Vol. 11, No. 2, 2019
Conflicting Responsibilities: The Multi-Dimensional Ethics of University/Community Partnerships Page 8
Power and Negotiation in a Asset Mapping and Focus Group Usage: University/Community Partnership An Exploration of the Russian-Ukrainian Serving Jewish Teen Girls Page 19 Population’s Need For and Use of Health-Related Community Resources Civic Capacity and Engagement Page 43 in Building Welcoming and Inclusive Communities for Newcomers: Community-Based Participatory Praxis, Recommendations, and Research and Sustainability: Policy Implications Page 31 The Petersburg Wellness Consortium Page 54
JCES11.2 Cover&Spine.indd 1 5/29/19 10:39 AM Save the Date Engagement Scholarship Consortium International Conference Pre-conference: September 13–14, 2020 Main conference: September 15–16, 2020 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Eastern Region Hosts:
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JCES11.2 Cover&Spine.indd 2 5/29/19 10:39 AM Copyright © 2019 by The University of Alabama Division of Community Affairs. All rights reserved. ISSN 1944-1207. Printed by University Printing at The University of Alabama.
JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 1 5/31/19 10:33 AM Publisher Associate Editor, Production Editor/ Samory T. Pruitt, PhD Student and Community Web Producer Vice President, Division of Engagement Karyn Bowen Community Affairs Katherine Richardson Bruna, PhD Marketing Manager The University of Alabama Professor, School of Education Division of Community Affairs Iowa State University The University of Alabama Editor Marybeth Lima, PhD Editorial Assistant Assistant to the Editor Cliff and Nancy Spanier Edward Mullins, PhD Krystal Dozier, Doctoral Student Alumni Professor Director, Communication and School of Social Work Louisiana State University Research, Center for Community- The University of Alabama Based Partnerships Associate Editor The University of Alabama Student Associate Editor Andrew J. Pearl, PhD Linda Pei, PhD, Director, Community Engagement Editorial Assistant Assistant Professor in Research and Publications Diane Kennedy-Jackson International Education The University of Alabama Publications Coordinator Shanghai Urban Construction Associate Editor, Division of Community Affairs Vocational College Book Reviews The University of Alabama Katherine Rose Adams, PhD Assistant Professor, Teacher Education University of North Georgia
EDITORIAL BOARD
Marsha H. Adams, PhD Doyle Carter, PhD David J. Edelman, PhD Dean, College of Nursing Professor and Director of the Quality Professor and Master of Community The University of Alabama-Huntsville Enhancement Plan/Center for Planning Coordinator, Urban and Community Engagement Regional Planning Andrea Adolph, PhD Department of Kinesiology University of Cincinnati Director, Academic Affairs, and Angelo State University Associate Professor of English and Hiram E. Fitzgerald, PhD Women’s Studies Richard L. Conville, PhD Associate Provost, University Department of Women’s, Gender, (retired) Outreach and Engagement, and Sexuality Studies Professor, Communication Studies and Professor of Psychology Penn State-New Kensington The University of Southern Michigan State University Mississippi Katrice A. Albert, PhD Nancy Franz, PhD Vice President, Equity and Diversity Virginia Cope, PhD Professor Emeritus, School University of Minnesota Assistant Dean and Associate of Education Professor, Department of English Iowa State University Anna Sims Bartel, PhD Ohio State University-Newark Associate Director, Engaged Philip A. Greasley, PhD Learning and Research Susan Curtis, PhD Associate Provost, University Cornell University Professor, School of Engagement Interdisciplinary Studies University of Kentucky Lola Baydala, MD, MSc, FRCP Purdue University Professor of Pediatrics Sulina Green, PhD Faculty of Medicine Mary Elizabeth Curtner-Smith, Professor, Department of Social Work University of Alberta PhD Stellenbosch University Associate Professor, Department Alice M. Buchanan, PhD of Human Development and Valerie Holton, PhD Associate Professor, School of Family Studies, College of Human Director, Community-Engaged Kinesiology, College of Education Environmental Sciences Research Auburn University The University of Alabama Virginia Commonwealth University Delicia Carey, PhD Susan S. Jakes, PhD Statistician, Centers for Disease Sandra De Urioste-Stone, PhD Extension Assistant Professor and Control and Prevention Assistant Professor, Center for Associate State Program Leader Atlanta, Georgia Research on Sustainable Forests, for Community Development School of Forest Resources North Carolina State University The University of Maine
Vol. 11, No. 2—JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND SCHOLARSHIP—Page 2
JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 2 5/31/19 10:33 AM EDITORIAL BOARD (CONTINUED) Kimberly L. King-Jupiter, PhD dt ogilvie, PhD Nick Sanyal, PhD (retired) Professor, College Professor, Center for Urban Professor, Natural Resources of Education Entrepreneurship, Saunders and Society Tennessee State University College of Business University of Idaho Rochester Institute of Technology William Kisaalita, PhD Amilcar Shabazz, PhD Professor, College of Engineering Jacob Oludoye Oluwoye, PhD Professor, Department of University of Georgia Associate Professor, Community Afro-American Studies Planning and Urban Studies University of Massachusetts- J. Robert Krueger, PhD Alabama A&M University Amherst Associate Professor and Director, Timothy Shaffer, PhD Environmental and Sustainability Michael E. Orok, PhD Assistant Professor, Department Studies; Co-director, London Dean, School of Humanities of Communication Studies Project Center; and Director, and Social Sciences Kansas State University Worcester Community Project Virginia Union University Center Cassandra Simon, PhD Worcester Polytechnic Institute Judith Owens-Manley, PhD Associate Professor, School of Director, Center for Community Social Work James Leeper, PhD Engagement & Learning and The University of Alabama Professor, Community and Rural Chair, Civic Engagement Medicine, College of Community Certificate Program L. Steven Smutko, PhD Health Sciences University of Alaska Anchorage Professor and Spicer Chair of The University of Alabama Collaborative Practice, Haub Josephine Pryce, PhD School of Environment and Robert C. Liebman, PhD Associate Professor, School of Natural Resources, Department Professor, Department of Social Work of Agricultural and Applied Sociology The University of Alabama Economics Portland State University Rhoda Reddix, PhD University of Wyoming Antoinette Lombard, PhD Associate Professor, Program Jessica Averitt Taylor, PhD Professor and Head of the Director Service Learning Assistant Professor, Department Department of Social Work Franciscan Missionaries of Counseling, Social Work, and Criminology of Our Lady University and Leadership University of Pretoria Scott Reed, PhD Northern Kentucky University Vice Provost, Division of Outreach Kimberley Mangun, PhD Kim L. Wilson, PhD and Engagement Professor and Director of the Associate Professor, Oregon State University Department of Communication Landscape Architecture Program The University of Utah and Community and Regional Susan Reiser, MS Planning, College of Architecture Lee Miller, PhD Associate Dean of Natural University of Nebraska-Lincoln Associate Professor, Department Sciences of Sociology University of North Carolina Sam Houston State University at Asheville Robert L. Miller, Jr., PhD Howard B. Rosing, PhD Associate Professor, School of Executive Director, The Irwin W. Social Welfare Steans Center for Community- University of Albany-SUNY Based Service-learning and Community Service Studies Mary Ann Murphy, PhD DePaul University Professor, Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Sunil Saigal, PhD Communication Studies Professor, Department of Civil and Pace University Environmental Engineering New Jersey Institute of Technology
The Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship is published at The University of Alabama by the Division of Community Affairs to advance the scholarship of engagement worldwide. To reach the editor, send an email to [email protected] or call 205-348-4480. See also www.jces.ua.edu.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 3 5/31/19 10:33 AM Contents
Message from the Editor BOOK REVIEWS Marybeth Lima Page 5 Instructions to Book Reviewers Page 67
Message from the Associate Editor Creating Spaces for Transformative Civic Andrew Pearl Page 7 Engagement in Higher Education Page 68 Felipe A. Filemeno Conflicting Responsibilities: Using Storytelling as an Effective The Multi-Dimensional Ethics of Teaching Tool and Community Builder University/Community Partnerships Page 70 Page 8 Rebecca Rose Stephen Danley and Gayle Christiansen Engaged Research as a Tool for Change Power and Negotiation in a at Different Levels Page 73 University/Community Partnership Amanda Wittman Serving Jewish Teen Girls Page 19 The Potential of Collective Impact: Beth S. Catlett, Amira Proweller, Moving the Work of Literacy Coalitions and Sonya Crabtree-Nelson Forward Page 75 Terry S. Atkinson Civic Capacity and Engagement and Kimberly L. Anderson in Building Welcoming and Inclusive Communities for Newcomers: Praxis, Recommendations, and MISSION AND DESCRIPTION Page 78 Policy Implications Page 31 INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS/ Michael Guo-Brennan and MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION Page 79 Linyuan Guo-Brennan
Asset Mapping and Focus Group Usage: An Exploration of the Russian-Ukrainian Population’s Need For and Use of Health-Related Community Resources Page 43 Jennifer C. Anglin, Tina Kruger Newsham, and Matthew Hutchins
Community-Based Participatory Research and Sustainability: The Petersburg Wellness Consortium Page 54 Maghboeba Mosavel, Jodi Winship, Valerie Liggins, Tiffany Cox, Mike Roberts, and Debra Jones
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 4 5/31/19 10:33 AM The Year of Less Is More
From the Editor
Dr. Marybeth Lima is the Cliff and Nancy Spanier Alumni Professor at Louisiana State University
Greetings and happy spring from the Journal At another conference, I was able to interact in of Community Engagement and Scholarship! I am a small discussion group with Julie Hatcher, who writing this column in my home office in south spoke about how her career was centered around Louisiana; from my chair, I can see that all the the critical importance of structured reflection. trees in my backyard have fully budded out. I am And how, after many years of being ensconced in also watching two Carolina wrens working hard this paradigm, she has come to the conclusion that on building a nest on the back porch. Spring is a time the unstructured, unscripted conversation can of transition and of dynamic change. be every bit as transformative as the structured, I am in transition myself; on December 31, scripted one. She came to this conclusion because 2018, I stepped down from serving as the director of in her research, people often cited an unstructured, LSU’s Center for Community Engagement, Learning, unscripted conversation as the epiphany that led and Leadership, after serving in this 50% time them fully into engagement. administrative capacity for eight and a half years. Her story reminds me that sometimes, it’s I’ve been a faculty member for twenty-two the things that you don’t intend that wind up and a half years, long enough to recognize that being transformative, like the way that a child will I’ve experienced several “career chapters.” I realize play with the box rather than the toy inside it. Or that at this moment, I am in one of those “between the way that the pool at the hotel is more fun than chapters” places. I also know that I tend to work the trip to Disney. “nose to grindstone” for long periods of time, like the Being deliberate about being unscripted has line in the Steve Winwood song “Back in the High already felt, to this point, like something of a Life”: “But when you’re born to run it’s so hard to Renaissance, and a taking back of time. Three of just slow down.” the six members of my undergraduate research And so in this current transition, I am team are graduating this semester. I am recognizing endeavoring to be fallow on purpose, that is, to tie how privileged I am to spend time with them as up a couple of things I’ve been working on, while they prepare for their next life chapters, and how making a conscious effort to NOT jump into the next appreciative I am of our unhurried conversations. thing just yet—even though I know what it is. If my nose had been on the grindstone, I My motto for spring 2019 (and I’m contemplating wouldn’t have remembered that one of my students making it my motto for the entirety of 2019) is “less who graduated last year was traveling to Baylor is more.” to interview for the second time in two years for I had the pleasure of listening to Tania Mitchell the graduate program of his dreams. I shared his during a conference keynote, where she talked about disappointment (and surprise) when he didn’t get surveying former civically engaged students years in the first time—this year, I remembered to get later, and finding that, at least in the eyes of Tania in touch to encourage and to try to smooth jitters and her colleagues, these former students were shortly before he walked into the interview. Some living admirable lives of service as professionals and ten days later, I was treated to this former national citizens. And yet, almost all of this cohort talked weightlifting champion contacting me while he was about how they weren’t doing enough, and weren’t sobbing in the gym, in the middle of his workout, satisfied with their actions. Tania shared that this because he just found out that he got in to Baylor. result made her wonder if we as civic engagement Another part of this Renaissance has been taking practitioners inculcate part of that ethos—that what a little more time to read. And there is much to read, you do is never enough. Her story has made me and to read about, in this issue of JCES, starting wonder as well—and I’m sitting with these thoughts with Associate Editor Drew Pearl’s column on the in this fallow, in-between space. changing nature of academic publishing. Research
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 5 5/31/19 10:33 AM articles detail new approaches to addressing timeless issues in community engagement, including negotiating power structures and ethical issues, as well as timely issues involving immigrant access to welcoming communities and effective health care. A practice-based article shares the story of success and struggle in transforming a community/university partnership into a community-based consortium. And four book reviews provide insight into in-depth studies on transformative civic engagement, storytelling, engaged research, and collective impact. I hope that you enjoy this issue of JCES and this season of transformation.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 6 5/31/19 10:33 AM Open Access Publishing for Community Engagement From the Associate Editor
Dr. Andrew Pearl is director of Community Engagement, Research, and Publications in the Center for Community-Based Partnerships at The University of Alabama
“U. of California System Cancels Elsevier In community engagement, we understand Subscriptions, Calling Move a Win for Open Access” that knowledge and expertise from outside the — Chronicle of Higher Education, February 28, 2019 academy is fundamental to the work we do. JCES was founded on the tenet of “authentic community “UC Drops Elsevier” — Inside Higher Ed, March 1, 2019 engagement,” which includes purposeful consider- ation of how the results of our community-engaged These headlines jumped to the top of the higher scholarship are disseminated. If this is the case, education news cycle as we turned our calendars what message would we be sending to our commu- from February to March this year. Elsevier is among nity partners and other stakeholders if the scholarly the most widely known academic publishers, and artifacts of our work end up being hidden behind according to their website, they seek to “help insti- a subscription or other paywall? We might as well tutions and professionals advance healthcare, open be telling our partners that even though they were science and improve performance for the benefit essential to the work at every step along the way, of humanity. Combining content with technology, they are not allowed to have access to our esoteric supported by operational efficiency, we turn informa- academic publications. tion into actionable knowledge. Elsevier empowers Academic journals like JCES provide scholars, knowledge, which empowers those who use it” practitioners, students, and community members (https://www.elsevier.com/about). the opportunity to share their work with a much According to the Chronicle’s story, the University broader audience. For faculty members, it is of California (UC) system’s contract with Elsevier important to have their work recognized through a cost around $10 million a year for access to a wide rigorous peer-review process that legitimizes their range of academic journals published through community engagement as a scholarly endeavor. Elsevier. Time will tell if this will be a harbinger of For professional staff and administrators, it is valu- things to come and the first in a long line of univer- able to be able to share best practices and lessons sities canceling their expensive subscriptions with learned. Students not only are given a pathway for academic publishers, but this certainly has garnered involvement in the research process, but are also a great deal of interest, and the academic publishing shown ways to think about what they are learning in community is paying very close attention. a broader context. We often associate spring with a time for new For community members, publishing in an beginnings, and this move could potentially repre- academic journal validates them as valued contrib- sent an interesting shift in how we think about utors to the knowledge enterprise. The articles academic publishing—a shift at which the field of published in JCES are intended to demonstrate that community engagement is at the forefront. As stated students and community members play a central in the Chronicle headline, the UC System’s cancella- role in scholarship, and to paraphrase Ernest Boyer tion of their Elsevier subscription is being lauded as (1990), disseminating this work across the world in a “win” for the open access publishing movement. an openly accessible way goes a long way toward JCES is an open access journal, which is defined by keeping the flame of scholarship alive (p. 24). the Directory of Open Access Journals as publications that “use a funding model that does not charge Reference readers or their institutions for access” (https://doaj. Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: org/faq#definition). In fact, a large majority of the Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, NJ: The highest profile journals in the community engage- Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of ment field operate on a model of open access, which Teaching. I think is something of which we can all be proud.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 7 5/31/19 10:33 AM Conflicting Responsibilities: The Multi-Dimensional Ethics of University/Community Partnerships
Stephen Danley and Gayle Christiansen
Abstract While there have been sharp critiques of university/community partnerships, most assume a dichotomous relationship in which universities privilege their own interests over those of community. There has been little theorizing or investigation of ethical responsibilities involved in such partnerships, and even less that acknowledges that communities are rarely unified and contain multiple different perspectives (Ladson-Billings, 1998). Using the principles of action research and reflective practice, we examine two cases of university/community partners as a means to investigate ethical responsibilities. Our cases demonstrate that there are multi-dimensional ethical responsibilities and that they have the potential to conflict with one another. That has dramatic implications for institutions hosting university/community partnerships. We argue that future research should examine the role of community boards as an oversight mechanism grounded in community that can address the often conflicting multi-dimensional ethical responsibilities within such partnerships from a community perspective.
Introduction a networked community and university context. Universities have simultaneously pushed Those representing universities struggle to fulfill for civic engagement and partnerships with their ethical responsibilities to a myriad of local surrounding community (Ehrlich, 2000), while stakeholders, including university students, parents, largely exempting such partnerships from municipalities, nonprofits, and others. formal ethics processes such as the Institutional Ethical activity within community partnerships Review Board (IRB). While such partnerships is not simply the result of IRB-mandated actions have largely been lauded, particularly in urban such as consent and minimizing risk. Ethical universities where many university/community partnerships require attention to conflicting relationships have a troubling history, there are responsibilities on both the individual and university an increasing number of scholars criticizing such level. Here we focus on the wider ecosystem of partnerships as reifying local power structures ethical processes found in the university setting, and taking advantage of communities (Cruz & a critical issue because the IRB process only covers Giles, 2000; Bortolin, 2011). Embedded within the researcher-research subject relationship. these critiques is an acknowledgment of a complex We recommend that universities incorporate a ethical framework of such partnerships, but this community advisory board to ensure attention complexity is rarely explicitly studied or theorized. to these complex ethical challenges that often In this paper, we use two case studies to show the happen outside the purview of IRB. Such boards multi-dimensionality of ethical responsibilities require further study but have potential to in such partnerships. We develop both theory for incorporate community voice in ways that help addressing this multi-dimensionality and apply ensure community is treated ethically across that theory to the institutional level. the university. That is of critical importance in a Our paper is grounded in a pair of partnerships. networked system with multi-dimensional and The first is between Rutgers University-Camden conflicting ethical responsibilities. and the Latin American Economic Development Association (LAEDA), and the second between Literature Review the university and North Camden Schools (New The planning discipline challenges itself to Jersey). These partnerships demonstrate the engage community actors directly, and as a result complex web of ethical responsibilities that we, has begun to address the myriad complexities of as faculty and staff of an urban university, face its ethical responsibilities. Qualitative researchers when engaging in local partnerships. Faculty and across sociology, anthropology, public policy, staff, working on behalf of the university, face and other fields have adopted community-centric multi-dimensional ethical responsibilities across methodologies such as participatory action research
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 8 5/31/19 10:33 AM (Whyte, 1991) and questioned the ethics of the sharp critiques of these partnerships. Hartman research world (Holman, 1987). Universities have (2013) chastises universities for foregoing their been called to engage more directly with local role as institutions that promote democracy, community through partnerships and community seeing instead institutions too intent on remaining service learning (Ehrlich, 2000), but such calls apolitical. Others (Cruz & Giles, 2000) argue that have largely avoided critical perspectives and community voices and community priorities explicit conversations about ethics. Some research are too often missing from such partnerships. celebrates the role of universities (Colby, Ehrlich, And Bortolin (2011) argues that universities are Beaumont, & Stephens, 2003) while a second layer serving themselves by privileging universities of research is critical of such partnerships (Cruz over the communities with whom they work. & Giles, 2000; Bortolin, 2011). Here we bridge such Some explicitly call for a social justice orientation critiques to widen disciplinary discussions about to address these challenges (Marullo & Edwards, complex ethical responsibilities across disciplines 2000). Each of these critiques indicates that there and university/community partnerships, a process is a complex moral and ethical world underpinning that informs our examination of our case studies. such partnerships, but unlike in other disciplines, Calls for universities to engage communities this literature does little to explicitly lay out such through service learning, civic engagement, and ethical complexities or build wider theory on scholarship are nothing new. John Dewey (1897) how to address them. These critiques are the famously called for such pedagogical advances starting point for our own examination, but also more than a century ago. Ehrlich (2000, p. vi) a launching point to examine the complexity of defines civic engagement as “working to make these ethical responsibilities. a difference in the civic life of our communities The practice of civic engagement draws and developing the combination of knowledge, heavily on theories of participatory planning, skills, values and motivation to make that communicative action, and advocacy. In working difference. It means promoting the quality of with communities, the planner plays the active life in a community, through both political and role of critical listening and works alongside non-political processes.” Service learning is one community members to design through way to extend student experiences beyond the inclusionary dialogue and the practice of making classroom (Kenworthy-U’Ren, Zlotkowski, & Van sense together (Forester, 1988). The conversation de Ven, 2005). There is also a call for increased is a collaborative effort that builds new networks scholarship of engagement, a returning of the and can lead to citizen empowerment (Innes & university to solve the greatest issues in society Booher, 2004). Davidoff (1965) calls for planners and contribute to the common good (Boyer, 1996). to be advocates for the individuals they work Lynton (1994) argues against the linear flow of with in order to uphold democratic values. knowledge from the university to practitioners, Similarly, qualitative researchers have long describing its creation as an ecosystem that has pointed to the need for a wider ethical frame. many directions and feedback loops in which Holman (1987) writes about the critical link discovery, teaching, reflecting, and sharing between social science research and action. He all generate new knowledge that can become draws heavily on feminist literature (see Oakley, scholarship. The most important issues of the 1981, p. 40) that points out that viewing qualitative time cannot be solved with technical rationality interviews as the extraction of knowledge is from the Ivory Tower, but are found outside insufficient: where methods are arguably less scientific and the potential learning is more relevant (Schon, Interviewers define the role of interviewees 1995). As such, the civic engagement discussion in as subordinates; extracting information is the university setting is largely divorced from the more valuable than yielding it; the convention wider discussion about declining civic engagement of interviewer/interviewee hierarchy is a in the United States (Putnam, 1995; Levin, 2017; rationalisation of inequity; what is good Clark & Eisenstein, 2013). Instead, universities are for interviewers is not necessarily good for increasing such activities in an attempt to meet interviewees. demand for experiential learning. While university/community partnerships are Rather than this rational approach, ethical often lauded, academics have developed several interviews need be seen as multi-directional,
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 9 5/31/19 10:33 AM with the questions coming from interviewees Many advantages have been found regarding a critical part of the process. Indeed, to fail practitioners in research processes, including a to answer such questions would be an ethical research output that is more useful to those in the failing, a failure to treat interviewees like humans field. We believe that to be the case in our paper. (Holman, 1987). The robust debate surrounding In the ethnographic tradition, there is a Alice Goffman’s (2015a) ethnographic research wide-ranging debate surrounding the concept of in West Philadelphia points to a similar theme. “going native,” a term originally believed to be African-American scholars point to the danger coined by Malinowski (1922). Malinowski argues of cultural appropriation, and question whether that such an immersion is necessary. While this this was Goffman’s story to tell (Sharpe, 2014). has traditionally been considered a conflict Others challenge the ethical nature of her with the “objective” position of the researcher involvement in potentially violent activities, (Gold, 1958), scholars increasingly question even going so far as to indicate that her actions whether such objectivity is possible (Minh-Ha, constituted a felony for conspiracy to commit 2009; Harding, 1987; Rosaldo, 1993). Others argue homicide (Lubet, 2014), or that she failed in her that connecting personally to qualitative research ethical obligation to give information to police subjects can lead to increased access and better officers regarding open crime investigations information (Fenno, 1978). A third view has (Lubet, 2014). Goffman’s vigorous response to recently championed the idea of “being native” such critiques (Goffman, 2015b) points to a rather than going native (Kanuha, 2000). Kanuha complex ethical landscape with multiple ethical argues that being a member of the community to responsibilities. be studied can bring critical context and Both planning and qualitative research have understanding to a research project. traditions and a broad theoretical base for This concept is of particular importance to any understanding ethical responsibilities. Both point university/community partnership, as such a focus to the complicated nature of these ethical on civic engagement encourages faculty and staff responsibilities. University/community partnerships to live in the community surrounding campus and require a similar examination to avoid the abuse of to engage in research in this community. The power. We use these concepts of a complex ethical ideology behind university civic engagement traces framework with multiple actors to analyze our two the same lines as Kanuha’s arguments. Such case studies of university/community partnerships. concepts are doubly important in this case, as we are not just university employees but local residents Methods and activists. Such context proved critical, not just This paper draws on several research traditions. in the carrying out of the community partnerships, First and foremost is reflective practice (Schon, but in our reflective process of researching 1995). Reflective practice captures knowledge them. At times, these partnerships bordered on created by the process of doing, or in other controversial local conflicts and policies, and our words, action. Reflection-in-action “makesknowledge as residents helped them navigate these explicit the action strategies, assumptions, models troubled waters. But, as seen in the discussion of of the world, or problem-settings that were ethical responsibilities, the additional identity of implicit” (Schon, 1995, pp. 30–31). The scholar resident, built on top of university representative, or practitioner can then reflect on the reflection- led to ethical challenges. in-action, further pulling apart and analyzing Finally, this research is based upon a pair of the action and the “strategies, assumptions, or case studies. George and Bennett (2005, p. 5) problem-settings implicit in a whole repertoire of argue that, “the case study approach—the detailed situational responses” (Schon, 1995, p. 31). This examination of an aspect of a historical episode to type of knowledge cannot be created in a laboratory develop or test historical explanations that may be experiment and must rely on action research. generalized to other events—has come in and out Similarly, participatory action research (Whyte, of favor over the past five decades.” These methods 1991) embeds the views of a practitioner in all are appropriate here because of the need not to stages of research. Our research and authorship generalize directly to the wider array of university/ team includes the director of an after-school community partnerships, but to build basic theory program who has participated in defining, on ethical responsibilities as exist in fields such conducting, writing, and presenting this research. as planning and in the broader study of qualitative
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 10 5/31/19 10:33 AM research. In-depth examination of case studies is similar to a role played by the city of Camden’s ideal for building such theory (Eisenhardt, 1989). tourism office. However, community stakeholders In summary, our research occurs at the pushed back, arguing that there were more critical intersection of multiple qualitative traditions. From things to use the (hypothetical) funds for in city case studies to reflective practice, participatory government. During the course of that meeting, action research to ethnography as a “native,” this DVRPC proposed using students to conduct research focuses on in-depth examination of the reviews as a viable alternative. Our class added ethical responsibilities of university/community the reviews to the syllabus, and to the existing partnerships. Such a strategy intentionally embeds partnership with LAEDA. As a result, Rutgers perspectives of residents and practitioners into University-Camden students helped promote Dine all stages of the research process, embracing the Around, attended Dine Around, and wrote more idea that such perspectives lead to a well-rounded than 70 restaurant reviews the following semester. and deeper analysis of the cases in practice (see The shift in the focus of the partnership reflected Kanuha, 2000). the ways we were juggling a number of different In this paper, we examine two cases of ethical responsibilities. community partnerships in which we participated. A clear responsibility was to our students. The first is a loose affiliation of nonprofits, classes, Because Dine Around days were on Fridays during an informal group of friends, and a planning lunch and many of my students worked during authority organized by a faculty member. The that time, having students focus on restaurant second is a more formal partnership between reviews was a far more effective education strategy. Rutgers University-Camden and the North They could do reviews on their own time, but Camden Schools run by university staff. In each the assignment helped them get out of downtown case, the collaborations were grounded in local and experience firsthand the ways that development community and local issues. was reaching other neighborhoods in the city. But the increased focus on restaurant reviews Faculty Partnership and Multi-Dimensional directly conflicted with the original ethical Ethics obligation to LAEDA—to support the Dine Around The first partnership was between our Rutgers program as a way to support local businesses. As the University-Camden class and the Latin American partnership went on, LAEDA became concerned Economic Development Authority (LAEDA). that the partnership was focusing more on the Students in two classes worked with LAEDA to DVRPC’s suggestion of conducting restaurant promote Dine Around Friday, as well as produce reviews than on the Dine Around program, which online restaurant reviews for a variety of local was seeing a drop in attendance and publicity in Camden restaurants. In both classes, students its second year. studied Camden and Camden’s economic Similarly, we had an ethical responsibility development strategy and history as an academic toward the restaurants themselves. The DVRPC complement to the partnership. LAEDA’s Dine had been shocked when conducting their research Around was a direct response to these current regarding a Camden Food Plan that restaurants and historical policy issues. The program linked had prominent reviews on Yelp which cited not downtown institutions to ethnic restaurants by the food, but rather criticized the city, saying providing a fixed-price lunch special on Fridays not to visit the restaurant because one might get once a month. Rutgers University-Camden supported shot. In sending students, most of whom had little the effort by running a bus from campus to the experience in an urban environment beyond the lunch (paid for by the Office of Civic Engagement) confines of Rutgers University-Camden’s campus, and students organized an advertising campaign reviews had the potential to be damaging rather on campus. than constructive. Students needed to be trained As this collaboration was beginning, the both in how to write reviews—though they caught Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission on quickly to the informal writing style of online (DVRPC) reached out to me regarding its Camden review services like Yelp—and made aware that Food Plan. An early draft of the food plan included their lack of cultural experience or exposure to a recommendation to raise grant money for ethnic food could cause them to write unwarranted a position inside Camden city government to negative reviews. This was specifically addressed promote and provide reviews for local restaurants, within the curriculum, as well as in class time
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 11 5/31/19 10:33 AM when students were asked to reflect and share their particularly those with political ambitions, about the experiences. political implications of their work within the class. Just as there were ethical responsibilities to These conflicts may seem small. On the surface, students, LAEDA and the restaurants, we faced they point toward the critiques laid out within the ethical challenge of what was best for the the literature, that university partnerships are wider community, a question that intersected inclined to focus more on university needs than with my own political beliefs as a resident of that community needs. But this partnership also points community. to something more complex: the many multi- The underpinning theory behind working with dimensional ethical responsibilities within each LAEDA, DVRPC, and each individual restaurant university/community partnership, and that at was that doing so had the potential, in a small way, times, these responsibilities may conflict with one to help the city. Supporting local restaurants another. As faculty, we have responsibilities to our through Dine Around and reviews could help local students that may conflict with our responsibilities businesses to tap into dollars that typically fled to our partners or even our own communities. Camden in cars at the end of the workday. While this strategy seems relatively innocuous, it was a Staff Partnership and Multi-Dimensional Ethics critique of local politicians and their development Just as with the LAEDA partnership, our strategy. The CEO of LAEDA started Dine Around partnership with Camden public schools, called in part as a contrast to what residents saw as Ignite, faced a variety of multi-dimensional and downtown-centric development strategies that conflicting ethical responsibilities. This partnership rarely reached neighborhoods. The historical began in 2010, when the Rutgers University-Camden’s decision to invest much of the $175 million granted fledgling Office of Civic Engagement met with by the state in 2002 (Katz, 2009) in downtown Camden public schools to see what it could do to institutions was particularly frustrating for support education in the city. The superintendent, residents who saw few jobs from Rutgers noting the loss of after-school programming due to University-Camden, Cooper Hospital, a downtown state budget cuts, committed funds to provide baseball stadium, aquarium, and concert venue. A programming to the three Camden public schools similar initiative providing tax breaks to major in the North Camden neighborhood, the closest companies recently passed through the state neighborhood to the Rutgers University-Camden legislature. The Economic Opportunity Act campus. This initiative, started with work-study allowed multiple companies to move into the city, students serving a handful of students at each including Subaru, Holtec, and the Philadelphia school, ballooned into a program to serve more 76ers, a basketball team that built their practice than 300 students a day, multiple partners to provide facility in the city. Activists argued that Camden programming, and a much larger paid student residents themselves would see few jobs (Lamboy, work force after Rutgers University-Camden won a 2015), and that the record of urban trickle-down five-year, $500,000 a year, 21st Century Community economics was poor in the city (Katz, 2009). Learning Centers grant from the New Jersey LAEDA was engaging in Dine Around and its Department of Education in the summer of 2012. broader food strategy as a strategic way of showing (Retrieved from https://www.camden.rutgers.edu/ alternatives, that politicians instead of handing civic-engagement/camden-ignite.) Additional funds out close to a billion dollars in tax breaks to came with greater accountability for a wider array companies could support local businesses. But it of programming. The stakes were now much higher. was a deeply political act, one that carried an One of us was the director of Ignite and had implicit critique of existing officials. That critique a direct ethical obligation to university students. became explicit when the LAEDA CEO ran for Students run and manage the Ignite program. mayor in the next electoral cycle. They participate as assistant teachers, known Students reported back to me that these political as education ambassadors, managers of site considerations impacted them moving forward. operations, known as site coordinators, and Two separate students reported being questioned club facilitators, or students who teach different about their relationship with a “radical professor” enrichment clubs. Outside grant requirements when interviewing for jobs within the city— and goals, the university has the additional goal which they thought was a reference to us and the for Rutgers University-Camden students to class. We have had frank discussions with others, enhance their education through participating
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 12 5/31/19 10:33 AM in this off-campus experience. In Ignite, Rutgers professionals, and we focused on Rutgers University-Camden students engage directly in University-Camden student retention because firsthand issues of urban education, poverty, and veteran student staff could more easily engage and sociology. In building trust with families and youth manage large groups of students. they learn responsibility and leadership that will We also had an ethical responsibility to transcend to their future careers. Former Ignite program partners that, in some cases, receive grant ambassadors and site coordinators have leveraged funds to teach different enrichment clubs such as their experiences in the program to land ideal choir, visual arts, aquatic science, and athletics like careers after graduation, several as full-time staff cycling, tennis, and soccer. The relationship with working in these same schools. each partner is different as each has its own needs, The Rutgers University-Camden students bring their reasons for partnership with Ignite differ, and to Ignite a passion for working with youth. At some their goals do not always align with those of the school sites where teachers are overworked and university or the grant-maker; at times the needs of burned out, they are a burst of energy at the end of partners conflicted with one another and program the day. The students are not, however, seasoned goals. For instance, we found tennis coaches teaching veterans. The Rutgers University-Camden taking a good amount of program time having students often struggle with managing student students learn about healthy eating at the expense behavior and planning engaging lessons given of practicing on the court. Through discussions their inexperience. When regular staff observe with the tennis partner staff, we learned one of unaccompanied students in the hallway or a their funding sources required them to spend Rutgers University-Camden student unable to a certain amount of time teaching nutrition. quiet a loud classroom, they question Ignite’s From a program standpoint, we already had the ability to provide academic enrichment for their Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing youth. This model of Rutgers University-Camden providing youth nutrition lessons as it provided students managing and leading Ignite presents an nursing students real-world health education ethical dilemma because even though it reaches experience. By having our tennis partners focus university goals of students enhancing their on similar topics, the students were doubling academic learning through real-world experience, up on nutrition at the expense of learning a new using student staff in this way conflicts with the sport. To resolve this issue, the tennis partners goals promised to school administrators and were able to have conversations with their other perhaps students and families to keep students safe funders regarding how Ignite can show that the and learning. It is also unfair to the Rutgers students receive the nutrition education. In many University-Camden students, who are thrown into ways the tennis partner could show their funders a position for which they are not prepared. increased outcomes because with a different To help resolve this dilemma, we had to change partner assisting in nutrition education, they can the model. One change was the creation of the spend more time on tennis skills. What looked like Master Teacher role. This individual is a school-day a conflict between partners emerged as a synergy teacher who co-manages the site with the student upon closer inspection. site coordinator. The Master Teacher knows the We also had an ethical responsibility to the students well from working during the school schools with whom we partner. These partnerships day and has the experience to step in and assist have become increasingly challenging as the with managing classrooms if issues arise. And the educational landscape of the North Camden Rutgers University-Camden students still receive neighborhood changes. When Ignite began in 2012, leadership and management experience. Another the neighborhood had three district schools all shift we made was toward additional school-day managed by the Camden Board of Education and teachers to teach clubs after school, and to provide one parochial school managed by the Catholic Rutgers University-Camden students with set Partnership Schools. In 2013, the state took control plans and activities. This took the Rutgers of the school district, appointing a superintendent University-Camden students out of the role of and making the school board advisory. Camden writing lessons, for which they lacked expertise. Public Schools became the Camden City School We also added professional development for District. This created changes to the North Camden students at weekly meetings in order for them Schools. One school has been closed and a second to gain additional skills held by school-based transformed into a Renaissance School (a New
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 13 5/31/19 10:33 AM Jersey construct in which the school is open to requirements of program partners, school leaders, those in the neighborhood, public money supports or the university goals in themselves. We found the school, and the school is operated by a charter ourselves alone at times in this pursuit for quality management organization), a traditional charter programming for our North Camden students and also opened, leaving only one original district families as some students were wrapped up with school remaining. gaining their experience in the field, the university As all those at the Camden Public Schools who seemed focused on promoting the program as part first came to the table with Rutgers University- of its growing reputation as a civically engaged Camden to voice the need for after-school institution, and the schools at times focused programming are no longer with the school district, on keeping the youth busy. We found ourselves there is a continual need to pitch the Ignite program asking, who ensures we are being responsible for and prove the ability to meet school leader needs. the needs of the youth given the other competing However, as with some partners, we found some priorities? And what would happen if we weren’t school leader visions do not align with Rutgers motivated by the need for social justice? How University-Camden goals or grant expectations. would such a program with potential to provide For instance, at one school site the school leader greater opportunity be expected to do so? thought Ignite should focus on math and literacy test prep in order to increase standardized test Reconceptualizing Ethical Responsibilities as scores. In her opinion, there was no room for Multi-Dimensional and Conflicting enrichment. Then, at a different school a push for Wessels (2015) asks what are the ethical obligations educational enrichment proved challenging for the and responsibilities of community partnerships. That reason that school leadership believed the school question reorients our understanding of the ethics of day challenged students enough and that after- university/community partnerships. Many critiques school time was best utilized for relaxing. These of these partnerships focus on a dichotomy of beliefs clashed with grant requirements to show university and community. Doing so makes a positive outcomes in enrichment activities. It took mistake often found in education settings, assuming multiple conversations from different stakeholders there is one unified community rather than a diverse to show test scores could increase through the array of interests (Ladson-Billings, 1998). Our cases inquiry based, hands-on approaches pursued in show something similar. In our cases, there were a the enrichment clubs. Trying to meet the needs multitude of ethical relationships and responsibilities of what seems to be constantly changing school within each partnership. Our cases and experiences models and leaders is exhausting. The only relief point to the need to reconceptualize the ethical seems to be North Camden youth and families who responsibilities of university/community partnerships have not changed over this time period and who as multi-dimensional and potentially conflicting. have become some of Ignite’s strongest advocates. This type of a shift has already happened in other With the university focused on university disciplines. For example, our understanding of student experiences, partners paying attention to government and governance have shifted to consider the needs of their funders, boards, missions, and the impact of networks (see Kooiman, 1993; Sørenson school leadership still trying to make sense of a & Torfing, 2005). Our cases indicate the same needs changing school landscape, we wondered: who happen within the study of university/community was concerned about the needs of our youth? We partnerships. They need to be reconceptualized as believed the most important program constituency networks rather than a dichotomy between university are North Camden students and their families. and community. The Ignite mission is to spark student discovery From that starting point, a model of networked through exposing students to new opportunities university/community relationships emerges from and to create lifelong learners. This is not our case studies. The model starts with two tenets an explicit goal of the grant, the university, drawn from the extensive literature, then adds two partners, or the schools, but in getting to know tenets from our case studies: the students, their stories, and their families, coupled with my experience as a former teacher, 1. University/community partnerships are social justice advocate, and Camden resident, it embedded within a wider power struggle proved challenging to encourage student staff between universities and communities (Cruz to focus on their needs as student learners, the & Giles, 2000).
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 14 5/31/19 10:33 AM 2. Universities have ethical responsibilities responsibilities. How should a university address within that political context (Hartman, 2013). these challenges? As Wessels (2015) notes, there 3. There exists a network of actors within is little university infrastructure for addressing these partnerships, each with their own the ethical implications of university/community ethical responsibilities. We highlight faculty, partnerships. What little infrastructure exists, staff, students, partners, and community as such as the IRB process, is not particularly adept stakeholders in our cases, but it is possible at working in such a multi-dimensional space. to imagine university administration, others Little civic engagement activity is captured by IRB. within the nonprofit sector, and more as part Faculty classes must only use IRB protocols if they of this network. are conducting research, and staff activities do not fall under the IRB umbrella at all. Furthermore, 4. The existence of a multi-dimensional ethical IRB review is designed to specifically protect landscape means that there may be conflicts members in the study, focusing on issues such as across these multi-dimensional ethical consent. It is unclear that such a formal process can responsibilities. adapt a set of hard and fast rules for such cases, and a process similar to IRB also runs the risk of having Implications for the University a chilling effect for faculty and staff by creating a We contribute to the literature on university/ cumbersome process. community partnerships by building a theoretical University strategies need infrastructure model that considers how such partnerships are to directly address these multi-dimensional, nested in networks, and those networks are the conflicting ethical responsibilities and to ensure sites for multi-dimensional ethical responsibilities that ethical action toward a networked community. with the potential to conflict with one another. Within partnerships, strategies like reflection While others have provided wide-ranged critiques (Jacoby, 2009) are effective. There is potential in of such partnerships (Cruz & Giles, 2000; Stoeker & peer-coaching circles like Iowa Campus Compact’s Tryon, 2009; Bortolin, 2011), none have systematically “Teach to Teach Initiative,” though that initiative looked at the multi-dimensionality of these ethical will require further study and evaluation. But responsibilities along with strategies for addressing we argue that there is a wider systemic need for it. This contribution has implications for our community to be represented in the governing understanding of these partnerships, but also of these partnerships. If IRB is designed for implications for both individuals and institutions. the research process, and faculty is obligated As individuals, we used a variety of strategies to prioritize students, then who in the system to address the challenges of conflicting multi- represents community? dimensional ethical responsibilities. We made The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has taken a it clear to community when we were required to direct approach to address this gap in infrastruc- wear our university hat and when we were free ture for university/community collaboration by to speak as residents. We avoided controversy commissioning joint advisory boards (Shah, 2018) when we felt it would damage the partnership. We for it. These boards incorporate community mem- overcommunicated, making sure partners knew bers and provide a critical oversight function from the challenges and conflicts as they arose and the perspective of the community. Enacting how we chose to handle them. And we strove for community-centric boards as oversight also avoids continuity in our projects to ensure community the potentially damaging process of requiring partnerships were built upon strong relationships. IRB for university/community partnerships, We lay out these principles in more depth in something that could simultaneously dampen Danley and Christiansen (2017) where we examine enthusiasm for partnerships by creating extra the implications of working in such contexts— barriers to such work, and put such partnerships particularly for white educators—reaching the within an IRB process that is not designed to guiding principle that “we focus on relationship- handle these types of ethical challenges and might building and investing locally in both business and misunderstand the dynamics at play. people” (p. 15). On the surface, some form of community Here we build upon that individual framework, advisory boards—perhaps housed within a civic highlighting the institutional implications of engagement office or an office of service learning— these multi-dimensional and conflicting ethical is an elegant solution. It incorporates community
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 15 5/31/19 10:33 AM voice into the process, in turn acknowledging that value to community, not simply another “ask” of relationships are multi-dimensional and there is a universities to community members. need for partner and community input. Despite these challenges, the early returns from A community board also holds the potential community boards are promising (Shah, 2018). to bring a more holistic approach to community They hold potential to provide institutional space relationships, one that does not silo community for universities to acknowledge and act upon the concerns within a civic engagement shop that deals complex ethical nature of multi-dimensional and specifically (and only) with such partnerships. conflicting ethical responsibilities. Too often, acting ethically toward community From both a practical and theoretical requires actions beyond the scope of a narrow perspective, the multi-dimensionality of university/ partnership. In particular, we find that elements of community partnerships is of critical importance. community within our partners are often impacted Our model of ethical responsibilities in these by a focus on student safety by the university collaborations contributes to the literature by outside of the partnership. For example, at Rutgers developing a theory of multi-dimensionality University-Camden, a busing system that keeps grounded in two case studies at Rutgers University- students from walking local streets undermines Camden. These case studies show a multitude of community businesses or nonprofits eager to ethical responsibilities to different actors in a connect to university students. Spatial exclusion networked context, and demonstrate how such works the other way, as community members have multi-dimensionality comes into conflict. That is restricted access to facilities such as libraries and the foundation for our model, which builds upon the university gym, making it harder for grassroots existing understandings of university/community partners to access university resources during the partnerships as (1) embedded in the power struggle partnership. When these complaints are brought between universities and communities (Cruz & up within the context of university/community Giles, 2000) and (2) that universities and partnerships they are exceptionally hard to deal individuals have ethical responsibilities within that with—the faculty or staff in such partnerships context (Hartman, 2013) to argue that (3) these rarely work directly with facilities or students in responsibilities happen in the context of a network these ways. A community board provides a natural of actors and thus are multi-dimensional and (4) landing place for these issues, and widens the scope that the multi-dimensional nature of ethical of possible ethical behavior by the university. It responsibilities within such partnerships means also provides a potential space where community that there may be conflict across these differing members could take a more active hand in training responsibilities. We hope that this study provides for and curating discussions about university/ a foundation for both further study of the community partnerships, and, in doing so, ensure implications of such complex ethical responsibilities, ethical responsibilities to community are directly and the basis for addressing these issues on campus addressed. Including community voice in these in multi-dimensional ways. processes is critical to a social justice orientation. The study of such boards is still in its infancy References (see Shah, 2018). Community boards would Arnstein, S.R. (1969). A ladder of citizen need to be carefully constructed to avoid token participation. Journal of the American Institute of participation (Arnstein, 1969) in which community planners, 35(4), 216–224. members have little power over actual proceedings. Bortolin, K. (2011). Serving ourselves: How the Similarly, community boards would need to avoid discourse on community engagement privileges the political trappings of selecting a narrow band the university over the community. Michigan Journal of community partners to serve on them. Ideally of Community Service Learning, 18(1), 49–58. such boards would capture the voice not only of Boyer, E.L. (1996). The scholarship of partners working with the university, but also engagement. Bulletin of the American Academy of grassroots partners who may have a harder time Arts and Sciences, 49(7), 18–33. meeting university requirements for partnership, Clark, A.K., & Eisenstein, M.A. (2013). and community members who may not feel Interpersonal trust: An age–period–cohort analysis represented by the nonprofit organizations in their revisited. Social Science Research, 42(2), 361–375. community. Lastly, community boards would need to be careful to be constructive spaces that provide
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 16 5/31/19 10:33 AM Colby, A., Ehrlich, T., Beaumont, E., & Kanuha, V.K. (2000). “Being” native versus Stephens, J. (2003). Educating citizens: Preparing “going native”: Conducting social work research as America’s undergraduates for lives of moral and an insider. Social Work, 45(5), 439–447. civic responsibility. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Katz, M. (2009). Camden waterfront and its Cruz, N.I., & Giles, D.E. (2000). Where’s the woes. Philadelphia Inquirer, November 9, 2009. community in service-learning research? Michigan Retrieved from http://www.philly.com/philly/ Journal of Community Service Learning, 7(1), 28–34. news/20091109_Camden_s_waterfront_-_and_ Danley, S., & Christiansen, G. (2017). New to its_woes.html. the Neighborhood: Race, Civic Engagement, and Kenworthy-U’Ren, A., Zlotkowski, E., & Van de Challenges for Educators. The Journal of School Ven, Andrew H. (2005). Toward a scholarship of and Society, 4(1), 47–62. engagement: A dialogue between Andy Van de Ven Davidoff, P. (1965). Advocacy and pluralism and Edward Zlotkowski. Academy of Management in planning. Journal of the American Institute of Learning & Education, 4(3), 355–362. Planners, 31(4), 331–338. Kooiman, J. (Ed.). (1993). Modern governance: Dewey, J., & Small, A.W. (1897). My pedagogic New government-society interactions. Los Angeles, creed. The School Journal 54(3), 77–80. CA: Sage Publishing. Ehrlich, T. (2000). Civic responsibility and higher Ladson-Billings, G. (1998). Just what is critical education. University of Michigan: Onyx Press. race theory and what’s it doing in a nice field like Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Building theories education? International Journal of Qualitative from case study research. Academy of Management Studies in Education, 11(1), 7–24. Review, 14(4), 532–550. Lamboy, R. (9/20/15). A better path needed Fenno, Jr., R.F. (1978). Home style: House to bring jobs to Camden. Courier-Post. Retrieved members in their districts. New York, NY: Pearson from https://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/ Higher Education. currents/20150920_A_better_path_to_bring_ Forester, J. (1988). Planning in the face of power. needed_jobs_to_Camden.html. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Levin, Y. (2017). The fractured republic: George, A.L., & Bennett, A. (2005). Case studies Renewing America’s social contract in the age of and theory development in the social sciences. individualism. New York, NY: Hatchette Books. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Lubet, S. (2014). Ethics on the run. Retrieved Goffman, A. (2015a).On the run: Fugitive life in from http://newramblerreview.com/book-reviews/ an American city. New York, NY: Macmillan. law/ethics-on-the-run. Goffman, A. (2015b). A reply to Professor Lynton, E.A. (1994). Knowledge and scholarship. Lubet’s critique. Retrieved from http://www. Metropolitan Universities: An International Forum, ssc.wisc.edu/soc/faculty/docs/goffman/A%20 5(1), 9–17. Reply%20to%20Professor%20Lubet.pdf. Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Gold, R.L. (1958). Roles in sociological field western Pacific: An account of native enterprise and observations. Social Forces, 36(3)217–223. adventure in the archipelagoes of Melanesian New Harding, S.G. (1987). Feminism and Guinea. New York, NY: Routledge. methodology: Social science issues. Bloomington, Marullo, S., & Edwards, B. (2000). From charity IN: Indiana University Press. to justice: The potential of university-community Hartman, E. (2013). No values, no democracy: collaboration for social change. American The essential partisanship of a civic engagement Behavioral Scientist, 43(5), 895–912. movement. Michigan Journal of Community Service Minh-Ha, T.T. (2009). Woman, native, Learning, 19(2), 58–71. other: Writing, postcoloniality and feminism. Holman, B. (1987). Research from the Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press. underside. British Journal of Social Work, 17(6), Oakley, A. (1981). Interviewing women: A 669–683. contradiction in terms. In H. Roberts (Ed.), Doing Innes, J.E., & Booher, D.E. (2004). Reframing Feminist Research, pp. 30–61. London: Rutledge public participation: Strategies for the 21st century. and Kegan Paul. Planning Theory & Practice, (4),5 419–436. Putnam, R.D. (1995). Bowling alone: America’s Jacoby, B. (2009). Civic engagement in higher declining social capital. Journal of Democracy, 6(1), education. Concepts and practices. San Francisco, 65–78. CA: Jossey-Bass.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 17 5/31/19 10:33 AM Rosaldo, R. (1993). Culture & truth: The remaking of social analysis: With a new introduction. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. Schon, D.A., & Rein, M. (1995). Frame reflection: Toward the resolution of intractable policy controversies. New York, NY: Basic Books. Shah, R. (July 2018). Partnerships and reciprocity: Centering community knowledge and accountability through joint advisory boards. Paper presented at the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement Conference, New Orleans, LA. Sharpe, C. (2014). Black life, annotated. Retrieved from http://thenewinquiry.com/essays/ black-life-annotated/. Sørensen, E., & Torfing, J. (2005). The democratic anchorage of governance networks. Scandinavian Political Studies, 28(3), 195–218. Wessels, A. (April 2015) Dear Prudence: Power, campus-community collaborations, and the elusive space between constructive disruption and neoliberal subcontract. Paper presented at the Urban Affairs Association Conference, Miami, FL. Whyte, W.F.E., (1991). Participatory action research. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publishing.
About the Authors Stephen Danley is an assistant professor in the Department of Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers-Camden University. Gayle Christiansen is program coordinator of Ignite, in the Office of Civic Engagement at Rutgers-Camden University.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 18 5/31/19 10:33 AM Power and Negotiation in a University/ Community Partnership Serving Jewish Teen Girls
Beth S. Catlett, Amira Proweller, and Sonya Crabtree-Nelson
Abstract University/community partnerships involve collaborative work with great potential and risk. This work can allow for productive exchanges that improve the quality of programs and enable broader dissemination of innovative ideas and practices grounded in feminist and social justice ideals. However, institutional demands and individual commitments introduce complications. This paper examines the complex power dynamics that emerge from cross-institutional partnering and program delivery in the context of a feminist education and youth-led participatory action research program for Jewish teen girls. Specifically, we examine the previously under-studied topic of university/community collaboration in which the participating institutions are similarly situated in structures of power. We explore how power dynamics and the partners’ shared and differential strategic goals were negotiated within a context of distinct institutional mandates, with a focus on the pressures of time, funding, and developing youth participatory action research with relatively privileged youth. We discuss implications and strategies for navigating complex university/community engagements that enable balanced, long-term, and sustained partnerships in which mutual interests are served.
Overview of institutional mandates (Sandmann & Kliewer, Cross-institutional partnerships between 2012; Sandmann et al., 2010; Sandy & Holland, universities and community organizations can allow 2006). We begin with a brief description of our for productive exchanges that improve the quality feminist education and YPAR program, the of programs and enable broader dissemination Research Training Internship (RTI). We then of innovative ideas and practices grounded in review existing scholarship that focuses on the feminist perspectives and social justice ideals. opportunities, challenges, and tensions that emerge However, institutional demands and individual when universities and communities partner within commitments can complicate collaboration. a context of complex power dynamics. We also This paper examines the complex dynamics that provide a brief overview of relevant literature on emerged from a cross-institutional collaboration participatory action research. Using RTI as a focal that included program delivery in the context of a point, we then articulate our primary research feminist education and youth participatory action goals and research methodology framing this research (YPAR) program for Jewish teen girls, paper’s analysis. Finally, we explore two emergent originally developed by a community organization themes and tension points negotiated throughout in New York City, and currently being facilitated our university/community project: (1) how power in Chicago as a university/community partnership. dynamics and differential needs and strategic In this paper, we build on the work of scholars goals impact the negotiation of engagement in who have begun to apply critical perspectives to this university/community collaborative program, community-engaged scholarship, highlighting that and (2) implications and strategies for navigating university/community partnerships are complex complex university/community engagements that and shaped by relations of power (Amen, 2001; enable balanced, long-term, and sustained partnerships. Kindred & Petrescu, 2015; Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012; Sandmann, Kliewer, Kim, & Omerikwa, 2010; Research Training Internship Program Sandmann, Moore, & Quinn, 2012; White, 2010). The university/community collaborative We examine emergent tensions and complexities program RTI, from its inception, was guided by of developing and maintaining a reciprocal a commitment to critical, feminist inquiry and and mutual community-engaged collaborative community-engaged action toward social justice. project when each partner is similarly situated This project involves three primary groups: Ma’yan within systems of institutional power, and (a Jewish feminist educational organization based navigating different, sometimes competing, sets in New York City), the JUF (JUF), and three
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 19 5/31/19 10:33 AM DePaul University faculty members from different students would work together to develop and disciplines (Women’s and Gender Studies, Social implement a participatory action research project. Work, and Education) working together as a team. In its pilot year (2014–2015), RTI ran as RTI originally was developed by Ma’yan. After a 15-month program that consisted of twice this organization ran the RTI program successfully monthly sessions. In its second and third years for several years, they became interested in (2015–2016, 2016–2017), the program was revised facilitating its expansion to additional sites. In this to align with a 10-month academic calendar. In context, Ma’yan reached out to university and the context of the bi-monthly sessions, the high community stakeholders in Chicago; as a result, school students received instruction in feminist RTI currently is being facilitated in Chicago as a theoretical and social justice education, and university/community partnership. The program the design and implementation of participatory annually brings together a group of approximately action research, ultimately developing their own 12–15 Jewish high-school-aged girls from the youth-led research project. For purposes of this Chicagoland area to engage in collective critical analysis, youth-led participatory action research reflection and inquiry on their immediate social is defined as a philosophy and methodology that context and broader societal injustices; to cultivate seeks to engage youth directly in collaborative leadership capacities for critical dialogue and critical inquiry, creating opportunities for them to social action with other teens and adult allies investigate social issues that directly impact their inside and beyond the Jewish community; and lives, probe the systemic bases of these issues, to build strategic partnerships among feminist and strategize actions to prompt social change scholars, activists, and Jewish community members. (Bautista, Bertrand, Morrell, Scorza, & Matthews, In this program, we seek to engage youth from 2013; Fals-Borda, 1991; Reason & Bradbury backgrounds of relative privilege to critically 2006; Torre & Fine, 2006). interrogate the ways in which they may be simultaneously impacted by systemic privilege and Collaborative Efforts Between Universities and oppression, and in the process, reevaluate their Community Organizations beliefs about themselves, others, and the world Two decades ago, the Kellogg Commission’s (Berilla, 2015; Goodman, 2010). Grounded in a landmark report called for increased engagement feminist theoretical and pedagogical legacy, by universities in their communities (1999). Over our work directs attention to the root causes of these last two decades, partnering with local social problems. communities has become a strategic part of Through this lens, we seek to deepen fulfilling the service mission of higher education understanding of the ways in which personal (Begun, Berger, Otto-Salaj, & Rose, 2010; Tinkler, identities, experiences, and structural positionalities 2012). University/community partnerships often relative to privilege are implicated in the systematic are framed from the perspective of universities oppression of others (Collins, 1990; Crenshaw, serving as an intermediary (Fehren, 2010), or 1994; Okun, 2010; Richie, 2012) as part of a larger intervening on behalf of marginalized communities goal to cultivate a more active citizenry working to and organizations (Morrell, Sorensen, & Howarth, change current structures (Muzak, 2011; Stoudt, 2015), a model of asymmetrical power that 2009; Stoudt, Fox, & Fine, 2012). positions the university as the large institution RTI is co-facilitated by a social work of power and the community partner as the professional from the JUF, and a graduate student organization that needs assistance and stands to in Women’s and Gender Studies from DePaul benefit from the university’s resources, support, University. It is important to note that at this point and expertise (Morrell et al., 2015; White, 2010). in time, there is no university course associated As White (2010) observes, the university almost with this community-based project. Rather, the always is richer, has greater professional capacity, Women’s and Gender Studies graduate assistant controls more resources, and is more politically works under the supervision of participating connected than the community with which faculty members to co-facilitate the program and they are working, although the community can collaborate on research affiliated with this project. sometimes be the more powerful partner (Van Moving into the future, however, we are in the de Ven, 2007). Indeed, the social and political planning stages for the development of a course contexts within which partnerships exist produce in which university students and high-school-aged complex power relations and inform differentials
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 20 5/31/19 10:33 AM in need (Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012; Sandmann et Additional complexities and tensions can arise al., 2012; White, 2010). in university/community partnerships as a result Scholars argue that community-engaged of different cultural contexts between higher projects ideally should promote equitable education and community-based organizations, partnerships characterized by mutuality and in particular, the focus each institution brings to reciprocity (Boyer, 1990; Boyer, 1996; Sandmann the knowledge production enterprise (Bringle & & Kliewer, 2012). Mutuality is evident when Hatcher, 2002). In today’s era of the partners are interdependent and all participate commodification of knowledge (Sandmann & in the relationship and benefit equitably Kliewer, 2012), scholars are increasingly calling (Saltmarsh, Hartley, & Clayton, 2009; Still & upon universities to bring critical attention to the Goode, 1992). Reciprocity, while dependent on politics of knowledge in their community-engaged specific community-engaged contexts (Dostilio, work (Kane, 2012). This is not to suggest that Brackman, Edwards, Harrison, Kliewer, & Claton, universities’ knowledge production expertise is not 2012), appears as an arrangement in which highly valued. Rather, as Amen (2001) advocates, authority and responsibility for knowledge universities should acknowledge that their production are shared (Saltmarsh et al., 2009). relationship to the community is based on their Sandy and Holland (2006) describe a vision for expertise in the production and dissemination of ideal university/community partnerships in which knowledge, and communities should turn to the the partners develop a mutually beneficial agenda, university for the knowledge it has to offer. That understand the capacity and resources of all said, critical theoretical perspectives that partners, collaboratively participate in project emphasize the workings of power in the social planning, attend to the collaborative relationship on construction of knowledge (Freire, 1970; an ongoing basis, share design and control of Sandmann et al., 2010) suggest that to achieve an project directions, and continually assess the ideal of reciprocity, as well as to create knowledge partnership processes and outcomes. Working that has real applied value for the challenges facing toward meeting such ideals, community-engaged communities, equal power sharing in the process scholars and community organizations must be of conceptualizing and implementing knowledge mindful of, and attentive to, differentials in power production projects must be emphasized (Kane, that affect mutuality and reciprocity in the 2012; Sandmann et al., 2010). Furthermore, in an processes, purpose, and outcome (Stanton, 2007). effort to build authentically mutual relationships, Nonetheless, there exist myriad documented some community-engaged scholars have called challenges in developing and maintaining sustained for universities to partner with community collaborative university/community relationships organizations around participatory action research, (Bringle & Hatcher, 2002; Harkins, 2013). It is driven by shared goals of social change that serve typical for each partner to define the collaboration to “mitigate [university] dominance” (Sandmann around self and common interests and goals et al., 2010, p. 10). These community-engaged (Amen, 2001; Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012; scholars also emphasize the utility of knowledge White, 2010), often centering on the partners’ based in critical inquiry and analysis, linked to motivations, organizational systems and culture, intentional action that challenges social injustice and time (Begun et al., 2010; Morrell et al., 2015; (Campbell & Lassiter, 2010; Morrell et al., 2015; Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012, Wallace, 2000), with Siemens; 2012; Tinkler, 2012). a very limited understanding as to what motivates Although a detailed review of YPAR is beyond and drives the other institution’s decisions relative the scope of this paper, it is important to note to the joint project (Langan & Morton, 2009). briefly the utility of this kind of research in terms of For example, it is often the case that university balancing power as universities and communities faculty are, at least to some extent, motivated by come together to develop new knowledge. YPAR the institutional pressure to both bring in research has traditionally been an inquiry framework, funding and produce scholarly materials and through which youth, most impacted by structural publications. The community partner likely has inequalities and violence, have found a voice different emphases, and may be motivated by such through which to act as social critics and agents things as a responsibility to their community client of change (Fine, 2018; Torre & Fine, 2006). In base, funding, and service enhancement (Kindred recent decades, it also has emerged as a meaningful & Petrescu, 2015; White, 2010). approach for studying and involving privileged
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 21 5/31/19 10:33 AM youth in important social inquiry into how power their full participation. Furthermore, while the and oppression operate, and the role that privilege research component of the RTI project involved plays in producing, sustaining, and normalizing an Institutional Review Board approved research social injustice (Stoudt, Fox, & Fine, 2012). Thus, proposal to fully explore youth experiences and while common tools for critical consciousness- perspectives as a result of their participation in RTI, raising and conducting YPAR projects rely on the the current paper offers a different analytic lens, lived knowledge of marginalized communities focusing on retrospective reflections (Curwood, (Cammarota & Fine, 2008), the invisibility of Munger, Mitchell, Mackeigan, & Farrar, 2011) privileged youth’s structural advantage complicates by members of the Midwest-based community this strategy in working with privileged partners on the first three years of this partnership. populations (Stoudt, et. al., 2012.) As Reason and To ground this interrogation, we use two Bradbury (2006) argue, an exemplar for inquiry sources of data. First, as we’ve mentioned previously, based on a pedagogy of the privileged is one that our perspectives have been informed by our includes inquiry processes that engage those in ongoing observation and work with three cohorts positions of power in a critical interrogation of of RTI, one from August 2014 to December 2015, their structural advantages, as well as prompt an a second cohort from August 2015 to June 2016, emerging commitment to collective responsibility and a third cohort from August 2016 to June and solidarity, rather than a pattern of retreat or 2017. Over these three years, as well as during the passive compassion for disadvantaged others planning phases in 2013 and early 2014, we met (Stoudt, et al., 2012). with our community partners to conceptualize Beyond the complexities that YPAR with the program, develop a mutual vision of project privileged youth embodies, community-engaged goals and objectives, develop an agreement about scholars also most recently have focused critical the roles and responsibilities of all RTI partners, theoretical attention on the university/community participate in ongoing project planning, attend to relationship as its own important unit of analysis. challenges that arose over several years, and assess (Cruz & Giles, 2000; Sandmann et al., 2012; Sandy program processes, outcomes, challenges, and & Holland, 2006; White, 2010). Our research areas for future development and growth. At least contributes to this growing body of literature, one member of our research team has attended all focusing attention on the relatively under-studied program sessions to chronicle observations and to topic of university/community collaboration in provide programmatic support. Second, over the which the participating institutions are similarly last three years, we engaged in a series of ongoing situated in structures of power. Sandmann and structured conversations that included the DePaul Kliewer (2012) have noted “how the structural University faculty members, graduate assistants, organization of an institution can produce forms and our community partners from the Jewish fund/ of power that undermine the viability of engaged foundation. These conversations have generated partnerships” (p. 24). Our work builds upon and rich narratives informed by our individual roles interrogates this idea, and in particular, takes up and responsibilities in the program and our two questions: (1) how power dynamics, differential institutional homes, our academic backgrounds needs, and distinct strategic goals impact the and disciplines, as well as our experiences in various negotiation of engagement in this collaborative forms of community-based and interdisciplinary program; and (2) implications and strategies work. Our analytic approach in this paper involves for navigating complex university/community a structured reflective process that moves beyond engagements to allow for the development of simply reporting on these conversations to a more balanced, long-term, and sustained partnerships. integrated treatment of the thematic content embedded within these narratives (Furman, Kelly, Methodology and Analytic Overview & Nelson, 2005). Although the RTI partnership involves three In this context, our analysis foregrounds a groups, this analysis focuses primarily on the two thematic orientation that emerged for us as we Midwest-based partners for this project: DePaul considered the ways in which this university/ University faculty members and the Jewish fund/ community partnership involves an ongoing federation. It is important to note that our partners process of negotiation that gets balanced and from Ma’yan are aware of, and fully supportive re-balanced over time as the different partners of, the development of this analysis without seek to work together to develop a youth-focused
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 22 5/31/19 10:33 AM program and meet their distinct institutional roles RTI Chicago was initiated after our partner and mandates. In this paper, we consider how organization in New York City contacted the lead power dynamics and the partners’ shared and author of this paper about a potential partnership differential strategic goals were negotiated within with DePaul University, and in particular with a context of distinct institutional mandates and the community-based research initiative she explore the implications of our analysis for creating directs. With an interest in piloting their successful balanced, long-term, and sustained community/ RTI program in cities beyond their local area, university partnerships. in partnership with DePaul University faculty members, they began a process of reaching out Negotiation of Differential Needs to a variety of stakeholders in Chicago’s Jewish and Strategic Goals community to search for a local community-based Central to current understandings of partner for this program that would serve Jewish university/community partnerships are the social female identified youth. At an initial community and political structures that contextualize these meeting involving a variety of Jewish social service collaborations and shape power differentials agencies and stakeholders in Chicago’s Jewish and dynamics between partnering institutions community, staff members from theJUF indicated (Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012). As discussed a strong and impassioned interest in partnering previously, the power relationship between the with DePaul to deliver and study this program. partnering institutions in RTI deviates from Indeed, the organization already had identified a the conventional pattern in which structures of staff person who they thought would be an ideal power and privilege favor the university (White, fit for facilitating this program. The DePaul 2010). Indeed, the university partner in RTI can University partners agreed—we all had a strong be described as an institution of power. DePaul initial sense of partnership and interpersonal fit University is the largest Catholic university in the at the beginning of this engagement. The fund/ country, is recognized as a leader in community- federation’s lead staff person on this project has engaged scholarship, employs in excess of 925 graduate degrees in Women’s and Gender Studies full-time faculty members as well as 1,900 term and Social Work, and expressed a strong interest in, or adjunct faculty, many of whom are recognized and foundation for, a program solidly grounded in as national experts in their respective fields of feminist theoretical and pedagogical frameworks. study, and has strong financial and institutional The university and community partners supports that frame the service mission of the started RTI with a fully articulated and shared university. Furthermore, many of the community- commitment to feminist education focused on engaged projects with which DePaul University interrogation of the systemic and interconnected faculty members participate involve bringing nature of systems of power, oppression, and their expertise to relatively under-resourced privilege (i.e., gender, sexuality, race, culture, social urban communities. DePaul’s community partner class, and religion), as well as ideals of social justice, in the program is similarly situated as a large youth agency, Jewish identity, political solidarity, urban organization characterized by substantial and collective responsibility. Bringle and Hatcher institutional resources and social influence. The JUF (2002) argue that as community-engaged projects is the central philanthropic institution supporting are beginning, university and community partners Chicago’s Jewish community and one of the largest are well advised to focus intentionally on their not-for-profit social welfare institutions in Chicago. process of relationship initiation, which depends In 2015, the organization raised approximately on effective communicating about the potential $2,000,000 that supported their network of partner rewards and costs that might be expected as a agencies and raised additional funds through result of the collaboration. We were intentional and government and private foundations, corporate structured in the initiation phase of this project, gifts, support foundations, and a variety of other with over a year of planning and coordination, and sources. Of particular importance for this analysis, each partner signing formal letters of agreement the organization has a strong commitment to about our respective roles and responsibilities. engaging the community’s youth through informal Moreover, although community engagement education and outreach experiences for young scholars have discussed the problems that can arise people designed to strengthen their Jewish identity as a result of relational tensions surrounding the and connections to community (Jewish Federation particular institutional representatives assigned of Metropolitan Chicago, 2015).
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 23 5/31/19 10:33 AM to work on a community-engaged project (Amen, time was structured in the RTI program meetings. 2001; Begun et al., 2010), our partnership was For example, the primary facilitator articulated her initiated with strong interpersonal relationships feelings about the pressure of time at the end of the that have helped us sustain the viability of the first cohort, observing: project in the face of emergent tensions that were not anticipated fully at the project’s inception. There’s never enough time to talk about Initiating collaborative working relationships systematic racism, classism, sexism, is merely a first step. Relationship maintenance, homophobia, education, like there are a intentionally working to sustain viable partnerships, million ‘isms’. There are a million systems. has been identified as the next necessary phase in It’s impossible to give a real social justice building effective university/community partnerships education. (Begun et al., 2010; Bringle & Hatcher, 2002; At the end of the first year of the program, we Strand, Marullo, Cutforth, Stoecker, & Donohue, recognized this limitation and openly discussed 2003). Positive interpersonal relationships may with our community partners how we might better mitigate, or possibly postpone, tensions between balance our professional roles and mandates and universities and community partners, but they meet the needs demanded of a shared, reciprocal cannot eliminate them altogether (White, 2010). partnership. As we reviewed the progress of the Thus, to effectively negotiate the tensions that are program over the first year, in preparation for the to be expected as part of a complex university/ second year, we agreed to prioritize time for more community partnership, focus and purpose are regular communication, a trend that continued necessary to maintain institutional relationships. into the third year of the program, and now into the According to Bringle and Hatcher (2002), fourth. Paradoxically, this sense of time pressure relationship maintenance processes should was a point of convergence for the university and foreground the development of interdependent community partners and resulted in a measure of partnerships characterized by frequent interactions, compromise to our joint enterprise. Indeed, this shared governance, and ongoing assessment of reflective analysis has helped us understand how project outcomes. time pressures created obstacles as we endeavored During the first year of the RTI program to shape a university/community collaboration in (2014–2015), the partnership envisioned by both which each participating institution was able to the university faculty and community partner adapt its institutional imperatives and mandates fell somewhat short in terms of putting forth the to foreground the shared goals of the collaborative requisite time and effort necessary to maintain project (Amen, 2001; Bringle & Hatcher, 2002). our relationship as a wholly joint enterprise. As To say a bit more, time pressures were Amen (2001) discusses, successful collaborative experienced, and created obstacles, within two efforts require that partnering organizations distinct domains. First, as reflected above by RTI’s purposefully adapt individual practices to the community partner facilitator, there never seemed goals for which the partnerships were formed. to be enough time for full critical interrogation Our analysis indicates that each partner in this of the multiple systems of power, privilege, joint enterprise seemed to initially encounter and oppression that shape the young people’s institutional impediments to full collaboration lives, largely as a result of the scope of issues involving a substantial commitment of time. Such that needed to be addressed within a 10-month challenges reflect the analyses of other community- period as a foundation for the participating engaged scholars who contend that time can be a young people to develop, conduct, and present tremendous challenge for university/community their culminating youth-led action research partnerships (Morrell et al., 2015). For us, the time project. These programmatic time pressures thus constraints felt pressing for both the university limited our ability to fully develop the feminist and community partners, sacrificing time, during and social justice elements of the program, based the first year of programming, to debrief and in a commitment to disrupting inequalities and assess the RTI program partnership, in favor of providing opportunities for collective activism other institutional roles and mandates (Bringle & to realize a more just world (Ayers, Quinn, & Hatcher, 2002; Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012). This Stovall, 2009; Hackman, 2005). Such a pedagogical time pressure not only impacted the time allocated approach was thus partially, but not fully, realized for meeting as a leadership team, but also the way largely as a result of pressing time constraints.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 24 5/31/19 10:33 AM Second, time constraints felt pressing for to move in the direction that Jewish communal both the university and community partners, leaders were envisioning for youth programming. and therefore, frequent interaction that involved For example, when reflecting on Jewish communal ongoing debriefing and assessment of the support for the program, the primary facilitator complexities involved in our RTI program values (from our community partner organization, and foci (Bringle & Hatcher, 2002; Sandmann the fund/federation observed that, “As long as & Kliewer, 2012) was too often sacrificed as it (the RTI program) was good for Jews and the we prioritized other institutional roles and Jewish community, the funders were happy.” We mandates. This time pressure impacted the time began to see how the structural organization— we allocated for meeting as a leadership team. with its apparent emphasis on Jewish identity, We often felt overly time pressed to prioritize youth leadership, meeting the expectations of regular team meetings during which we would stakeholders and constituencies, and attracting have the opportunity to process programmatic funding from foundations and individual donors— questions and emergent tensions experienced by produced forms of power that undermined the the participating individuals and institutions, and collective and mutually agreed upon feminist and assess the ways in which the program was both social justice goals for this partnership (Kliewer, meeting and falling short of articulated values and 2013; Sandmann & Kliewer; 2012). Specifically, goals. As the RTI program developed within those at the program’s inception, all project partners first two years, we needed to stay in more consistent agreed on a set of common program emphases and and direct communication about the complications goals grounded in a commitment to intersectional and complexities that were arising. Certainly, if feminist approaches that highlight the workings representatives from two institutions, embedded of intersecting systems of power, privilege, and in very different cultural contexts, can be expected oppression in young people’s lives. Moreover, we to navigate these complex power dynamics, all agreed that RTI participants’ interrogation of focusing close attention on whose culture is their own relative race and class privilege would dominating when making decisions (Kindred & be a central programmatic goal, in the hopes of Petrescu, 2015), substantial time must be allotted cultivating a sense of collective responsibility to open a space and process for challenging toward social justice and transformation. conversations and negotiations (Bringle & At this time (end of the first year of Hatcher, 2002; Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012; Strand programming, and shaping the second year as et al., 2003). Too often the university faculty well), we perceived a shift in priorities driven by the members would prioritize our need to fulfill our institutional mandates of the community partner teaching, administrative, publishing, and service in this project. For example, it advocated for a commitments to the university. Furthermore, our public presentation of the Jewish teens’ research community partner who facilitated the program project in the context of a major Jewish festival, was an extremely capable leader. She took charge rather than holding the event on the university of curriculum planning and programming, and campus, as had been the case at the end of our first we were often quite happy to know that she could year. Holding this public presentation at the Jewish run the program largely without our substantial festival was not problematic in and of itself. Rather, input and time investments. We now have come to our critical reflections make clear that this decision understand the ways in which we prioritized time demonstrated a prioritizing of Jewish communal may have limited our ability to fully meet goals stakeholders’ interests in celebrating Jewish youth of full reciprocity and mutuality that framed this achievement and programmatic success, all of collaborative project. which was strategic for creating opportunities A power imbalance thus emerged as the JUF for future funding. While this is understandable, responded to the program’s initial success and the it sits in tension with the collaborative program’s community praise they were receiving as a result of feminist and social justice informed projects goals. the outstanding leadership opportunity they were While the university partners understood providing for Jewish teen girls. The young people the necessity for funding to sustain this program, were invited to speak at a variety of community we also became concerned that such mandates events, prominent members of the community were being prioritized. Thus, during the second expressed their desire to financially support this year of RTI, we came to a deeper understanding innovative program, and at this point, RTI seemed that financial resources create a base of power
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 25 5/31/19 10:33 AM to direct a project’s strategic vision (Kindred & fashion, and to take steps to address issues involving Petrescu, 2015), and these issues need to be taken social change and social justice. More specifically, into account and discussed intentionally and with RTI is grounded in a commitment to develop the full transparency in order to maintain shared capacity for teen girls to engage critically with social project goals and visions, rather than prioritizing issues that impact their lives through a feminist one of the institution’s interests. Ultimately, lens; cultivate leadership capacities that will enable these are ongoing tension points that have to be these youth to engage in critical dialogue and social continuously negotiated as part of successful, long action with other teens and adult allies inside and term, and sustained collaboration. beyond the Jewish community; and build strategic It is important to note here that we in no partnerships among feminist scholars, activists, way attribute ill intentions on the part of the and Jewish community members. university’s JUF partners. Rather, this analytic Centering on how the program can reflect these process has helped all of us develop a keen shared priorities and goals in a more balanced way, awareness of the substantial challenges both we talked at length at this meeting/retreat about universities and communities can encounter when ways to maintain a focus on intersectional feminist they work to transition from an emphasis on gains thought so that power, privilege, and oppression for one’s own institution to a focus on mutual remained a key thread throughout the program. benefit, accommodation, and joint outcomes When asked to provide feedback, one university (Begun et al., 2010; Morrell et al., 2015). Moreover, graduate assistant commented, “We just need to the challenge of time constraints discussed do a better job of constantly relating everything previously has particular relevance here. Certainly, that we are learning back to intersectionality and if representatives from two institutions, embedded systems of power and privilege and oppression.” in very different cultural contexts, can be expected As a result of these transparent and sometimes to navigate these complex power dynamics, challenging conversations, we were able to start a focusing close attention on whose institutional third RTI cohort on a different footing that reflected mandates take priority when decisions are being a shared understanding of the need to engage in made (Kindred & Petrescu, 2015), substantial time ongoing renegotiation of power dynamics in our must be allotted to open a space and process for university/community partnership. Such ongoing conversations and negotiations (Bringle & Hatcher, navigations are integral to long-term and sustained 2002; Sandmann & Kliewer, 2012; Strand et al., 2003). partnerships that, according to Harkins (2013), As this example illustrates, collaboration remain elusive for many university/community between universities and community-based collaborations. Thus, beginning in our third organizations may require that they adapt their cohort, our entire team recommitted to a program goals and ways of doing business to the purpose for focus on intersectional feminist learning. The which they formed their initial partnership (Amen, university partners also gained a more nuanced 2001). Although this ideal was perhaps not fully understanding of the priorities of the JUF, and came realized in the first two years of our collaboration, to understand that feminist/social justice work can the end of the second year presented us with an align with other goals such as youth achievement opportunity to openly address power dynamics and leadership development. Indeed, all university as they emerged in our ongoing work together. To and community partners took this opportunity to this end, we held a full team meeting/retreat in stress our initial emphasis on youth-led work, and which all program partners and staff (i.e., university thus came to realize through our feminist informed graduate assistants, the JUF participating staff, lens that our multiple program goals need not be university faculty members) participated. To in competition and conceptualized as either/or, but ground our dialogue during this meeting/retreat, rather as both/and (Anzaldua, 1987; hooks, 2000). we stepped back to reconsider the values and principles that guided the RTI as it was originally Conclusions and Implications for Future Work conceptualized. The original purpose, as we jointly Our research on the workings of institutional re-articulated, was to center critical reflection power in community-engaged projects helps move on, and assessment of, Jewish teen girls’ social the field forward to more thorough analysis and context, as well as broader issues involving societal nuanced understandings. As an initial matter, inequities and injustices. RTI was meant to involve our work focuses attention on the relatively young people in critical inquiry in a collective under-studied topic of university/community
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 26 5/31/19 10:33 AM collaboration in which the participating community must be intentional and must institutions are similarly situated in structures of incorporate substantial time to continually assess power. This study thus deepens understanding and navigate complex dynamics. This necessary, about the workings of institutional power in but time-consuming, process is not linear, but community-engaged projects, and highlights the rather uneven and needs ongoing and consistent need for future inquiry in this direction. attention and critical reflection. Indeed, we Our findings uncover particular institutional witnessed the benefits of a long-term commitment challenges to full and reciprocal collaboration to shared leadership and mutuality, principles that in university/community partnership, and suggest our entire team had to work hard to achieve over strategies that all community-engaged scholars a period of several years. Moreover, as we engaged would be well advised to take up in their community- in our reflective processes, we came to more fully based work. First, each institution involved in a understand the benefits of relying on the strengths partnership brings specific knowledge, skills, and and assets of youth participants to lead the way. expertise to the relationship, and each needs to Returning to the issue of time, effective work intentionally marshal their resources for the good with youth—in particular, work focused on of the joint enterprise. This very well may mean feminist and critical YPAR—requires deep working counter to their individual institutional interrogation of the multiple systems of power, cultures and imperatives, and instead adopting an privilege, and oppression that shape young people’s ethic of full cooperation based in a stance of lives. As we’ve discussed in this analysis, such epistemic humility. interrogation is complex, multi-layered, and, thus, Furthermore, the implications of research on takes time. In the context of our work with collaborative work involving institutions that are relatively privileged youth, our findings are similarly situated in terms of power extends far beyond consistent with existing scholarship that has this one dynamic. Indeed, the preponderance of highlighted that for those in positions of relative university/community partnerships tends to follow privilege, recognizing the systemic nature of one’s the more typical pattern of power asymmetry in privilege can be overwhelming. The intense which the university is the large institution of power feelings that often emerge require that youth and the community partner is the organization that grapple with new and potentially uncomfortable needs assistance and is positioned to benefit from awakenings (Catlett & Proweller, 2015; Nagda & the university’s resources, support, and expertise Gurin, 2007; Okun, 2010; Tatum, 1992), a process (Morrell et al., 2015; White, 2010). Our work that can be expected to take substantial time. suggests that community-engaged scholars need to Community-engaged scholars should expect and hold themselves accountable to the communities plan for this time commitment when undertaking with which they work, such that they consistently this kind of work. attend to the workings of power, and its potential The third year of RTI provides an exemplar for exploitation. As well, we offer the field a for this type of feminist critical engagement with sharpened mindfulness about institutional power youth, and culminated in a particularly rich and that shapes all community-engaged work; scholars unique participatory action research project that should work against co-opting community-based met multiple program goals previously discussed. projects, and instead commit themselves over the The participating youth in 2016–2017 conducted long term to collaborative work that brings to life a project designed to interrogate and disrupt rape feminist and social justice values grounded in culture and created strategies for disseminating the shared power, community accountability, and an results of their scholarship into the community in ethic of connection and care (Catlett & Bunn, 2016). a creative and accessible fashion. In particular, the Our analysis also has illuminated that RTIs found that rape culture is not talked about successful and sustained university/community enough in the Jewish community and decided to partnerships must directly and transparently create a feminist Passover Seder on rape culture, navigate complex power dynamics in the interest with the intention that Jewish community of promoting equitable partnerships characterized members can find meaning and connection in by mutuality and reciprocity (Boyer, 1990, 1996; the intersection of rape culture and religious Sandman & Kliewer, 2012; Stanton, 2007). We rituals. The RTI participants centered their action have come to understand that cultivating and within intersectional feminist thought, creating maintaining relationship between university and opportunities for shared reflection on issues
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 27 5/31/19 10:33 AM of power, privilege, and structural inequities collaborative partnerships and the directions that including violence, of relevance to their lives as they take. Future inquiry is well advised to further well as the communities in which they live. mine this complex relation of power at the center As the field of community-engaged scholarship of university/community engagement. increasingly takes up integration of YPAR, our work provides lessons about the unique challenges References that scholars can expect when using participatory Amen, M.M. (2001). The power of institutions action research as a method of knowledge and agents: Sources of failed university-community production, as well as a teaching tool, with largely collaboration. Metropolitan Universities, 12(4), 30–49. privileged youth, and within the context of Anzaldua, G. (1987). Borderlands (la frontera): privileged institutions. The contributions of our The new Mestiza. San Francisco, CA: Aunt Lute Books. work build on the work of scholars who previously Ayers, W., Quinn, T., & Stovall, D. (Eds.) have applied feminist and critical social justice (2009). Handbook of social justice in education. perspectives to their YPAR work with privileged New York, Routledge. youth (e.g., Stoudt, 2009; Stoudt, et al., 2012), Bautista, M., Bertrand, M., Morrell, E., Scorza, facilitating a learning context in which young D., & Matthews, C. (2013). Participatory action people can develop critical consciousness of how research and city youth: Methodological insights power operates in their lives, how it can adversely from the council of youth research. Teachers affect others, and how to work in solidarity with College Record, 115(10), 1–23. marginalized groups. We recognize that privileged Begun, A.L., Berger, L.K., Otto-Salaj, L.L., & youth often struggle with barriers to examining Rose, S.J. (2010). Developing effective social work their privileged identities (Goodman, 2010), university-community research collaborations. and therefore have strengthened our belief in Social Work, 55(1), 54–62. the pedagogical utility of bringing differently Berilla, B. (2015). Integrating mindfulness into situated groups of youth together. Bringing anti-oppression pedagogy. New York: Routledge. diverse groups of young people into partnership Boyer, E.L. (1990). Scholarship reconsidered: to conduct participatory action research holds Priorities of the professoriate. Princeton, NJ: great potential in particular in terms of “bringing Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of together distinct forms of wisdom and experience Teaching. to study theoretically, empirically, and politically, Boyer, E.L. (1996). The scholarship of the structures and dynamics of injustice” (Stoudt, engagement. Journal of Public Service and et al., 2012, p. 181). Outreach, 1(1), 11–20. Finally, the community partner in the case Bringle R.G. & Hatcher, J.A. (2002). Campus- of our project secured the majority of funding community partnerships: The terms of engagement. for our work. As a variety of scholars have noted Journal of Social Issues, 58(3), 503–516. (Kindred & Petrescu, 2015; White, 2010), more Cammarota, J., & Fine, M. (2008). power is generally held with the organization Revolutionizing education: Youth participatory that is responsible for funding the project. Our action research in motion (1st ed). London: research findings point to the need for transparent Routledge, Taylor and Frances Group. communication and negotiations involved with Campbell, E., & Lassiter, L.E. (2010). From creating and sustaining funding for collaborative collaborative ethnography to collaborative projects. In so doing, the partner who generates pedagogy: Reflections on the other side of the greatest resources will not end up driving the Middletown project and community-university partnership and therein instantiating a power research partnerships. Anthropology and Education imbalance that has the potential to compromise Quarterly, 41(4), 370–385. the values of collaborative feminist and social Catlett, B.S, & Bunn, M. (2016). Yoga as justice oriented work. As argued in The Revolution embodied feminist praxis: Trauma, healing, and Will Not Be Funded (2007), social justice initiatives community-based responses to violence. In B. are not well served when the mandates and Berilla, M. Klein, & C.J. Roberts (Eds.), Yoga, the imperatives of funders take center stage in shaping body, and embodied social change: An intersectional community-based projects. Drawing on this idea, feminist analysis (pp. 259–275). Lanham, MD: a central conclusion and contribution of our work Lexington Books. is that funding should not be the lever that drives
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 28 5/31/19 10:33 AM Catlett, B.S., & Proweller, A. (2015). Disruptive Hackman, H. (2005). Five essential practices: Advancing social justice through components for social justice education. Equity & feminist community-based service learning in Excellence in Education, 38(2), 103–109. higher education. In A.S. Tinkler, B.E., Tinkler, Harkins, D.A. (2013). Beyond the campus: V.M. Jagla, & J.R. Strait (Eds.), Service learning to Building a sustainable university-community partnership. advance social justice in a time of radical inequality. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. hooks, b. (2000). Feminist theory: From Collins, P.H. (1990). Black feminist thought: margin to center. Cambridge, MA: South End Press. Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence empowerment. New York: Routledge. (2007). The revolution will not be funded: Beyond Crenshaw, K. (1994). Mapping the margins: the non-profit industrial complex. Cambridge, Intersectionality, identity politics, and violence MA: South End Press. (Editor’s Note: INCITE! is against women of color. In M. Fineman and R. a national activist organization of radical feminists Mykitiuk (Eds.), The public nature of private of color advancing a movement to end all forms of violence (pp. 93–118). New York: Routledge. violence against women, gender non-conforming, Cruz, N.I., & Giles, Jr., D.E. (2000). Where’s and trans people of color through direct action, the community in service-learning research? critical dialogue, and grassroots organizing.) Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. Special(1), 28–34. (2015). 2014–2015 Annual Report. Chicago, IL. Curwood, S.E., Munger, F., Mitchell, T., Kane, E.W. (2012). Student perceptions Mackeigan, M., & Farrar, A. (2011). Building of community-based research partners and effective community-university partnerships:the politics of knowledge. Michigan Journal of Are universities truly ready? Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 19(1), 5–16. Community Service Learning, 17(2), 15–26. Kellogg Commission on the Future of State Dostilio, L.D., Brackman, S.M., Edwards, K.E., and Land-Grant Universities. (1999). Returning to Harrison, B., Kliewer, B.W., & Clayton, P.H. (2012). our roots: The engaged institution. Retrieved from Reciprocity: Saying what we mean and meaning http://www.aplu.org/library/returning-to-our- what we say. Michigan Journal of Community roots-the-engaged-institution/file. Service Learning, 19(1), 17–32. Kindred, J., & Petrescu, C. (2015). Expectations Fals-Borda, O. (1991). Some basic ingredients. versus reality in a university-community In O. Fals-Borda & M.A. Rahman (Eds.), Action partnership: A case study. Voluntas: International and knowledge: Breaking the monopoly with Journal of Voluntary & Nonprofit Organizations, participatory action research (pp. 3–12). New York: 26(3), 823–845. The Apex Press. Kliewer, B.W. (2013). Why the civic Fehren, O. (2010). Who organizes the engagement movement cannot achieve democratic community? The university as an intermediary and justice aims. Michigan Journal of Community actor. Gateways: International Journal of Service Learning, 19(2), 72–79. Community Research and Engagement, 3, 104–119. Langan, D., & Morton, M. (2009). Reflecting Fine, M. (2018). Just research in contentious on community/academic ‘collaboration’: The times: Widening the methodological imagination. challenge of ‘doing’ feminist participatory action New York: Teachers College Press. research. Action Research, 7(2), 165–184. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed (20th Morrell, E., Sorensen, J., & Howarth, J. (2015). Anniversary Ed.). New York: Continuum Publishing. The Charlotte Action Research Project: A model Furman, F.K., Kelly, E.A., & Nelson, L. (2005). for direct and mutually beneficial community- Telling our lives: Conversations on solidarity and university engagement. Journal of Higher Education difference. Lanham, MD: Roman and Littlefield Outreach and Engagement, 19(1), 105–132. Publishers. Muzak, J. (2011). Women’s studies, community Goodman, D.J. (2010). Helping students service-learning, and the dynamics of privilege. explore their privileged identities. Association for Atlantis, 35(2), 96–106. American Colleges and Universities. Retrieved Nagda, B., & Gurin, P. (Fall 2007). Intergroup from https://www.aacu.org/publications-research/ dialogue: A critical-dialogic approach to learning periodicals/helping-students-explore-their- about difference, inequality, and social justice. New privileged-identities. Directions for Teaching and Learning, 111, 35–45.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 29 5/31/19 10:33 AM Okun, T. (2010). The emperor has no clothes: Stoudt, B.G. (2009). The role of language & Teaching about race and racism to people who don’t discourse in the investigation of privilege: Using want to know. Charlotte, NC: Information Age participatory action research to discuss theory, Publishing, Inc. develop methodology, & interrupt power. The Reason, P., & Bradbury, H. (2006). Handbook Urban Review, 41(1), 7–28. of action research. London: Sage. Stoudt, B.G., Fox, M., & Fine, M. (2012). Richie, B. (2012). Arrested justice: Black Contesting privilege with critical participatory women, violence, and America’s prison nation. New action research. Journal of Social Issues, 68(1), York: New York University Press. 178–193. Saltmarsh, J., Hartley, M., & Clayton, P. (2009). Strand, K., Marullo, S., Cutforth, N., Stoecker, Democratic engagement white paper. New England R., & Donohue, P. (2003). Principles of best Resource Center for Higher Education. Retrieved practice for community-based research. Michigan from http://repository.upenn.edu/gse_pubs/274. Journal of Community Service Learning, 9(3), 5–15. Sandmann, L.R., & Kliewer, B.W. (2012). Tatum, B. (1992). Talking about race, learning Theoretical and applied perspectives on power: about racism: The application of racial identity Recognizing processes that undermine effective development theory in the classroom. Harvard community-university partnerships. Journal of Educational Review, 62(1), 1–24. Community Engagement and Scholarship, 5(2), 20–28. Tinkler, B. (2012). Reaching for a radical Sandmann, L.R., Kliewer, B.W., Kim, J., & community-based research model. Journal of Omerikwa, A. (2010). Toward understanding Community Engagement and Scholarship, 3(2), 5–19. reciprocity in community-university partnerships: Torre, M., & Fine, M. (2006). Researching An analysis of select theories of power. In J. Keshen, and resisting: Democratic policy research by B.A. Holland, & B.E. Moely (Eds.), Advances in and for youth. In S. Ginwright, P. Noguera, and service learning: Research for what (pp. 3–23). J. Cammarota (Eds.), Beyond resistance! Youth Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing. activism and community change: New democratic Sandmann, L.R., Moore, T.L., & Quinn, J. possibilities for practice and policy for America’s (2012). Center and periphery in service-learning youth, pp. 269–285. New York: Routledge. and community engagement: A postcolonial Van de Ven, A.H. (2007). Engaged scholarship: approach. In J.A. Hatcher and R.G. Bringle (Eds.), A guide for organizational and social research. New Understanding service–learning and community York, NY: Oxford University Press. engagement: Crossing boundaries through research Wallace, J. (2000). The problem of time: (pp. 25–46). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Enabling students to make long-term commitments Publishing. to community based learning. Michigan Journal of Sandy, M., & Holland, B. (2006). Different Community Service Learning, 7(1), 133–142. worlds and common ground: Community partner White, B.P. (2010). Power, privilege, and the perspectives on campus-community partnerships. public: The dynamics of community-university Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, collaboration. New Directions for Higher Education, 13(1), 30–43. 152, 67–74. Siemens, L. (2012). The impact of a community-university collaboration: Opening the About the Authors “black box.” Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and All of the authors of this manuscript are Social Economy Research, 3(1), 5–25. on the faculty at DePaul University and all are Stanton, T.K. (2007). New times demand associate professors. Beth S. Catlett is chair of new scholarship: Research universities and civic the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies. engagement: Opportunities and challenges. The Amira Proweller is in the College of Education. University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved Sonya Crabtree-Nelson is in the Department of from http://www.compact.org. Social Work. Still, A.W., & Goode, J.M.M. (1992). Mutualism in the human sciences: Towards the implementation of a theory. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 22(2), 105–128.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 30 5/31/19 10:33 AM Civic Capacity and Engagement in Building Welcoming and Inclusive Communities for Newcomers: Praxis, Recommendations, and Policy Implications Michael Guo-Brennan and Linyuan Guo-Brennan
Abstract As newcomers, immigrants and refugees contribute to social and cultural diversity, and play an important role in communities’ social and economic development. However, their talent, energy, and entrepreneurial spirit and skills can only be fully harnessed when the communities are welcoming and inclusive. Drawing from a two-year qualitative research study conducted in the Province of Prince Edward Island, Canada, this paper examines the degree of civic capacity, along with policies and practices related to building a welcoming and inclusive community for immigrants and refugees. Through examining civic capacity and high-impact practices and programs to support the integration of immigrants and refugees, this paper shares new insights on how community stakeholders interact with each other to support or subvert the inclusion and equity in the community and offers policy implications and practical recommendations on building welcoming communities for immigrants and refugees in small communities. immigrants. Immigration is not only a powerful Introduction demographic force for the Canadian population, As immigrants settle in Canada in record-high but also has strong influence on the social, cultural, numbers, national origin and linguistic diversity in political, and economic development in the nation the schools, cities, towns, and provinces continues (Edmonston, 2016). Immigration policy in Canada is to grow. Between 2000 and 2018, Canada structured around two main categories: permanent admitted an average of 255,000 immigrants each residents and temporary visitors. Aside from year (StatCan, 2019). Many smaller provinces voting/running for political offices and holding and local municipalities across Canada are jobs that need a high-level security clearance, becoming more ethnically, culturally, linguistically, permanent residents in Canada get most benefits and socioeconomically diverse. The changing that citizens receive, including free public demographics of these communities present new education, health care, employment eligibility, and challenges for leaders, including meeting increasing protections under Canadian law and the Canadian demands of culturally responsive policy and services, Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Government of reducing sociocultural friction caused by racism Canada, 2018). As of 2016, 22% of the Canadian and discrimination, and dealing with the emerging population was foreign-born and one in five a tension and stress in governmental systems. This visible racial minority (Statistics Canada, 2017a). paper introduces immigration policy and trends Newcomers in this paper refer to the immigrants in Canada, analyzes the impact of changing and refugees who have been granted permanent demographics on small urban centers, presents the resident status and lived in Canada no more than challenges faced by newcomers, and shares the five years. findings of a two-year study exploring promising While large provinces and metropolitan practices in building inclusive and welcoming cities continue to see an increasing number of communities in a small Canadian province. newcomers, smaller provinces and cities are Following the recommendations for building receiving higher proportions of the newcomer welcoming and inclusive communities, this paper population. For example, most of the established concludes with policy recommendations and residents in Prince Edward Island (PEI)—the implications on enhancing equity and inclusion in smallest province in Canada—are descendants of communities with increasing newcomer populations. Scottish, English, Irish, and French immigrants. During the past decade, the total foreign-born Immigration Policy and Trends in Canada population in PEI increased from 1% to 10% With a long immigration history, Canada is (PEI Statistics Bureau, 2017). The top 12 source a nation of immigrants and the descendants of countries for recent immigrants and refugees
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 31 5/31/19 10:33 AM in PEI include China, United Kingdom, United Characteristics of a Welcoming and Inclusive States, Philippines, Netherlands, Germany, Iran, Community India, Syria, Nepal, Bhutan, and South Korea. Recognizing that knowledge and understanding Most newcomers reside in Charlottetown, the concerning welcoming and inclusive communities capital city with a population of 67,820 residents for immigrants and refugees is still emerging and (Statistics Canada, 2017b). challenges exist in reaching a consensus on a systemic approach, we conceptualize a welcoming Civic Challenges Faced by Newcomers and inclusive community as culturally competent Newcomers face common challenges and that welcomes people from all backgrounds, barriers when they adapt to life in a new country, demonstrates commitment to inclusion and including language barriers, unemployment or equity, and has the capacity to enable individual underemployment, racism and discrimination, development and well-being, regardless of one’s exclusion and inequality, poverty, unfamiliarity abilities, ethnicity, cultures, languages, gender, with the new culture and education system, socioeconomic status, religion, and country of securing quality housing, accessing health and origin (Cities of Migration, 2018b; Esses et al., 2010; legal services, and transportation. The challenges Guo-Brennan & Guo-Brennan, 2018; Hamilton faced by refugees may be even more acute due & Moore, 2004; McBrien, 2005; Pathways to to their prior life experiences in war and areas of Prosperity: Canada, 2018; Rutter, 2006). conflict and the lack of preparation/orientation to The characteristics include positive attitudes move to a new country (Stewart, 2011). toward diversity and inclusion, policy and For newcomers, the initial years of procedures that fight racism and discrimination, transitioning to new societies and countries are programs and resources to meet newcomers’ critical because their cross-cultural identities, needs, social integration and cohesion between described by McIntyre, Barowsky, and Tong (2011, locals and newcomers, culturally responsive public p. 11) as “the intricate and delicate blending and services for newcomers, and equal engagement mixing of the values, behaviors, and languages of and economic development opportunities for the old country with those of the new one,” and newcomers (Cities of Migration, 2018a; Esses et. their perceptions on the new society and country al., 2010; Guo-Brennan & Guo-Brennan, 2018; are important determining factors in the success McBrien, 2005; Pathways to Prosperity: Canada, of their integration (Cities of Migration, 2018a). 2018). Location, history, existing population, Research on immigrants and refugees indicates and diversity are important factors that influence that belongingness—the psychological sense that community welcoming ability and inclusiveness. one fits in and is accepted in an environment—is To properly assess whether a community is a fundamental need of newcomers and is associated welcoming and inclusive, both processes and with many positive outcomes, such as greater outcomes need to be considered (Esses et al., 2010). social cohesion, better employment opportunities, The literature related to social justice, enhanced quality and equality, and more positive diversity, equality, and intervention for immigrants health outcomes (Kanu, 2008; Mackay & Tavares, and refugees has emphasized the significance of 2005; Neufeld, Matthes, Moulden, Friesen, & a systematic approach to improving the inclusion Gaucher, 2016; Rossiter & Rossiter, 2009; Walton, and equity for newcomers; however, there is little Cohen, Cwir, & Spencer, 2012). empirical evidence to illustrate how these systems Examining and enhancing the capacity to are currently functioning to achieve this objective build welcoming and inclusive communities (Banks, 2016; Rutter, 2006; Stewart, 2014). One for all is an urgent task faced by governments, potential approach discussed in this paper is to policymakers, and practitioners because this is improve justice and equity by strengthening civic the first step to better support the personal, social, capacity and developing community coalitions to cultural, educational, and economic development fight racism and discrimination to reduce tension of newcomers as well as an important strategy and conflict between social, ethnic, and racial to increase community engagement in building groups, to support the economic, social, civic, and a more just, equitable, and inclusive society for political integration of newcomers and to benefit all citizens with diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, the communities in which newcomers settle linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds (Esses, (Feuerverger & Richards, 2007; Li, 2005). Hamilton, Bennett-AbuAyyash, & Bursten, 2010; Guo-Brennan & Guo-Brennan, 2018).
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 32 5/31/19 10:33 AM Civic Capacity to Build Inclusive and Methodology and Methods Welcoming Communities The study adopted a qualitative design with a Civic capacity refers to the involvement of continual and dynamic data collection and analysis various actors in different sectors of the community process (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Creswell, 2009; in a problem-solving effort. Civic engagement is the Denzin & Lincoln, 2003; Taylor & Bogdan, 1998). application of that capacity (Brennan, 2012; Stone, Conducted in a series of phases that spanned Henig, & Jones, 2001; Wong, Shen, Anagnostopoulos, two years, the study was purposefully developed & Rutledge, 2007). In addressing the challenges of to allow for a reciprocal process of learning, building welcoming and inclusive communities investigating, problem-solving, and continual for newcomers, the level of civic capacity is collaboration with stakeholders, community demonstrated through a broad coalition of actors, members, and research participants. To understand including leaders from municipal and provincial the broader context as well as newcomers’ needs governments, the business community, non- and expectations, research data was collected governmental organizations, grassroots community through multiple methods as identified in the organizations, educators, and newcomers (Cities of literature, including document analysis, focus Migration, 2018a; Guo-Brennan & Guo-Brennan, groups, program observations, and semi- 2018). The work involved in creating welcoming structured interviews (Creswell, 2009; Denzin & and inclusive communities is multilayered and Lincoln, 2003; Taylor & Bogdan, 1998). complex. It requires a process that creates a shared Immigration policies and programs at the awareness and knowledge of each others’ needs and federal, provincial, and municipal levels were realities, trusting and collaborative relationships collected and analyzed to identify support systems among different stakeholders, time to act and and resources contributing to welcoming and reflect on fighting racism and discrimination, inclusive communities for newcomers. Researchers and the capacity building and engagement at both conducted 50 semi-structured interviews and five the organizational and community levels (Guo- focus groups. In total, 71 participants volunteered Brennan & Guo-Brennan, 2018; Jones & Lee, 2017). and were invited to participate in this study. Municipal governments play an important role in Representing the community of stakeholders with building welcoming and inclusive communities as diverse backgrounds, the participants included they function at the most practical level and are representatives for non-governmental organizations the most closely involved in the lives of all citizens (20), newcomer parents (16), newcomer youth (14), (Cities of Migration, 2018a). educators (10), public officials and administrators from the federal, provincial, and municipal Research Purpose and Questions government (8), and refugees (3). Refugees were This paper is developed based on an the most difficult to reach for this study. Proper interdisciplinary study that explored promising protections in place by the federal government practices in building welcoming and inclusive and the service-providing agencies to protect communities for newcomers through examining the this vulnerable population, and fear of refugees direct and indirect interactions that newcomers themselves to discuss their status limited our encountered with community stakeholders in ability to collect some data for this research. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Newcomers who did participate in this study came Specifically, this study addressed three research from China, Iran, the Netherlands, India, United questions: States, England, Central Africa Republic, Syria, South Africa, Korea, and Bhutan. 1. What are newcomers’ perceptions Individual interview protocols were designed and expectations for a welcoming and for each cohort of participants. Interviews were inclusive community? structured with a series of predetermined questions 2. What policy and practices are adopted as well as optional follow-up questions based on to build welcoming and inclusive given responses. Questions for immigrants and communities for newcomers? newcomers focused on their experience coming to Canada including if they felt Canada, and PEI 3. What needs to be done to foster greater were welcoming. These same participants were civic capacity and engagement in building asked about the availability of services, including welcoming communities for newcomers? job training/career counseling, if these services
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 33 5/31/19 10:33 AM met newcomer needs, and what more needed to study did not feel they were welcomed by local be done to better meet the needs of newcomers to community members because very few people had build a more welcoming community. taken an intentional interest in the life stories of Parents and students were asked specific the immigrants and refugees. Mary, an immigrant questions about the schools and efforts to create from South Africa, shared her experiences: welcoming schools and the services available for immigrants, including refugees. Those directly I felt the people on the streets, in the involved with providing services for newcomers churches, in the shops were very friendly… and refugees, including government policymakers but they do not make friends easily. I feel and service providers, as well as staff at nonprofit like there are two groups, immigrant organizations, were asked about immigration and refugees and then islanders. We live policy, responsibilities and roles of various actors, on a farm, when we first started living as well as funding for immigrant services. All on the farm, our neighbors never came participants were asked what needed to be done to to meet us. Where as in South Africa if better support refugees. you move into a new neighborhood, your All interviews were fully transcribed verbatim neighbors would come over with soup by trained research assistants to capture every in the winter, or like sandwiches and say utterance and nuance of the interviewee. In hello. Nothing like that here…. The store addition, 10 program observations were conducted we went to, after about five years, one of to learn about high-impact programs, practices the employees called me by my name. and models for building welcoming and inclusive communities. All program observations were One term frequently mentioned by documented based on a prepared protocol by the newcomers when sharing their perceptions about primary researchers or trained research assistants. the unwelcoming characteristics is their identity A continuous process of sorting, theorizing, as people who “come from away” (CFA). These are analyzing and interpreting data was adopted people who were not born on the island but now throughout this study. Data codes, themes, and take up residence on PEI. This status is not limited interpretation were developed, organized, and to newcomers; anyone, even fellow Canadians digitally coded by using software NVivo 11. from other provinces can be labeled with the Triangulation and cross-member checking were CFA brand. A shared concern by newcomers was used to ensure accuracy and validity. Pseudonyms that they were in disadvantaged situations in job were used in this paper to protect participants’ hunting, business opportunities, and meaningful confidentiality. social connections once they were defined as CFAs. Refugees, on the other hand, felt more Findings and Discussion welcomed and grateful for the country and local Through an analysis of the collected data, community. Talking about her impression of findings are identified based on three main Canada and PEI, Rene expressed her appreciation categories: (1) newcomer perceptions, (2) challenges by saying: and barriers, and (3) promising practices. Within these broad categories, themes were chosen and I left my home country because of war presented to discuss civic capacity and engagement and lived in a refugee camp in Ghana in building welcoming and inclusive communities. for nine years. I am a widow with two daughters. God helped me settle down Newcomer Perceptions Toward PEI: Friendly but in Canada last year. I am so grateful and not Welcoming pray that God bless this country because Most immigrant participants in this study many people come together to help poor perceived the PEI community as friendly but not people like me. People came to meet me at welcoming. They reported that PEI is a friendly the airport on the day we arrived, brought island because most community members would me to a home, gave me some presents greet them on the street, at the church, and in and seven hundred Canadian dollars for the schools. However, the interaction between food. They provided us an apartment, the newcomers and local community members rarely clothes for my kids, and helped connect went to deeper levels. Most participants in this my kids with schools. They also found the
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 34 5/31/19 10:33 AM way to drive us to the hospital. They are nursing credential and license recognized, very good to us and I greatly appreciate all but was always told that “I don’t have this the help they gave to us. or that experience.” After trying for two years, I gave up and quitted the process. Challenges of Building Inclusive Communities It was a heartbreaking experience. There Limited support services. Unlike a large should be some help to the professionals. metropolitan area, where there may be dozens I knew some doctors are working as taxi of community organizations that offer support drivers. services for newcomers, PEI has only one settlement organization—PEI Association of Barriers in public services. Stakeholders in Newcomers to Canada (PEIANC). Newcomers the public sector encountered greater challenges in rely heavily on this organization for most support creating a welcoming and inclusive environment services. Some participants indicated that in a for newcomers. Most participants in public services small city it was better to have a centralized agency such as policing, health services, legal services, to obtain settlement and integration services. All and parental involvement in education reported participants identified PEIANC as a service hub difficulties in interactions with newcomers due to for newcomers to get settlement information linguistic and cultural differences. Talking about and assistance needed in education, health care, the challenges in providing culturally responsive employment, and public services. In addition to policing services, a police official said: PEIANC, faith-based organizations and English language training institutions were also identified Any contact with the police, be it a traffic by newcomers as their primary sources of support. accident, or other reason, is a time of These community organizations provided the high anxiety and stress. It could cause or opportunity for newcomers to learn local cultures involve injury. Let’s suppose the police and make connections with local community encounter is a nice clean accident with members. Due to the many challenges faced by no injuries. The police show up and they newcomers related to language barriers, language find the two parties involved. Imagine the training institutions played a significant role situation if one party does not fully grasp in connecting newcomers to each other and to English and may not fully understand help them develop the intercultural awareness, what is happening…. Situations like this understanding, and communication skills needed have demanded the police department for living and working in a new country. to make a conscious effort to learn the Unrecognized foreign credentials. difference between violent behavior Employment or business discrimination was caused by mental challenges and behavior mentioned by nearly all newcomer participants. caused by other issues, such as language, Most newcomers who immigrated to PEI were culture, etc. professionals in their home countries and earned a living as engineers, accountants, teachers, health- Other barriers. Other barriers to care providers, or successful business managers/ inclusion identified by participants include owners. Most of them were not able to continue youth employment discrimination, difficulties their former professions because of the lack of accessing health care due to language barriers, employment opportunities or tremendous barriers concerns about the quality of public education, of getting their professional accreditation or insufficient public transit and municipal services license recognized in Canada. Aanya worked as suitable to newcomers, lack of social engagement a registered nurse in India for 10 years and could opportunities with local community members, and speak five languages, including English. Talking the absence of newcomers’ voices and opinions in about her impression about Canada and PEI, the public decision-making and political systems. Aanya said: Promising Practices in Building This Kind of I consider Canada overall is a welcoming Community country, except for the area related to our Municipal government’s leadership. profession. I was a Registered Nurse in Municipalities’ efforts to mobilize resources and India. I did everything I could to get my build support for newcomers included subsidized
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 35 5/31/19 10:33 AM public transportation, collaborating with settlement active transportation, such as walking agencies and organizations to offer free sporting trails and bicycle routes. We have a programs and facilities for newcomers, creating wonderful trail system that runs behind city-wide events that celebrate diversity and the university. The city made a three- inclusion, and collaboration with the Chamber year plan to make active transportation of Commerce to support newcomers’ needs for as a key component in city planning and business opportunities and networking. Further development. We just voted to invest actions can be taken by local government $100,000 in the first phase of lighting the leadership to build a more inclusive community, trail system so it can be used at night. including reducing language and cultural barriers for newcomers in accessing public services, Public transportation systems were important reducing social and employment discrimination, for many immigrants and refugees, particularly creating a more open and supportive business when they first arrived in a community/country environment for newcomers, promoting better without a vehicle and/or local driver’s license. understanding among citizens of the struggles This initiative’s planning and implementation was of minority communities, and taking broad- successful and widely supported because it was based sustained action to build inclusion and a connected to the city’s Community Sustainability welcoming community for newcomers. Plan, an existing element of the municipality’s Municipal government’s leadership role in long-term strategic plan. building inclusive and welcoming communities is critical to achieve successful outcomes. This was Integrated immigration settlement services. emphasized by one senior government official who Settlement services refer to the programs and sup- participated in this study: ports designed to assist immigrants to settle and make the necessary adjustments for a life in their No one can build inclusion and diversity host country and community. While some new- alone. Do we have a role to play in building comers saw the limited sources for information welcoming community, absolutely! We and assistance as a barrier, others appreciated the should be at the table with school boards, ability to access all services through one primary with sport PEI, with newcomer’s association, agency. As the primary nonprofit organization that with the university, colleges, and major serves newcomers, PEIANC provides integrated employers. I think we should all have a role. settlement and integration programs/services, administers language training placement, offers Alignment with existing priorities, initia- interpretation and translation services, assists tives, and networks. Responding to the rapid newcomers with employment and business devel- demographic changes caused by immigration, opment, connects newcomers with the local com- the Charlottetown municipal government has munity through outreach programs, and provides made efforts to deliver linguistically and cultur- services to immigrant students and their families. ally responsive city services. Municipal leaders The centralized and integrated service system was have promoted inclusion and diversity through emphasized by most participants as a strength and programs and policies such as expanded public solid foundation for building a welcoming com- transportation service routes to meet the needs munity. A governmental official with many years of newcomers, municipal recreational programs of working experience in the immigration sector and facilities that cater to non-Canadian cultures, commented that: tourist information in different languages, and municipal government sponsored holiday celebra- We have one of the few EAL (English as tions and activities that reflect diverse population Additional Language) and FAL (French and traditions. One participant shared how public as Additional Language) intake systems transportation planning was transformed by and in the country that allows immigrants for newcomers: and refugees to be assessed and placed properly. From a case management Some non-Canadian cultures are more standpoint, they are given the proper inclined to walk or to participate in resources that meet their needs. In unorganized activities, so we invest in many other jurisdictions, a refugee or a
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 36 5/31/19 10:33 AM newcomer shows up in a school system stakeholders have taken several initiatives to bring without being assessed. Schools do community stakeholders together to fight against not have advanced warning or have no racism and discrimination. One such initiative is understanding of their needs. From a PEIANC’s annual Youth Anti-Racism Challenge, functional standpoint, we know about the a creative competition to encourage youth to individuals, we know about their needs explore the meaning of anti-racism. Scheduled and can properly plan to put a program to coincide with the International Day for the together to help those individuals get Elimination of Radical Discrimination (March through the school system. 21), this event attracts many students and parents and plays a critical role in increasing school and Enhancing Newcomers’ Social Capital and local community awareness and understanding of Connections. Social capital contributes to a sense racism and discrimination. The event also provides of belongingness and refers to the resources that opportunities for both newcomer and Canadian- newcomers may draw upon as needed to enhance born youth to work together to fight against racism productivity, facilitate upward mobility, and realize and discrimination. economic returns (Portes, 1998). It consists of networks and relationships based on reciprocity, Recommendations for Civic Capacity Building trust, and shared values. Social capital enables Participants in this study made numerous immigrants and refugees to develop the sense of suggestions on how to strengthen civic capacity belonging through trusting relationships and gain and engagement to develop a more welcoming and access to and information on various resources inclusive community for all. Integrated with our helpful to their new lives in the host country critical literature review in this field, we recommend (Coleman, 1991). Most newcomer participants in the following strategies to enhance civic capacity this study expressed their strong desire to form in the process of building welcoming and inclusive meaningful social connection and interactions with communities. Governments’ willingness to be both newcomers and local community members. responsible for following through with the vision A number of strategies have been adopted and commitments to promote inclusion and equity on the island to strengthen immigrants and is critical in building an inclusive community for all. refugees’ social capital and connections. For We recommend the provincial and municipal instance, PEIANC offers a number of programs governments in PEI take the following actions and services specifically designed for enhancing to demonstrate greater accountability toward newcomers’ social capital and connections. These building welcoming and inclusive communities: programs include: Community Connections Program, Multicultural Education Program, • Develop a strategic plan or action Community affiliations, Holiday Host Volunteer framework to build a coalition to Program, Immigrant Women’s Support Group, enhance inclusion and equity in the Ethno-cultural Organizations in PEI, and the community. This includes articulating DivereCity Multicultural Festival. These programs this vision in all council documentation provide opportunities for both newcomers and and planning. Clearly state building such local community members to connect socially, a community as a political imperative culturally, and professionally and contribute to a and desired management competency sense of unity and belongingness. in all government activity. Evaluate and Reducing racism and discrimination. report strengths and achievements at Newcomer youth participating in this study both the organizational and community reported social segregation in schools and how levels. Inspire and demand that all social segregation affects their confidence, identity, governmental organizations serve as and psychological well-being. Similarly, adult a role model to other institutions by immigrants and refugees experienced economic demonstrating a genuine commitment to and employment discrimination caused by minority communities. business and cultural racism. Recognizing that racism plays an important • Create a shared vision and action plan. role in causing social and economic inequality Developing a shared vision of an inclusive and discrimination of newcomers, community and equitable community is an important
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 37 5/31/19 10:33 AM first step to engage stakeholders and the issue needs to be carefully framed community members to form a sense in a way that builds inclusion for all of ownership in inclusive community stakeholders. It is important to build a building. This is particularly important supportive, relationship-based network and effective for small communities like for practitioners based on a sense of PEI due to limited opportunities and “common cause.” We recommend that resources for newcomers. We recommend provincial and municipal governments that municipal governments identify and incorporate the mandate of building engage all community stakeholders in this kind of community through public developing a shared vision for building policies and governance structures inclusive communities free from all based on the insights gained from forms of racism and discrimination. stakeholder groups and leaders/advocates This vision should be reflected in all key who are knowledgeable about inclusion, public policy areas to inspire community access, and equity barriers faced by stakeholders and members to take minority communities. This approach actions toward this shared goal. will lay a foundation for developing and communicating a vision for the future that • Strengthen local ownership and speaks to a “just society for all,” ensuring community partnerships. Partnerships, a process that bridges difference and either informal alliances or formally builds bonds, and reaches agreement on constituted bodies, are key to making a common understanding of language. progress. These partnerships are most effective when there is a commonly • Create more opportunities for defined vision, which brings together education and awareness. The literature potential institutional and community identifies the importance of education and stakeholders. Data collected in this study public awareness to create a welcoming indicate that building an inclusive environment for immigrants and community involves cross-sector refugees (Alberta Urban Municipalities stakeholders, including governmental Association, 2010; Cities of Migration, organizations, public institutions (e.g., 2018a; Esses et al., 2010; Lund & Hira- schools, universities, colleges, health Friesen, 2013). Asked about what needed institutions, law enforcement), nonprofit to be done to make the country and organizations (e.g., settlement agencies, city a more welcoming community for faith-based organizations, legal aid), newcomers, most participants suggested business organizations, and community more education and awareness. However, members/volunteers. Stakeholders in the participants interpreted education and private sector, such as restaurants, car awareness differently, based on the mission dealers, pharmacies, grocery stores, and activities of their organizations. banks, and real estate agencies have Governmental actors see education as shown motivation and extended outreach strategies to increase public awareness to newcomers and have played a more of immigration policy, goals, and trends active role in welcoming and including in provincial and national contexts. For newcomers. Many larger business actors in settlement service agencies, organizations have employed newcomers education and awareness means greater or increased the diversity of their outreach to inform the local community employees in response to the needs of about the types of newcomers arriving newcomers as well as an increasingly on PEI, their unique needs, issues and diverse clientele. concerns, to clarify the concerns and misunderstandings associated with • Work to promote inclusion and immigration policy and practices, and equity in the society, requiring the to communicate how a community can broad involvement of committed work together to address the unique groups of people. For this to happen, issues and concerns related to newcomers
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 38 5/31/19 10:33 AM and their impact on the local community. • Challenge language inequality in policy, Newcomer participants in this study planning, and services. Language plays identified local residents’ understanding an important role in building welcoming and awareness of the new cultures in and inclusive communities because it is PEI and Canada, the opportunities to not only an inalienable component of interact with local residents, and the one’s cultural identity, but also the most ability to identify strategies they could important tool for economic, social, and adopt to deal with the racism and political engagement and empowerment discrimination as critical components (Wardhaugh & Fuller, 2015). Exclusion to feel more welcome. Local community caused by language was reported by the members expressed their desire for more majority of newcomer participants in opportunities to learn about newcomers’ this study. Many encountered difficulties cultures, backgrounds, and the ways communicating with teachers, doctors, they could socialize or communicate and police during critical events. To build with newcomers without offending inclusive communities for immigrants and them due to culturally inappropriate refugees, language inequality and barriers topics or behaviors. Data collected in in all sectors in the society need to be this study clearly indicate that creating examined, recognized, and challenged. We more opportunities for education and recommend both the public and private awareness based on individuals’ and sectors increase linguistic awareness and organizations’ needs and priorities can expertise, encourage teaching/learning be a desired and effective approach for of languages other than English and everyone in building up civic capacity French, and celebrate linguistic diversity and engagement in creating welcoming as a strength for intercultural skills and inclusive communities. needed for living and working in an increasingly interconnected world. Local • Strive for a better coordinated refugee universities and community colleges may settlement. All provinces in Canada serve as important partners in this effort receive a proportionate share of refugees by connecting international students as the result of Canada’s policies toward with communities and service agencies humanitarian compassion and relief as language experts or by working with efforts. Refugees are usually placed in local service agencies to support language each province based on their basic needs services and other needs. This could for safety and protection by the federal reduce exclusion and build stronger government. However, refugees coming connections within the community. from certain regions or situations, particularly those who have lived in Policy Implications refugee camps for a long period of Findings from this study have significant time, may have unique needs that may implications for public policies to build welcoming and challenge community capacities. Smaller inclusive communities for newcomers, particularly in communities, where the educational, smaller municipalities and communities where the cultural, psychological, and health culture and population have undergone considerable services and facilities may be limited, change in a short period of time. Building welcoming may not be prepared to meet their communities requires a shared vision with goals unique needs. We recommend that and objectives to reduce racism, discrimination, refugees with high needs be placed in and exclusion. The articulation of this shared larger municipalities or communities vision should be reflected in public policy, as well as with demonstrated capacity to provide municipal council and school board documentation needed services and facilities. Small and planning. There should be open and public communities struggling with funding acknowledgment of a commitment to this vision, and sufficient culturally responsive and support mechanism for those who are working services may lack the capacity to provide toward it. A framework for the development of the quality services necessary to meet the strategies to build inclusion and equity and reduce needs of all newcomers.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 39 5/31/19 10:33 AM racism and discrimination should be developed Implications for Municipal Governments collaboratively and shared as a tool to inspire all Municipal governments play a critical community stakeholders and members to act. leadership role in building welcoming and inclusive Partnerships and collaborations are essential for communities. Developing a shared vision and the success of shared governance structures and strategy for reducing racism, discrimination, and for maximizing resources and communicating best exclusion in local communities is the most practices. These partnerships would increase civic important role municipal government leaders can engagement and should include local and regional play in this process. Such communities require government, local service providers, and public a broad consensus among local actors, including schools and universities. government and education, business and nonprofits, Meeting the needs of newcomers to a and representatives from the newcomer and local community requires policy and practices targeting communities. Local government actors should a broad range of areas and services, including the play a leading role in ongoing and open provision of services targeting their basic needs conversations and communications among these (e.g., shelter and medical services), employment actors about community strengths, weaknesses, needs (e.g., language and employment skills and challenges. Devoting appropriate time and development programs, business development resources to build lasting cross-cultural training), and social connectedness (e.g., diversity understanding and relationships and to provide awareness campaigns and culturally sensitive culturally and linguistically responsive public programming). In smaller communities, there services for newcomers should be a priority as it are often discrepancies between newcomer needs not only serves the public interests, but also and current available services, such as public demonstrates governments’ commitment to the transportation, housing, language learning, equity and inclusion of all community members. social inclusion, etc. In addition, English/ Raising public awareness on racism and French bilingualism generates inequality and building capacity to fight against discrimination exclusion within a multicultural/multilingual remains a challenge for local leadership. Through society and community. We recommend cultural collaborative partnerships, effort should be made marginalization and linguistic issues be considered to increase public awareness and reduce racism as significant aspects in policymaking and in and discrimination. Municipal governments, the providing services, programs, and opportunities education sector, the business community, and responsive to newcomers’ needs. nonprofit organizations may organize and partner In addition to policy gaps and funding issues, to increase public awareness on immigration systemic racism and absence of public awareness through marketing campaigns that highlight the are also important factors that can hinder the financial, social, and cultural opportunities and development of inclusive communities, particularly challenges associated with newcomers and for refugees and immigrants. We recommend that immigration. Sharing newcomer portfolios on governmental and nonprofit organizations, as well governments’ websites, successful immigrant as universities, work together to share with the businesses, life stories of immigrants and refugees, public the political, social, and financial challenges newcomers’ positive contributions to local to build inclusive and welcoming communities communities, and demographic data of newcomer as they strive to overcome systematic racism students in the public schools and universities and to help newcomers integrate. Individuals and can be excellent strategies to increase public organizations who have demonstrated commitment awareness on the significance of diversity and and passion for achieving a more just and inclusion for community engagement. equitable society for all need to be recognized Access to local services is often a challenge and celebrated. Media and public education and for newcomers in small cities and communities. training for creating an inclusive environment and Local government can play an important role in opportunities to build understanding relationships reducing these challenges by providing culturally and trust among stakeholders are fundamental and linguistically responsive public services. to sustain success, and should be available to For instance, a municipal government’s website citizens in a continuous effort. integrated with Google Translate is a clear indication that a local government is attuned to the needs of newcomers as the technological integration
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 40 5/31/19 10:33 AM allows newcomers to access a wide range of public Cities of Migration. (2018a). Retrieved from services and information. Expanding public http://citiesofmigration.ca. transportation services and adjusting the schedules Cities of Migration. (2018b). Building inclusive of these services based on newcomers’ needs are cities: Learning platform. Retrieved from http:// indicators of a city’s efforts in building inclusive citiesofmigration.ca/building-inclusive-cities/. infrastructure capacity. In addition, inviting Coleman, J.S. (1991). Prologue: Constructed newcomers to share their voices and views in the social organization. In P. Bourdieu & J.S. Coleman economic and political decision-making process can (Eds.), Social theory for a changing society (pp. 1–14). ensure programs and activities offered by municipal Boulder, CO: Westview Press. governments are inclusive and welcoming. Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods Conclusion approaches (3rd ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc. Building welcoming and inclusive communities Denzin, N.K., & Lincoln, Y.S. (2003). for newcomers is a multilayered and complex task Introduction: The discipline and practice of demanding cross-sector resources, innovation, and qualitative research. In N.K. Denzin & Y.S. Lincoln commitment. Small urban centers and communities (Eds.), Strategies of qualitative inquiry (pp. 1–45). often encounter greater challenges and barriers in Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. this work because of the history, location, and limited Edmonston, B. (2016). Canada’s immigration resources. A systematic approach, including leader- trends and patters. Canadian Studies in Population, ship engagement, a shared vision, trusting commu- 43(1–2), 78–116. nity relationships, broader community awareness on Esses, V.M., Hamilton, L.K., C. Bennett- immigration, and commitment to fighting against AbuAyyash, & Bursten, M. (2010). Characteristics discrimination, is critical to build capacity at both the of a welcoming community. Retrieved from http:// organizational and individual levels. p2pcanada.ca. Effective public policy and action plans to Feuerverger, G., & Richards, E. (2007). Finding build welcoming and inclusive communities require their way: Immigrant and refugee students in a knowledge and awareness of successful experiences Toronto high school. In D. Thiessen and A. Cook- and best practices. By sharing a deeper under- Sather (Eds.), International handbook of student standing of the existing issues related to inclusion, experience in elementary and secondary school (pp. access, equity, racism, and discrimination in a small 555–575). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer. Canadian province, we hope to sustain the positive Government of Canada. (2018). Retrieved from efforts/outcomes catalogued here while inspiring www.canada.ca. innovative strategies to better support the personal, Guo-Brennan, M., & Guo-Brennan, L. (2018). social, cultural, educational, and economic develop- Building sustainable civic capacity in urban education ment of newcomers, as well as increasing community reform: Actors, perceptions, and recommendations engagement in building a more just, equitable, and for inclusive public policy. eJournal of Public Affairs, inclusive society for all citizens. 7(2). doi:10.21768/ejopa. v6i2. Hamilton, R., & Moore, D. (Eds.). (2004). References Educational interventions for refugee children. New Alberta Urban Municipalities Association. York: Routledge Falmer. (2010). Welcoming and inclusive community Jones, D.O., & Lee, J. (2017). A decade of toolkit. Retrieved from http://p2pcanada.ca/wp- community engagement literature: Exploring past content/uploads/2011/09/Welcoming-Inclusive- trends and future implications. Journal of Higher Communities-Toolkit2.pdf. Education Outreach and Engagement, 21(3), 165–180. Banks, J. (2016). Multicultural education: Issues Kanu, Y. (2008). Educational needs and barriers and perspectives (9th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. for African refugee students in Manitoba. Canadian Bogdan, R., & Biklen, S.K. (2007). Qualitative Journal of Education, 31(4), 915–940. research for education: An introduction to theories and Li, P.S. (2005). The rise and fall of Chinese methods (5th ed.). New York: Pearson Education. immigration to Canada: Newcomers from Hong Brennan, M. (2012). Competition, choice Kong special administrative region of China and and civic capacity: Keys to urban school reform. mainland China, 1980–2000. International Migration, (unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of 43(3), 9–34. Louisville. Louisville, KY.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 41 5/31/19 10:33 AM Lund, D.E., & Hira-Friesen, P. (2013). Statistics Canada. (2017b). Immigration and Measuring the welcoming capacities of host urban ethnocultural diversity: Key results from the 2016 and rural communities. Canadian Ethnic Studies census. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ Journal 45(3), 65–80. daily-quotidien/171025/dq171025b-eng.htm. Mackay, T., & Tavares, T. (2005). Building Stewart, J. (2011). Supporting refugee children: hope: Appropriate programming for adolescent Strategies for educators. Toronto: University of and young adult newcomers of war-affected Toronto Press. backgrounds in Manitoba schools. Retrieved from Stewart, J. (2014). The school counsellor’s http://digitalcollection.gov.mb.ca. role in promoting social justice for refugee and McBrien, J.L. (2005). Educational needs and immigrant children/le rôle du conseiller scolaire barriers for refugee students in the United States: dans la promotion de la justice sociale pour les A review of literature. Review of Educational enfants réfugiés et immigrants.Canadian Journal Research, 75(3), 329–364. of Counselling and Psychotherapy (Online), 48(3), McIntyre, T., Barowsky, R., & Tong, V. (2011). 251–269. The psychological, behavioral, and educational Stone, C., Henig, J., & Jones, B. (2001). Building impact of immigration: Helping recent immigrant civic capacity: The politics of reforming urban students to succeed in North American schools. schools. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas. Journal of the American Academy of Special Taylor, S.J., & Bogdan, R. (1998). Introduction Education Professionals, Fall, 4–21. to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and Neufeld, K.H., Matthes, K., Moulden, C., resources (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Friesen, J.P., & Gaucher, D. (2016). Increasing Walton, G.M., Cohen, G.L., Cwir, D., & newcomers’ sense of belonging: Evidence-based Spencer, S.J. (2012). Mere belonging: The power strategies from social psychology. Pathways to of social connections. Journal of Personality and prosperity: Canada project. Retrieved from http:// Social Psychology, 102(3), 513–432. p2pcanada.ca/library/increasing-newcomers- Wardhaugh, R., & Fuller, J.M. (2015). An sense-of-belonging-evidence-based-strategies- introduction to sociolinguistics. New York: Wiley & from-social-psychology/. Sons, Inc. Pathways to Prosperity: Canada. (2018). Wong, K.K., Shen, F.X., Anagnostopoulos, Retrieved from http://p2pcanada.ca. D., & Rutledge, R. (2007). Improving America’s PEI Statistics Bureau. (2017). P.E.I. schools: The education mayor. Washington, DC: Population report 2017. Retrieved from https:// Georgetown University Press. www.princeedwardisland.ca/sites/default/files/ publications/pt_pop_rep_1.pdf. About the Authors Portes, A. (1998). Social capital: Its origins and Michael Guo-Brennan is an assistant professor applications in modern sociology. Annual Review in the Department of Political Science at Troy of Sociology, 24(1), 1–24. University. Linyuan Guo-Brennan is an associate Rossiter, M., & Rossiter, K. (2009). Immigrant professor in faculty education at the University youth and crime: Stakeholder perspectives on of Prince Edward Island in Charlottetown, Prince risk and protective factors. Prairie Metropolis Edward Island, Canada. Centre Working Paper Series. Working paper no. WP02-09. Retrieved from pcerii.metropolis.net/ WorkingPapers/WP0209.pdf. Rutter, J. (2006). Refugee children in the UK. Maidenhead: Open University Press. StatCan. (2019). Number of immigrants in Canada from 2000 to 2018 (in 1,000s). Demographics. Retrieved from https://www. statista.com/statistics/443063/number-of- immigrants-in-canada/. Statistics Canada. (2017a, October 25). 2016 census of population. Immigrant Population in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.statcan.gc.ca/ pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2017028-eng.htm.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 42 5/31/19 10:33 AM Asset Mapping and Focus Group Usage: An Exploration of the Russian-Ukrainian Population’s Need For and Use of Health-Related Community Resources Jennifer C. Anglin, Tina Kruger Newsham, and Matthew Hutchins
Abstract Community resources are an important aspect of preventive medicine and can also provide support to individuals with existing medical conditions. However, resources may not address all popu- lation groups within the community equally, and immigrants, who frequently face cultural and language barriers, are often unable to access the full range of healthcare resources available in the community. The purpose of this study was to gain insight on healthcare needs, attitudes, and access of a Ukrainian immigrant population in a large town in northern Indiana. Focus groups were conducted as a first step to creating connections upon which a community-based participatory research project could be built. Findings revealed cultural barriers (lack of understanding of health insurance options or value, belief that similar services were less expensive in the Ukraine) and language issues (lack of translation services or resources written in languages other than English or Spanish) were key barriers to accessing healthcare resources in the community. Concerns about dental care and its expense were also voiced. Future efforts might build on these findings by exploring policies and practices that affect various immigrant groups’ access to community healthcare resources. Recommendations for such efforts are also discussed.
Introduction that patients receive less than half of the preventive Value of Community Healthcare Resources services recommended to them, highlighting an An individual’s health is not only determined area ripe for improvement in the delivery of during a visit with his or her clinician. Lifestyle healthcare-related resources. choices and decisions that affect health are also Previous efforts to engage with immigrant shaped by factors outside the clinic walls. Due to communities have resulted in improved capacity the power of the sociocultural environment, for communities to address health threats. For patients’ health decisions and outcomes can be example, faculty from East Carolina University either won or lost at the community level. partnered with the Hispanic Community Develop- According to the Centers for Disease Control ment Center to address threats to the health of and Prevention (CDC, 2008), people see their Latinx immigrants, an engagement effort that primary care provider an average of four times resulted in bilingual educational programming, per year. Given that most appointments last extensive testing for HIV, and the securing of approximately 10 minutes (Gottschalk & Flocke, funding through grant-writing efforts (Larson & 2005) that computes to approximately 40 minutes McQuiston, 2012). Efforts of a public health per year in which a person is directly involved department in Charlotte, NC, through partnership with their primary provider. Taking this into with faith-based organizations, were successful consideration, it is not likely that good health can in engaging Russian immigrants in physical be properly maintained through patient-clinician activity programs, although participants did not interaction alone. achieve targeted weight loss (Slisenko, 2018). As Healthcare-related community resources are demonstrated by these and other efforts, working both available and positioned to assist in educating with (as opposed to in or for) immigrant commu- and supporting people with a myriad of opportu- nities is the best approach to addressing threats to nities. Also, according to the Community Preven- the health of vulnerable populations, including tive Services Task Force (2016), a highly regarded Slavic immigrants. group of professionals who make evidence-based recommendations and gap analyses, community Overview of Barriers to Immigrants Accessing resources are recommended to address multiple Healthcare Resources health conditions. However, Porterfield, Hinnant, Given the limited participation in communi- Kane, Horne, McAleer, & Roussel (2012) reported ty-based preventive and education services related
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 43 5/31/19 10:33 AM to health among the general population, the pres- well as religious and acculturation factors into ence of other impediments to access (e.g., language account, particularly as immigrant groups are barriers, lack of familiarity with the area) can have often underrepresented and their “voices have significant negative effects on individuals accessing been…muted” (Quintanilha, Mayan, Thompson, such resources. When newly immigrated to a & Bell, 2016, p. 1). community, it is likely that people will be unfa- Just one of the disparities of U.S.-born citizens miliar with or hesitant to use the recommended and legal immigrants, such as language barriers or services simply because of their lack of familiarity healthcare insurance, has been shown to impact with the community. Compounding this fact, the health of immigrants negatively (Larson & newly arrived immigrants are likely to suffer from McQuiston, 2012), but rarely are disparities a culture shock and language barriers. Furthermore, single source of impact to an immigrant commu- “minority groups are especially likely to have a nity. According to Derose et al., 2007), disparities different understanding of health…” (Benisovich in health care result in a lack of consistency of & King, 2003, p. 135), due to practices in their health care. This situation leads to decreased native countries, which may include no preventive preventive care, communication with healthcare health measures. In addition, the Slavic population staff, understanding of a disease, and carrying studied here stated their culture prefers naturo- through with medical recommendations, medica- pathic and alternative medicine interventions tions, and treatments. Some work has been done to before seeing a physician. These unique and deeply identify strategies to addressing such issues caused ingrained practices can easily result in lack of by the challenge of immigrants accessing health compliance with medications and provider recom- care. For example, Meyer, Martinez, Mauricio, & mendations. Ip, (2013) published a handbook for training Since the passing of the August 1996 Personal volunteers to serve as community health workers Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconcilia- to focus on medication management with immi- tion Act (PRWORA), studies have shown how grants; yet, how immigrants approach the health immigrants arriving even legally into the United system in their new country is not well understood. States are at risk for healthcare disparities (Derose, In 1964, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act Escarce, & Lurie, 2007). The vulnerability of immi- mandated that federally funded health organiza- grant groups is compounded by delays and restric- tions provide interpreters at the patient’s request tions due to political mandates and immigration (Derose et al., 2007). However, as a result of limited laws. Undocumented immigrants are summarily English proficiency from many immigrants, this denied financial assistance, but even those immi- right is not known of or followed through with. grants who enter the United States legally (after the When combined with a busy physician’s office and August 1996 passing of PRWORA) are ineligible a challenging or unknown process to obtaining a for federal assistance such as Medicaid for five credible interpreter, this valuable connection can years after entering legally (Levinson, 2002). This be overlooked, resulting in more disparities of ruling remains for the state of Indiana, which health in the immigration population. allows lawfully permanent residents to be eligible Looking specifically at Russian-Ukrainian for emergency Medicaid assistance for five years. (Slavic) immigrants, they, too, show special needs After the five year period, these citizens are eligible as they go through the acculturation process. In for full Medicaid coverage (Indiana Family and the Ukraine, medical practices remain under- Social Services, 2019). funded since that country’s independence from the Multiple studies have delved into the mysteries Soviet Union in 1991, and, according to Marya of acculturation with immigrant groups. Some Dmytriv, MD, MPH, the “Ukraine is probably studies found immigrants to be vulnerable, to be about 50 years behind the U.S.” in technology and resistant to acculturation, and to feel isolated as treatment (Human Practice, para. 3, 2014). Also, they adjust to their new normal (Benisovich & due to the still-developing healthcare system in the King, 2003; Katigbak, Foley, Robert, & Hutchinson, Ukraine, Dmytriv said, “Illnesses aren’t validated if 2016; Martin, 2009). With cultural differences they’re not symptomatic” (Human Practice, para. abundant, it is necessary for a community to recog- 9). Thus, Slavic people may be used to living with nize the differences and internal challenges faced silent diseases such as hypertension or high choles- by different cultural groups. As the world’s melting terol untreated until a major health event occurs, pot, it is the responsibility of communities in the such as a heart attack or stroke. U.S. to take cultural and language differences as
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 44 5/31/19 10:33 AM Although not an overwhelming percentage of prevention, and education. The methods used for the population, Slavic residents have unique developing the directories and asset mapping were healthcare desires and requirements that need to grounded on the logic of the asset-based commu- be addressed. To the best of our knowledge, no nity development (ABCD) model (Kretzman & research has been done on Slavic immigrant health McKnight, 1993). The ABCD process focuses not needs, but this is an important topic as research on deficiencies of a community, but rather on the indicates that, “immigrants are a subset of the community’s assets and skills within individuals, ethnic minority population with myriad health associations, and institutions that can be shared risks and health needs that are poorly understood” to build and strengthen the area and its people. “In (Katigbak et al., 2016, p. 211). Therefore, the goal the ABCD approach, a community explores, of the current study was to capture the stories of describes, and maps its assets and then uses the the Slavic population and to understand their assets to develop solutions to a specific social issue wants, needs, and barriers to obtaining community within the community such as: homelessness, healthcare resources. hunger, access to healthcare, or poverty” (Light- foot, McCleary, & Lum, 2014, p. 59). By focusing Framework for This Study on the strengths already existing within the To help situate this project, we provide here a community, the people in the community can be brief description of how the first author established empowered and can develop a sense of healthcare the necessary foundations for implementing this self-efficacy. study. This project was the perfect marriage of two Following the creation of the healthcare interests of mine; I am interested in the availability, resources database, our second objective was to accessibility, and impact of community resources, better understand the health needs and barriers to and I have always been fascinated by other cultures accessing available community resources through and traditions. When I first moved to the county focus groups. As the U.S. is home for many where this study was conducted, I lived next to a first-generation Slavic immigrants, we thought first-generation Ukrainian immigrant family. that data gathered from this population could Meeting the Ukrainian family piqued my interest provide a unique perspective on the health inter- in their culture and traditions. The son of the ests and needs that currently may or may not be family spoke English, and we developed a friend- addressed locally and more broadly. ship. This unplanned intersection of my interests The long-term aim of this study is to connect and my social circle helped to create this project, as immigrant patients with resources needed to make the subject of accessing healthcare resources came a positive change in these residents’ health, well- up with my neighbors. Together, we developed a being, and self-efficacy. plan to implement this study. A little background research helped set the Methods stage for our approach: According to the Center for Participants Disease Control and Prevention, heart disease is Members of a primarily first-generation Slavic the leading cause of death in Elkhart County, church were invited to participate in focus groups. where the current study was conducted (CDC, Three different dates were announced, and church 2014). The other leading causes of death include congregants were encouraged to sign up for one of stroke, lung disease, and cancer (CDC, 2014). the dates if they were interested in participating. A Addressing the underlying health conditions of target of eight to ten participants was set for each of obesity, physical inactivity, lack of social support, the three focus groups. A total of 19 participants and tobacco usage can decrease deaths from these joined the three focus groups with an average of six largely preventable diseases. There are community per focus group. The pastor of the church plus the resources available to assist primary care providers’ primary researcher’s neighbor encouraged congre- interventions to address and support residents. gants to participate to give them an opportunity to Unfortunately, newly arrived immigrants may have discuss their perspectives, desires, and concerns. barriers in accessing this help. The church was chosen because many first genera- Our first objective was to create a database of tion Slavic immigrants have a strong faith, making health-related community resources and to prepare the local church a safe and common location for asset maps of these resources, stratified by catego- congregating and sharing information. ries: fitness, nutrition, social support groups,
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 45 5/31/19 10:33 AM Table 1. Demographic Survey Questions Each Table 2. Discussion Questions Presented to Each Participant Answered Focus Group
Survey uestions Please answer below The following uestions Питання опитування – Дайте, будь ласка, нижче will be asked for discussion. Наступні питання будуть задані для обговорення. 1. What is your age, in years? ______Ваш вік, в найближчі роки? 1. What does being healthy mean to you? How do you know you’re healthy? 2. Are you male or female (circle one)? Що означає бути здоровим для вас означає? Ви чоловік або жінка? Як ви знаєте, ви здорові? a. Male (чоловік) 2. How would you compare your definition b. Female (чоловік) of health to other Americans? 3. What is the highest level of education you Як би ви порівняти ваше визначення здоров’я для інших американців? have completed (circle one)? Який найвищий рівень освіти Ви закінчили? 3. What are some health concerns of a. Less than high school Ukrainian-Americans living in Goshen? (Менш середньої школи) Які проблеми зі здоров’ям українських американців, що живуть в Гошен? b. High school graduate (середнє) c. Some college (гр. середньо-технічна) 4. How do you get information about d. College graduate (випускник коледжу) health-related issues? Як отримати інформацію про проблеми, e. Post-graduate degree пов’язані зі здоров’ям? (ступінь фундаментальну наукову) 5. What is your opinion of the community 4. In what year did you move to the resources providing healthcare support or United States? ______preventive services to residents of Goshen? В якому році ви переїхали до Сполучених Штатів? Яка ваша думка про ресурсах спільноти, які надають підтримку медичних або 5. How good would you say your spoken профілактичних послуг жителям Гошен? English is (circle one)? Як добре ви сказали б ваш курси 6. What healthcare community resources розмовної англійської мови є? are you aware of in the Goshen area? Які медичні ресурси громади вам відомі в області Гошен? a. Very good (Дуже добре) b. Good (добре) 7. Have you ever used any of those healthcare community resources? (гр. ярмарок) c. Fair Ви коли-небудь використовували будь-який d. Poor (бідних) з цих медичних ресурсів спільноти? 6. How good would you say your written 8. Why/why not? English is (circle one)? Чому / чому ні? Як добре ви сказали б ваш письмову англійську мову? 9. What resources would you be interested a. Very good (Дуже добре) in having available? Які ресурси ви були б зацікавлені в тому, щоб доступно? b. Good (добре) c. Fair (гр. ярмарок) 10. How likely are you to go to an d. Poor (бідних) English-speaking community resource? Як ви, ймовірно, ви піти на англійській мові 7. How would you rate your overall health? спільноти ресурсів? Як би ви оцінили ваш загальний стан здоров’я? 11. How likely would you be to go to a a. Very good (Дуже добре) healthcare resource if the time, location, b. Good (добре) and topic was of interest to you? c. Fair (гр. ярмарок) Як ви, ймовірно, буде йти до ресурсу охорони здоров’я, якщо час, місце і тема d. Poor (бідних) для вас інтерес?
Measures Qualitative data was then acquired by facilitating This project was a mixed-methods case study open-ended and in-depth discussion with Slav- with a heavy focus on qualitative data. Data gath- ic-American residents focusing on: awareness of ering in focus groups began with a brief paper community healthcare resources, needs for survey to capture basic demographic information, resources, health concerns, and barriers to such as age, years lived in the U.S., and comfort accessing healthcare resources in the community. levels with reading and speaking English (see Table These open-ended questions were also written in 1 for a complete list of survey questions). The English and Russian and approved for appropriate- survey was in English with a Google-translated ness and translation accuracy (again, by the first version following in Russian. The appropriateness author’s neighbor; see Table 2 for a complete list of of the questions and the accuracy of the translation focus group questions). While the focus group was reviewed and approved by a first-generation sessions were held in spoken English with partici- Slavic-American (the first author’s neighbor). pants who were only fairly comfortable speaking
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 46 5/31/19 10:33 AM English, the language barrier was mitigated by opportunity to be heard. Focus groups were having the questions written in both English and employed as a democratic process between the Russian. In addition, some participants were fluent experts (those being interviewed) and the research in English and were able to help with translation techniques used by the researcher. The two parties when appropriate. remain co-owners of the discussion, data, and results. Each focus group began with reading the Procedures consent form, which had also been translated Data collection occurred via three focus into Russian for participants’ convenience. After groups. Focus groups can be successful with reading the consent forms and providing time for minority populations for several reasons. First, the questions and answers regarding the focus groups, researcher can learn from the interaction between each participant signed the form. All study proce- the participants. Also, the interviewees are likely dures were reviewed and approved by the Institu- to be more open and share thoughts with others tional Review Board at Indiana State University. from the same background and can build trust in discussing health topics. In addition, people are Analysis typically more comfortable around peers (Quint- The results of the focus groups were analyzed anilha et al., 2016). Therefore, every effort was using QSR NVivo software, version 11. Using this made to ensure that the focus groups entailed a software, it is possible to organize large quantities comfortable and enjoyable open discussion of qualitative data for analysis. Themes were between participants and the researcher. If an brought forth by coding, or labeling, the data. By interviewee was uncomfortable with any question, segmenting the data provided by the participants he or she was advised not to answer it. It was of the focus groups, relevant themes were discov- understood that the primary researcher, not being ered and documented. a part of their cultural group, might raise some The quantitative data was analyzed using suspicion and reluctance, as “researchers have Microsoft Excel, version 10. Information from the historically encountered challenges to accessing demographic survey was entered, and graphic and recruiting those from under-represented representations were created for visual displays of groups” (Katigbak et al., 2016, p. 211). By using the quantitative data. focus groups with pilot-tested questions, it was hoped that the participants would be more Findings comfortable talking about issues with other people Initial Findings from ABCD Community Resource who share their own customs and language. Each Search focus group was led by the primary researcher with In Goshen, Indiana, where the study took an interpreter available as needed. Pilot-tested place, there is a wide variety of healthcare resources questions were asked and discussions easily available. However, minimal resources were avail- formed. Participants were excited to share their able to people who do not speak English or Spanish needs, attitudes, and insights on health care. (see Figure 1). A language category of “N/A” was The phenomenological method was the basis created for those resources where language was for the qualitative data collection in this study. not necessarily needed to use the resource. For Creswell (2003) defines this phenomenology as describing “the meaning of the lived experiences Language by Category
for several individuals about a concept or the 25 phenomenon” (p. 14). The concept under exam- 20 NA ination was health-related community resources. 15 Spanish Focus groups were conducted until saturation of 10 results was achieved. Data saturation—met once 5 English 0 no new information or data was being expressed— Fitness Weight Support Nutrition is imperative for quality and validity (Creswell, 2003). Screening Education
At the start of the focus groups, it was explained Management that the goal of the project was to develop a part- nership in speaking and listening in order to hear Figure 1. Languages of resources by category. Chart shows resource categories and languages needs and barriers. The aim was to recognize the in which these resources are provided in group as a unit of identity and offer members the available target area.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 47 5/31/19 10:33 AM example, screening resources are all Table 3. Results of the Demographic Survey listed as “N/A” as these include Variable Mean (SD) or n( ) community blood pressure Sex machines in chain retail stores and Male 6 32.0 screenings provided by hospitals, Female 13 68.0 which are required to provide trans- Age 46.4 Years 18.5 years lation upon request. Fitness was also Education a category with a large number of Less than high school 0 0 “N/A” resources, as the city studied High school 6 33.3 has many miles of walking and bicy- Some college 4 22.2 cling trails available to the commu- College graduate 6 33.3 nity for fitness and enjoyment. Post-graduate degree 2 11.1 Another approach to exam- Years in the United States 13.9 Years 4.9 years Comfort with speaking English ining the available resources was to Very good 6 31.6 consider what programs were avail- Good 3 15.8 able based on various health condi- Fair 6 31.6 tions (see Figure 2). Educational Poor 4 21.1 opportunities most frequently Comfort with reading English existed for people with diabetes, Very good 3 15.8 where, due to the multitude of fitness Good 3 15.8 opportunities with the parks and Fair 2 10.1 recreation department, there are a Poor 9 47.4 high number of potential opportuni- Self-rated health ties for fitness for all residents. Very good 5 26.3 Good 9 47.4 Fair 3 15.8 Findings from Focus Groups Poor 2 10.1 Three separate focus groups were held with representatives from the Slavic population. Data satura- tion occurred as themes were reoc- Disease-Based Programs curring at all events. A total number of 19 participants joined the focus groups and spoke freely about Screening
existing healthcare resources in the 15 community, barriers to accessing those resources, and the wants and Weight 10 Management Support needs of the Slavic population in regard to health care. 5 Among the participants (n=19) 0 were 13 women (68.0%) and 6 men (32.0%). Ages of participants ranged Nutrition Education from 20 to 77 years of age (M=46, SD=18.5), and the total number of years in the U.S. ranged from 2 to 23 years (M=14, SD=4.8). Table 3 Fitness Cardiac
contains other demographic infor- Diabetes mation of the participants. Analysis of qualitative data Figure 2. Resource category based on disease. This chart shows showed common themes demon- disease-based programs for cardiac and diabetic residents. Of the strating needs, desires, fears, and need demonstrated in the Slavic community, screening, weight concerns regarding healthcare management, nutrition, and fitness are of minimal want. Support community resources (see Figure 3). and education are the key areas of need but these resources are the least abundant.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 48 5/31/19 10:33 AM There is a significant lack of education/support participant indicated that, “We like to pay in cash,” groups, especially regarding diabetic and cardiac which can be challenging when a bill is delivered issues. However, translation services and educa- later. Some participants were aware that there are tion in Russian is a need, as even participants with lower cost healthcare options, but they were not fair to good spoken English skills are more confi- aware of how to locate or access those options: dent speaking in their native language. Participants “What clinics can we go to if we don’t have a doctor, identified many challenges to their engagement in clinics that doctors volunteer at that are less? We the medical system in this community. They were don’t know where we can go to see a doctor who is uncomfortable accessing emergency services less expensive.” because of a lack of awareness of urgent care When discussing needs and desires, partici- services and because of high fees associated with pants also focused on education and support in the such services. As one participant reported, “Urgent Russian language. One participant with diabetes care? We are not aware. We won’t go to emergency stated, “I don’t have education, and I don’t know because it costs too much.” Another participant where to get education. I get insulin at the doctor, similarly expressed that, “Russians and Ukrainians but I still don’t know anything about it.” Medicare don’t know about urgent cares.” and Medicaid services are misunderstood, and the Health insurance (or lack thereof) also served Russian-speaking population is in need of educa- as a barrier to accessing healthcare resources tion on what is available and how to enroll. Five of among the participants. As one participant indi- the 19 participants were age 65 or older, meaning cated, “The majority of us don’t have insurance. If they are eligible for Medicare. Each focus group it’s required for work, we have it.” Health insurance revealed questions on which Medicare offering(s), may be particularly problematic for newer immi- A, B, C, and/or D, participants needed. Further- grants: “But the Ukrainians who just get here and more, some were eligible for Medicaid, but unaware don’t speak English, they don’t understand. They of how to go about enrolling in those services. go without insurance because they think it’s a waste Aside from needing education and struggling of money. And it is.” with insurance and payment issues, one specific As indicated in the previous quote, cost is also medical specialty that was discussed often was a significant barrier to accessing health care among dental care. The cost of dental care in the U.S. is this population. Both high costs of health care and very high, especially when compared with costs in concerns regarding how exactly to pay those costs the Ukraine. According to one participant, “It’s were reported. One participant said, “How do bills expensive here and it’s hard to find dentists here. It work? The bills keep coming. The bills come from costs one tooth per ticket [back to the Ukraine]. so many places for one doctor visit. So many things You can buy ticket and go [to the Ukraine] and for one visit. There are a lot of hidden fees.” Another fix all your teeth as much as you can fix one tooth [in the U.S.].” In a couple of extreme cases, participants Needs and Wants of the reported pulling their own teeth Slavic-American Population due to lack of an available, affordable dentist when needed. Again, translation and access are paramount in situations such as Translation these, so no human being is 23 26 Insurance Information Medicare & Medicaid suffering. Explination of Finally, cultural beliefs also Medical System/Cost affected the Slavic population’s 23 14 Dental Care access to health care. The fact
14 Education especially cardiac that they look to home reme- and diabetic in Russian dies first keeps the population out of a medical clinic…unless the home remedy doesn’t work. Figure 3. This chart shows the top needs and wants of the Slavic First generation immigrants are population that participated in the focus groups. Calculations are used to raising and growing based on the number of times a participant initiated a discussion in organic food, hard manual labor, one of these categories.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 49 5/31/19 10:33 AM and a strong spiritual life. Thus, participants experiences, reinforce others’ thoughts, and build deemed some health factors such as dietetics, off each other’s stories. The lived experiences fitness, mental health, and weight management as shared by participants provided the phenomeno- not necessary or inappropriate. Preventive care, logical foundation and reinforced previous litera- such as vaccinations and well visits are also not ture that first-generation immigrants can feel sought out, “…unless it is needed for papers or isolated as they go through the acculturation our job.” Thus, the medical system in the U.S. process (Benisovich & King, 2003; Katigbak et al., plays a minimal role in Slavic-American life for 2016; Martin, 2009). The current project most immigrants. However, when appropriate, facilitated establishing meaningful relationships, they are in need of an entry point to care, transla- which is the crux of any effort to develop effective tion, and explanation of payment. community interventions. The key findings of the current study revealed Discussion and Future Directions that the Slavic population has needs and wants in This study applied mixed methods to address regard to health care, and that they face barriers in the questions of what health-related resources obtaining the information they want and need. were available in a small Midwestern community Barriers facing this population are categorized with a large Ukrainian immigrant population as into two areas: language and financial. well as the perceived health-related needs of that As expressed in both literature (e.g., Larson & population. Findings may inform future efforts to McQuiston, 2012) and focus groups, language address the healthcare needs of immigrant popu- is the most significant of all barriers immigrant lations as these groups may be particularly vulner- populations face. The language barrier alone iden- able to health threats, while simultaneously facing tifies the Slavic population in the U.S. as a vulner- significant barriers to accessing community able population, meaning that they are “…at resources for health. Community-based partici- increased risk for poor physical, psychological, patory research (CBPR) principles informed the and social health outcomes and inadequate study design, and asset mapping followed by focus healthcare” (Derose et al. p. 1,258). Language groups was essential to the success of this study. barriers can delay medical care until a life-threat- The Slavic community, contrary to barriers ening event occurs. The survey portion of the other researchers have encountered when desiring current study provided similar evidence that to work with an under-represented group language barriers are obstacles to healthcare (Katigbak, 2016), was very accessible in this study. access and can negatively affect the health of the A key reason for this accessibility was the first Slavic population. Medical clinics and immigrant author’s personal connection with members of the advocacy groups should be tasked to promote Slavic community. Others interested in working health among immigrant populations and should with immigrant populations should build on focus on identifying available translators and personal ties that may evolve outside of a profes- educating providers and the public about the sional context (e.g., health care or research). mandate that federally funded health organiza- Forming meaningful connections with commu- tions are required to provide interpreters at nity members, relying on the expertise of the patients’ request (Derose et al., 2007). target population, and following through on Finally, the complexity of the U.S.’s managed suggestions provided by participants helped to care system is a hurdle to gaining access to care. build the necessary relationships for this project. As revealed by participants in the current study, Others should work to build similar connections misunderstandings of Medicare, Medicare Part with members of the target population in future D, and Medicaid can prevent or delay access. efforts to address the health needs of immigrants. Multiple questions were brought up in all focus Tinkler (2010) shares a variety of strategies for groups as to which Medicare plan was needed and building successful partnerships as well as identi- how to obtain Medicaid. With most Slavic immi- fying issues that disrupt such efforts, noting that a grants uninsured, except for Medicare when they direct connection with the community strength- turn 65 years old, medical care is out of reach ened a successful partnership (and was lacking in financially for many members of this population. a less successful effort). The participants deemed commercial health Relying on focus groups for data collection insurance as an unnecessary waste of money. A provided an outlet for participants to share similar few immigrants did have commercial insurance
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 50 5/31/19 10:33 AM through employers but, “…immigrants have poor U.S. to make sure this population’s needs and wants access to medical care, even when they are insured” do not go unnoticed, and that action be taken in (Migration Policy Institute, 2013, p. 7) as, per the order to accommodate their healthcare wants and focus group, they are unaware of the process of needs. Education is the simplest action a commu- seeing a clinician especially due to language nity can do, once the need has been identified, as in barriers. Interventions to address this barrier to the current study, to promote health, healthy life- healthcare access might incorporate trained volun- styles, and medical coverage. By supporting these teer community health workers, as suggested by basic human rights, communities will be healthier Meyer et al., (2013). Helping immigrants under- and more productive, and self-efficacy will be a stand what resources are available (both free of norm of all of the citizens. charge and on a fee basis), as well as benefits of and As with all research efforts, there were both sources for procuring health care, may help immi- strengths and weaknesses associated with the grants increase access of healthcare resources. current study. Some of the strengths included the Furthermore, these volunteers might be trained full involvement of the focus group participants. through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid They were open and appreciative to have someone, Services’ National Training Program (n.d.), which even an outsider, care enough to want to listen and helps people “better understand and educate others help with their health care. The participants and about Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health translation assistant were tremendous assets to Insurance Program (CHIP), and the federally facil- make sure that participants’ stories were heard and itated health insurance marketplace” (para. 2). understood. Weaknesses of the study included the McClelland, Ingram, Caballero, Garcia, & limited number of participants who were able to McCarville, (2011) developed a toolkit (vetted join the focus groups. Although saturation of data through Community Partnerships for Health) to was achieved, everyone has a different story. More support immigrant women accessing available personal stories may have further strengthened resources in their communities. While that project the identification of the needs of this community. focused on women experiencing domestic Another weakness was that the primary researcher violence, the lessons learned may apply to immi- did not speak Russian. Although excellent grants seeking to access healthcare resources as translation was provided, there remains a gap in well. The McLelland group recommends as a first understanding of the feelings and nuances of the step that community agencies be familiarized with participants’ stories. the needs of immigrants, and that all relevant In conclusion, this study lays the groundwork agencies be identified and brought into efforts to for addressing the healthcare needs and wants of meet the target population’s needs. They then the Slavic population in Goshen. Moving forward, recommend that referral roles and responsibilities CBPR practices may be best suited to addressing be identified and that trainings be implemented to the needs identified through the current study. coordinate community efforts. Also, efforts to CBPR can reduce disparities to health care by address the needs and wants of immigrants related meshing the invaluable first-hand information of to accessing health care might follow a similar path the population with the knowledge and guidance of familiarizing providers with immigrants’ needs, of a researcher. The spokespeople from the popula- identifying relevant agencies (as was done here tion and the researcher become partners while through ABCD asset mapping), then establishing identifying key challenges as they learned from referral protocols and coordinating agency efforts. each other with the common goal of reducing The Slavic community is a close-knit and healthcare disparities. The information gleaned faith-based community. Information of interest to through this study can be used as researchers and the community will spread via word of mouth, as members of the Slavic population work together to did the request for focus group participants. This develop and implement strategies to improve community is a hard-working and thriving group access to and utilization of community healthcare of people who come from a background much resources for Slavic immigrants. different than most other U.S. citizens. This Development of a solid, evidence-based set of community comes from a land of conflict, tension, community resources and services along with and war. They enrich the U.S. landscape, though volunteer community health workers would be their quiet lifestyle might go unnoticed. It is, there- assets to immigrants and the communities in fore, the duty and privilege of communities in the which they live and work (both the county in
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 51 5/31/19 10:33 AM which the current study was conducted and Indiana Family and Social Services. (2019). beyond). Although some areas of needs, such as Indiana Health Coverage Program Policy Manual. dentistry and cost of dental health, are not going to Retrieved from https://www.in.gov/fssa/files/ be remedied by this study, it does underscore the Medicaid_PM_2400.pdf.3. importance of future advocacy efforts for immi- Katigbak, C., Foley, M., Robert, L., & grants. The needs and wants were stated and vali- Hutchinson, M.K. (2016). Experiences and lessons dated through three focus groups, and the learned in using community-based participatory resources are available. Once the educational and research to recruit Asian American immigrant language barriers between the needs and wants are research participants. Journal of Nursing Scholar- addressed and a bridge to the existing resources is ship, 48(2), 210–218. built, a healthier community can be achieved with Kretzman, J.P., & McKnight, J.L. (1993). this population, whose members quietly co-exist Building communities from the inside out: A path in the community. toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Retrieved from Chicago: http://www.ekari- References foundation.org. Benisovich, S.V., & King, A.C. (2003). Meaning Larson, K., & McQuiston, C. (2012). Building and knowledge of health among older adult immi- capacity to improve Latino health in rural North grants from Russia: A phenomenological study. Carolina: A case study in community-university Health Education Research, 18(2), 135–144. engagement. Journal of Community Engagement & Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Scholarship, 5(1), 14–23. (2008). Americans make nearly four medical visits Levinson, A. (2002). Immigrants and Welfare. a year on average. National Center for Health Retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/ Statistics. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/ article/immigrants-and-welfare-use/. nchs/pressroom/08newsreleases/visitstodoctor.htm. Lightfoot, E., McCleary, J.S. & Lum, T. (2014). Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Asset mapping as a research tool for community (2014). Indiana life expectancy: Live longer live based participatory research in social work. better. Retrieved from https://www.worldlifeex- National Association of Social Workers, 38(1), 59–64. pectancy.com/usa/indiana-heart-disease. Martin, S.S. (2009). Healthcare-seeking Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. behaviors of older Iranian immigrants: Health (n.d.) National Training Program. Accessed at perceptions and definitions. Journal of Evidence- https://cmsnationaltrainingprogram.cms.gov/. Based Social Work, 6(1), 58–78. Community Preventive Services Task Force. McClelland, J., Ingram, M., Caballero, M., (2016). The Guide to Community Preventive Garcia, A., & McCarville, T. (2011). Battered immi- Services: What works to promote health. Retrieved grant women project community toolkit. from https://www.thecommunityguide.org/find- CES4Health. Retrieved from http://www. ings/diabetes-prevention-interventions-engag- ces4health.info/find-products/view-product.aspx- ing-community-health-workers. ?code=MLHNXZG8. Creswell, J.W. (2003). Research design: Quali- Meyer, J., Martinez, E., Mauricio, R., & Ip, M. tative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. (2013). Bridging the communication gap between Sage Publishing. providers and patients by addressing health literacy Derose, K.P., Escarce, J.J., & Lurie, N. (2007). in an urban immigrant community. CES4Health. Immigrants and health care: Sources of vulnera- Retrieved from http://www.ces4health.info/ bility. Health Affairs (26)5. Retrieved from find-products/view-product.aspx?code=KS54HS7Z. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/ Migration Policy Institute. (2013). Health care hlthaff.26.5.1258. for immigrant families: Current policies and issues. Gottschalk, A., & Flocke S.A. (2005). Time Retrieved from https://www.migrationpolicy.org/ spent in face-to-face patient care and work outside research/health-care-immigrant-families-cur- the examination room. Annals of Family Medicine rent-policies-and-issues. (3)6. Retrieved from http://www.annfammed.org/ Porterfield, D.S., Hinnant, L.W., Kane, H., content/3/6/488.full. Horne, J., McAleer, K., Roussel, A. (2012). Link- Human Practice. (2014). A culture of self-reli- ages between clinical practices and community ance: Ukrainian health. Retrieved from https:// organizations for prevention: A literature review medium.com/@humanpractice/a-culture-of- and environmental scan. American Journal of self-reliance-95bba77d55e3. Preventive Medicine, 10(suppl 3), s163–s171.
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 52 5/31/19 10:33 AM Quintanilha, M., Mayan, M.J., Thompson, J., & Bell, R.C. (2016). Different approaches to cross-lingual focus groups: Lessons from a cross-cultural community-based participatory research project in the enrich study. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14(5), 1–10. Doi: 10.1177/1609406915621419. Slisenko, A. (2018). Culturally and linguisti- cally tailored faith-based approach to community health education among Russian immigrants. DNP Scholarly Project: East Carolina University. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10342/6668. Tinkler, B. (2010). Reaching for a radical community-based research model. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 3(2), 5–19.
About the Authors Jennifer C. Anglin received her master’s degree from Department of Applied Health Sciences in the College of Health and Human Services and currently is a project manager at Purdue Univer- sity. Tina Kruger Newsham is chair and associate professor in the Department of Multidisciplinary Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana State University. Mathew Hutchins is an associate professor in the Department of Applied Health Sciences in the College of Health and Human Services at Indiana State University.
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Maghboeba Mosavel, Jodi Winship, Valerie Liggins, Tiffany Cox, Mike Roberts, and Debra Jones
Abstract The principle and practice of sustainability is critical in community-based participatory research. Actively planning for and building community capacity to ensure sustainability is even more critical in research involving underserved populations and underrepresented minorities. The perception of researchers engaging with the community until their research needs have been met, then leaving the community with minimal, if any benefits, has all too often been the reality in these communities. This paper offers a case study of how an independent community consortium was borne from an academic/ community research partnership in Petersburg, Virginia. We discuss lessons learned and practice implications as we describe the evolution of, and challenges associated with, cultivating a sustainable independent coalition.
Introduction CBPR and Sustainability Academic research projects have received Communities have become increasingly skep- well-deserved criticism for engaging in helicopter tical of researchers who are primarily focused on research that focuses primarily on the research the research goals and fail to develop a plan for goals without developing a plan for building sustainability at the onset of a community-based capacity and creating a sustainable system that will research program despite realizing the limitations live on well after the research funding has ended. of grant funding. Particularly in research involving Community-based participatory research (CBPR) underserved populations and underrepresented as a highly engaged framework provides the ideal minorities, the perception of researchers engaging context within which to plan for continued engage- with the community until their research needs ment in targeted public health issues (Israel, Schulz, have been met, then leaving the community with Parker, Becker, Allen, & Guzman, 2010). However, minimal, if any benefits, has all too often been while sustainability is a concept integral to CBPR, it the reality (Dancy, Wilbur, Talashek, Bonner, & continues to be a component that, while acknowl- Barnes-Boyd, 2004). edged, is most often relegated for future research The principle and practice of sustainability projects. Realizing a sustainable impact beyond is critical in CBPR. Implicit in the principle of the necessarily prescribed research focus is often sustainability is a commitment for partnerships, difficult for academic/community partnerships. relationships, knowledge gained, and capacity What are the best approaches to support ongoing building to extend beyond the research project efforts in a systematic and structured manner and or funding period (Hacker, Tendulkar, Rideout, how can these initial academic/community part- Bhuiya, Trinh-Shevrin, Savage, Grullon, Strel- nerships be transformed to address health dispar- nick, Leung, & DiGirolamo, 2012; Israel, Krieger, ities beyond the initial scope of a research project? Vlahov, Ciske, Foley, Fortin, Guzman, Lichtenstein, The aim of this paper is to describe how an McGranaghan, Palermo, & Tang, 2006). Impor- academic research project can inform and support tantly, this also means that relationships between the development of a sustainable, independent individuals or organizations are maintained in community coalition. We discuss lessons learned support of continued collaboration even if the and practice implications as we describe the evolu- original project initiated through the academic/ tion of, and challenges associated with, cultivating community partnership is not continued (Israel an independent coalition started by a research et al., 2006; Israel et al., 2010). Interconnected partnership in tandem with the concurrent imple- with sustainability is the concept of building local mentation of the research. capacity to sustain partnerships and programs (Andrews, Newman, Meadows, Cox, & Bunting,
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 54 5/31/19 10:33 AM 2012; Hacker et al., 2012; Israel et al., 2006). When relevance of researchers and their institutions and CBPR projects facilitate learning, skill-building, to rebuild trust between academia and under-repre- and networking opportunities, provide technical sented and minority communities and populations. assistance, and sometimes even funding, commu- While sustainability is an acknowledged nity capacity can be strengthened, thus preparing outcome in CBPR and there are examples in the the community to take control and address issues literature of CBPR projects that have sustained of importance for the long term (Hacker et al., 2012). beyond the initial research project, as well as There are, of course, significant challenges description of facilitators and challenges to to ensuring sustainability in CBPR projects, sustainability, there is a visible gap in the literature including limitations of time and resources needed related to the actual process and steps involved to grow networks and transfer knowledge, and in moving toward sustainability. The purpose of the frequent struggle to maintain the morale and this paper is to address this gap and to describe energy of diverse partners for the long term (Israel the process by which the Wellness Engagement et al., 2006). Nevertheless, the literature provides Project (WE Project)—an academic/commu- examples of effective sustainability in academic/ nity partnership focusing on obesity reduction community partnerships through building trusting and prevention—initiated and implemented an relationships, recognizing the value of all partners’ independent coalition, the Petersburg Wellness perspectives, gaining a commitment to collabora- Consortium (PWC), to maximize the continuation tive principles and providing a structured orga- of a city-wide health disparities agenda beyond the nization, including a leadership succession plan focus on obesity. (Hacker et al., 2012; Israel et al., 2006). The Harlem Community and Academic Community Context Partnership (HCAP) and Khmer Girls in Action Petersburg, Virginia was once a thriving indus- (KGA) are two such examples. Both are currently trial community. One of its largest industries non-profit organizations that began as CBPR proj- was tobacco. At one time the tobacco industry ects. Loss of funding and later the loss of their employed more than two thirds of Petersburg, primary academic partner spurred HCAP to reas- Virginia’s workforce. Even though the largest sess their future. These catalysts resulted in the company involved in tobacco production, Brown remaining partners’ decision and commitment to and Williamson, left the city in the mid-eighties, ensure sustainability of their mission by becoming a the after effects are still palpable (Schneider, 2016). stand-alone, independent entity (Harlem Commu- The remnants of this loss can be seen in strug- nity and Academic Partnership, n.d.). Similarly, the gling neighborhoods with dilapidated housing and KGA was built from a CBPR project through Asian abandoned factories. In addition, these losses have Communities for Reproductive Justice (ACRJ) and bred an environment of financial mismanagement. their Health, Opportunities, Problem Solving, and In 2016, Petersburg was forced to undergo signif- Empowerment (HOPE) project. After a successful icant financial audits and investigations (Buettner, implementation of the HOPE project, KGA was 2016a), the outcome of which led to several lead- formed by the community as an independent ership terminations and resignations (Buettner, organization to continue the empowerment efforts 2016b). Presently the city is facing dire economic of the HOPE project with a focus specifically on problems (Adam, 2017). Cambodian girls and women in the Long Beach The collective inability to move on, the community (Cheatham-Rojas & Shen, 2010). struggle to forget a past that was seen by many as Following the tenets of CBPR, researchers golden years, can be understood more if the topic must be willing to relinquish a project back to is broached over coffee with a local church group, the community, or better yet, build it in partner- or dinner and drinks in a downtown pub. Informal ship with the community. By doing so, not only discussions conducted by one of the PWC leaders does it ensure sustainability of the project, but it (co-author) on the perceived reasons for Brown and sends a strong signal to community members that Williamson’s departure from the community may the researchers are there to support them and the vary in detail but all revolve around bad political community’s identified needs, and not just there to decision-making or corporate greed (Wikipedia, benefit from conducting research “on” the commu- 2017). It is still unclear if the desire to abandon nity. A commitment to sustainability in CBPR a union-backed workforce for less organized projects helps to re-establish the credibility and employees was the dominant factor behind the
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 55 5/31/19 10:33 AM decision to leave, or the possibility of a decreased manifestations of the social determinants of health. tax burden, or the reluctance of city government In addition, she recognized that alongside the to provide land for expansion. All conversations dismal health rankings, there were many existing shared one common theme: a perceived lack of local assets that could be further cultivated, as regard or consideration by the corporation for well as community partners diligently working the citizens who would be left behind in a state of to address community need. This engagement economic hopelessness. This perception of “being provided the context and relationships necessary disregarded and used” is a theme interwoven into to design the WE Project. the public discourse and is integral to the question of who can be trusted in community matters. Community Partner With a current population of approximately Pathways, Inc., is a Petersburg-based non-profit 32,000, the majority (77%) of Petersburg residents organization with a mission of being “a neigh- are black, 15% are white, 5% are Hispanic/Latino, borhood partner building pathways to educa- and 3% are mixed or other races (U.S. Census tion, employment, good health, and a revital- Bureau, 2017). With an unemployment rate ized community” (Pathways, 2018). Since its nearing 7% (U.S. Department of Labor, 2017) and a founding in 1995, the organization has established median household income rate substantially lower itself as an anchor in the community through than that of Virginia as a whole ($32,000 compared extensive outreach and programing. In support to $55,000) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017), it is not of its educational mission, Pathways provides surprising that the poverty rate is 28% (U.S. Census diverse programming including youth workforce Bureau, 2017) and 100% of public school students and leadership development and re-entry support in the City of Petersburg receive free breakfast and for those recently released from the criminal lunch through the USDA Community Eligibility justice system, as well as financial and job coaching Provision (Virginia Department of Education, services for those currently in the workforce. The 2017). Petersburg’s overall health ranking is the organization also fosters community revitaliza- poorest in the state according to the Robert Wood tion through affordable housing, food distribution Johnson County Health Rankings (Robert Wood programs, and community engagement. Finally, Johnson Foundation, 2018). Approximately 45% of Pathways operates the city’s only free medical Petersburg residents are reportedly obese (Robert clinic and offers a variety of health and wellness Wood Johnson Foundation, 2018), and the city has classes to the community. significantly higher rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and kidney disease compared to the rest Partnership Established of the state (Virginia Department of Health, 2015). It is within the context of Petersburg’s ongoing economic challenges and health profile of The Wellness Engagement (WE) being ranked as lowest in Virginia (133 of 133) Research Project in both health factors and outcomes (Robert University Partner Wood Johnson Foundation, 2018), that the VCU As a health disparities researcher at Virginia researcher approached Pathways, which had an Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, established community presence, to collaborate on Virginia (30 miles north of Petersburg), the first a National Institutes of Health grant opportunity author became involved in the Petersburg commu- to improve health outcomes in Petersburg. nity through a research project focusing on cancer In 2012, in preparation for the grant appli- disparities among African Americans. Using cation, Pathways and VCU conducted several community-engaged strategies including photo- community meetings with various stakeholders voice, focus groups, and town hall meetings, the (community-based organizations, faith commu- author sought to understand the community’s atti- nity, residents) to determine the community’s tudes, beliefs, and barriers to cancer prevention priorities and identify the salient health concerns. and treatment (Mosavel & Ports, 2015; Mosavel, As a well-known organization with particular Rafie, Cadet, & Ayers, 2012). As often occurs strength in grassroots organizing, Pathways was during community-engaged research, through the able to assemble diverse stakeholders at relatively numerous listening sessions with the community, short notice, culminating in the participation of engagement with the community and multiple more than 30 different community organizations community partners, the author became familiar and residents. with the health needs in Petersburg, including the
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JCES11.2InsidePages.indd 56 5/31/19 10:33 AM The conclusion of these meetings resulted in (PWC) was established and began to meet monthly a community-identified research focus, overall even before the WE Project was funded. support for moving forward with the project, and Subsequently, the WE Project was funded in interest by many in directly participating in the 2013 as a three-year planning grant to use a CBPR project if the research project was funded. The approach to focus on obesity. From 2013–2016 community meetings also brought light to the the WE Project conducted a community-engaged community’s mistrust of researchers and concern needs assessment utilizing strategies such as asset that any benefits derived from the project would mapping, a community survey, “house chats” end when the research was completed. (Mosavel, Ferrell, & LaRose, 2016) and town hall meetings to inform the development of a pilot inter- The WE Project vention to increase physical activity and improve Feedback from the community meetings was dietary quality and intake in Petersburg. Instru- used to inform the focus of the proposed research mental to the CBPR approach, the WE Project project: obesity. The proposed project would hired and trained 18 community residents as Well- include a comprehensive needs assessment to ness Ambassadors, who had the dual role of being identify the community’s strengths and resources community researchers as well as health advocates. for addressing obesity, the community’s percep- Furthermore, a Community Health Leadership tion of obesity, and to identify potential communi- Council (CHLC) consisting of 10 leaders of various ty-wide interventions that could be implemented organizations, healthcare providers, and commu- to address obesity. From the needs assessment, a nity-based partners was established (Figure 1). The community-based obesity intervention would be CHLC was a community advisory board that met developed and tested. Furthermore, in response to regularly with the research team to provide feed- the community’s concern about “helicopter” type back and advice as the research protocols were interactions with researchers, an additional aim of developed and implemented. Most importantly, the proposed project was to establish a commu- four of these CHLC members (and co-authors on nity consortium to address obesity. Furthermore, this paper) were active in the PWC from its incep- VCU and Pathways both discussed sustainability tion and became instrumental in solidifying the as a major concern and agreed that there was an structure of the PWC and ultimately moving the obligation, regardless of funding success, to: (a) PWC toward independence. address the need for community-based organi- zations to have a forum to discuss health issues Establishing an Independent Consortium and (b) maximize the city’s limited resources WE Project Support (2012–2013) through networking. Consequently, harnessing the From its inception, the intent was for the PWC momentum that was created by the community to function as an independent body of commu- meetings, the Petersburg Wellness Consortium nity leaders coming together to address health in
Figure 1. PWC Structure
ACADEMIC/COMMUNIT PARTNERSHIP VCU-PATHWA S
PETERSBURG WELLNESS CONSORTIUM WELLNESS ENGAGEMENT (WE) PROJECT
STEERING COMMITTEE COMMUNIT HEALTH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL