(HOW) SHOULD I BE DOING THIS? PARTNERING IN RESEARCH WITH A CONSUMER SURVIVOR INITIATIVE AS AN OUTSIDER MASTER'S STUDENT

Abstract

Participatory action research (PAR) methodologies attract researchers both because they open up space to apply the values and principles associated with social justice and because they have the potential to deepen our understanding of an issue by giving us the opportunity to explore contexts and processes through people's experiences. This allows for new insights to emerge and relevant solutions to be discovered and implemented through emancipatory practices. However, choosing to do this type of research for a thesis as a master's of social work student without lived or research experience complicates an already complex endeavor and raises many dilemmas, questions and challenges. Reflecting on my experience of working with a peer-led community organization in Southern Ontario that provides services for people who have experienced mental health or substance use challenges and have interacted with the mental health system, this thesis will explore my journey of joining a research team that set out to use PAR to better understand peer support. Using a narrative inquiry approach, I will explore the tensions that occurred throughout the process of attempting PAR with a community agency within the university framework of completing a thesis. In the spirit of PAR and its intention to disrupt dominant approaches to research processes, I will use an alternative, storytelling format in order to best illustrate my circumstances, perspectives and the difficulties I faced as an outsider, student, university researcher trying to follow PAR principles. The lessons I learned will also be provided in an effort to make this type of undertaking easier for future students. Overall, I learned that we need to find ways to bridge and support the two cultures of graduate students and community groups in working together in PAR.