilities for health promotion with Indigenous youth. A stre…
Women are supposed to be the leaders’
Focusing on gender, race and colonialism, this paper foregrounds the voices of Indigenous young people, their histories of oppression, their legacies of resistance and the continuing strengths rooted in Indigenous peoples, their cultures and their communities. Exploring the relationship between gender and colonialism, the paper speaks to the lived realities of young people from Indigenous communities across Canada. Over 85 young people participat…
"When you follow your heart, you provide that path for others"
Cultivating and supporting Indigenous peer youth leaders should be an important part of Canada’s response to HIV. This paper examines how a group of Indigenous youth leaders took up the notion of leadership in the context of HIV prevention. Taking Action II was a community-based participatory action research project. Eighteen Indigenous youth leaders from across Canada were invited to share narratives about their passion for HIV prevention throug…
It's a gap in awareness”
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent issue in all relationship configurations, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and two-spirit (LGBTQ2S) relationships. While the experiences of LGBTQ2S IPV survivors are understood, there are issues, needs, and challenges associated with service provision for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample (N = 10) of professionals (e.g., counselors, shelter managers, p…
Stay Strong, Stay Sexy, Stay Native
Background Taking Action II is a community-based participatory action research project that adopted a strengths-based approach to thinking about Indigenous youth HIV prevention activism. Eighteen diverse Indigenous youth leaders produced digital stories about Indigenizing HIV prevention during the summer of 2012 at a week-long retreat. Youth were interviewed twice: right after they created their stories and again after community screenings. In th…
Decolonizing Scoping Review Methodologies for Literature With, for, and by Indigenous Peoples and the African Diaspora
This article summarizes our deepened understanding of decolonizing research with, for, and by Indigenous peoples and peoples of African descent that emerged from conducting a scoping review of the methodological literature and reflecting on our review process. Although our review identified decolonizing methodologies as a promising approach, we questioned if our scoping review process engaged in decolonizing knowing. To unpack the epistemological…
Representations of fatness in Parents magazine
The authors investigate bodily pressures targeted at mothers through parenting magazines in a neoliberal cultural context. Theoretically rooted Foucault’s framework of biopower, the authors applied Foucauldian critical discourse analysis to examine messaging related to food and weight in Parents magazine. Findings highlight three key problematic discourses: (a) food practices are moral, physical, and emotional decisions made by mothers; (b) women…
Influences of sexual behaviors and vulnerability to HIV/Aids among heterosexual ACB youth living in Windsor, Ontario
Little research has investigated relationships among heterosexual African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) youth and the factors that influence their behavior and the behavioral expectations they have of their sexual partners. This study identifies influential factors of behavioral expectations, and how this behavior shapes vulnerability for human immunodeficiency virus. This article draws on data from the POWER project in Windsor, Canada. Six focus g…
A Space Where People Get It
This article is a methodological reflection of Bye Bye Binary, a community-based participatory research project (CBPR) that explored nonbinary youths' experiences of identity development, engagement in activism, discrimination, and mental health in Ontario, Canada. The arts-informed method of body mapping was employed in a workshop format to garner the experiences of 10 nonbinary youth (aged 16-25), in conjunction with additional qualitative meth…
Mixed-blood
In thinking through Indigenous-Blackness in colonial Canada, we explored the ramifications of the intersections of mixed-blood Indigenous-Black identity with colonialism, racism, gender, and social determinants of health, and how the outcomes of such intersections manifest as erasure, racism, and fractured identity. This critical research is nested within the larger Proclaiming Our Roots project, which uses an arts-based community-based methodolo…
Social support, discrimination, and Self-Esteem in LGBTQ + high school and Post-Secondary students
LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, plus) people, compared to their heterosexual and/or cisgender (non-transgender) counterparts, are more likely to be discriminated against based on their gender or sexual identities. Drawing on data from The OutLook Study in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada this paper examines discrimination and social support among high school and post-secondary students, and how they are related to self-esteem.…
The Muslimah Project
Prior research in Europe and North America demonstrates that religious discrimination against Muslim people, commonly known as Islamophobia, results in many negative mental health impacts, including depression, anxiety, isolation, and feelings of exclusion (Awan & Zempi, 2015). In Canada, Muslim women face a unique form of discrimination based on their religious, racial, and gender identities (Helly, 2012; Zine, 2008). Grounded in feminist inters…
Staying safe
Celling Sex was a community-based participatory research project that used a strengths-based approach to explore the agentic harm reduction practices employed by young women who trade sex and learn about their experience accessing health and social services. Fifteen racially diverse young women participated in interviews. They described how they tried to stay safe and advice for others. Each participant also individually made a brief digital vide…
Experiences of discrimination and its impacts on well‐being among racialised LGBTQ+ newcomers living in Waterloo region, Ontario, Canada
Discrimination (i.e. racism, homo/bi/transphobia) at both the individual and systemic levels may negatively impact the well-being of racialised LGBTQ+ newcomers living in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. Current research about the experiences of LGBTQ+ newcomers focuses predominantly on homogeneous samples of gay men living in large metropolitan city centres. The present study aims to extend the current literature by exploring the experiences of…
Getting shut down and shut out
Participants predominantly expressed dissatisfaction in physicians' approaches to care, which were compounded by experiences of racism and discrimination. Findings demonstrate how ACB patients are marginalized and excluded from the healthcare syste Iimplications for better access to care included utilizing community healthcare centres, increasing physicians' capacity around culturally inclusive care, and increasing access to ACB physicians
Exploring community enabling factors associated with recent HIV testing in a regional sample of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men
HIV testing and diagnosis are the gateway into treatment and eventual viral suppression. With gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) persistently over-representing new HIV diagnoses in Canada, combined with the evolving nature of community social connection, an exploration of factors associated with recent HIV testing is warranted. As most studies of GBMSM rely on samples obtained from larger metropolitan regions, examining HI…
I don’t want to have to teach every medical provider’
It is well-known that trans and non-binary individuals experience worse health outcomes due to experiences of violence and discrimination. For this reason, accessible healthcare for trans and non-binary people is crucial. There is a lack of Canadian literature on the experiences of non-binary people within the healthcare system. This study sought to understand barriers to healthcare among non-binary people living in a mid-sized urban/rural region…
Imperial algorithms
In this special issue, we invited contributions that critically examined issues of imperialism, colonialism, power, justice, etc. to expand the canon of anticolonial scholarship and critical scholarship in community psychology. Our two objectives were: (1) to build on the canon of anticolonial and critical race scholarship to cultivate an empirical and theoretical body of work and conceptual frameworks about racism and colonialism within the fiel…
We are mothers, sisters, and lovers too”
In Canada, there is a lack of research that addresses the sexual health and well‐being of African, Caribbean, and Black young women. This paper aims to gather perspectives of young Black women to address the social contexts of how young Black women navigate issues related to sex and sexual health. Young Black women experience unique dynamics in navigating their sexualities and sexual healthcare. The nuanced experiences stem from social contexts w…
Criminal Code reform of HIV non-disclosure is urgently needed
Approaches to incorporating equity into program evaluation
The Medical System Is Not Built for Black [Women’s] Bodies”
While often framed as historical or ‘post’colonial, the pervasive legacies of anti-Black racism, rooted in the afterlives of slavery and the dehumanization of African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) voices, continues to shape the health experiences of young ACB women in Ontario, Canada. Using an intersectional framework, this qualitative study utilized focus groups (n = 24) to understand factors influencing access to sexual and reproductive health se…
Sociology (24 works) · Political science (18 works) · Psychology (17 works) · Gender Studies (14 works) · Medicine (10 works) · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy (8 works) · Qualitative research (8 works) · Gender Studies (7 works) · Indigenous (7 works) · Nursing (7 works)