Queer Praxis for Criminological Research
A Queer Praxis for Criminological Research provides an alternative research method, where researchers place themselves second to draw narratives from folx who are typically sought out by scholars because of their identity.
Describing the author’s use of queer praxis during a recent study, the chapters of this book demonstrate how the rigor of qualitative research was achieved by utilizing a queer methodology. It presents how the author interviewed trans folx about their experiences with the criminal legal system; explores their volunteer work with a local group in the trans community; and discusses how, before collecting any data, they spent eight months being a part of their lives and witnessing their everyday experiences. Based on these experiences, the book reveals how individual researchers can increase academic rigor and transparency and cultivate skills to complete qualitative criminological work. Using personal anecdotes, expert advice, applied examples from study and instrument design, triumphs, and losses, the book puts forward the argument that we can integrate communities into our academic research in meaningful ways to further both the discipline and our pursuit of social justice. In doing so, it seeks to inspire researchers to apply these concepts in their own work, no matter the type of methodology, revealing that as criminologists whose data sets emerge from some of the most personal moments in people’s lives, we have a stronger obligation to ensure that our findings empower, not demoralize, marginalized people.
Written to be both instructional and inspirational, A Queer Praxis for Criminological Research will be of great interest to students and scholars of criminology.
April Carrillo (they/she/he) is an assistant professor in the criminal justice program at the University of South Dakota, USA, and identifies as an activist scholar. Their primary research revolves around the experience of 2SLGBTQ+ folx as they navigate institutions of power such as the criminal legal system, healthcare, and education.