On working with poison

Reflections on painful empowerment in queer faculty‐student participatory action research

Bibliographic Data

ID11053853
AuthorsLauren F Lichty (0000-0002-1218-7234, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences University of Washington Bothell Seattle Washington USA, corresponding author), Jessica Belmont (Master of Divinity Degree Program Starr King School for the Ministry Berkeley California USA)
Year2023
Volume72
Issue3-4
Pages486-503
Publication date2023-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Community Psychology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-0562 • E-ISSN: 1573-2770
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajcp.12705
PMID37870094
OpenAlexW4387866549
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited20

Human sexuality textbooks, like most social and health sciences products, are notoriously limited in their inclusion of queer, trans, and intersex people. While well‐intentioned faculty (like the first author) do their best to address these limitations, sometimes it isn't enough. Sometimes our texts, and we, cause harm. This paper describes two phases of a participatory action research (PAR) project involving queer, trans, and intersex students and a queer, nonbinary faculty member that intended to address harm tied to a course text, support student empowerment, and move toward action to improve unjust textbook representation. Through first‐person reflective storytelling, we, the faculty member and one student member of the research team, share our approach to “working with poison,” including strategies for infusing trauma‐informed practices into our PAR approach. We reflect on the pain of doing this work, and the ways our approach succeeded and failed. We end with recommendations for individuals, publishers, and institutions looking to minimize harm and promote justice in higher education curriculum

Citizen journalism · Curriculum · Empowerment · Harm · Inclusion (mineral) · Medical education · Participatory action research · Pedagogy · Political science · Public relations · Queer · Sociology · Transgender · Counseling Practices and Supervision · Gender Studies · Law · LGBTQ Health, Identity, and Policy · Medicine · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology

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