Journal of Academic Ethics
Volume 14, Issue 3, 2016, Pages 199-220

Ethics in Community-University-Artist Partnered Research: Tensions, Contradictions and Gaps Identified in an ‘Arts for Social Change’ Project (Article) (Open Access)

Yassi A.* , Spiegel J.B. , Lockhart K. , Fels L. , Boydell K. , Marcuse J.
  • a School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 430-2206 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
  • b International Centre for Art for Social Change and Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada, English Department, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada
  • c School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 430-2206 East Mall, UBC, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
  • d International Centre for Art for Social Change and Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
  • e Black Dog Institute, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, Departments of Psychiatry and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
  • f International Centre for Art for Social Change and Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

Abstract

Academics from diverse disciplines are recognizing not only the procedural ethical issues involved in research, but also the complexity of everyday “micro” ethical issues that arise. While ethical guidelines are being developed for research in aboriginal populations and low-and-middle-income countries, multi-partnered research initiatives examining arts-based interventions to promote social change pose a unique set of ethical dilemmas not yet fully explored. Our research team, comprising health, education, and social scientists, critical theorists, artists and community-activists launched a five-year research partnership on arts-for-social change. Funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council in Canada and based in six universities, including over 40 community-based collaborators, and informed by five main field projects (circus with street youth, theatre by people with disabilities, dance for people with Parkinson’s disease, participatory theatre with refugees and artsinfused dialogue), we set out to synthesize existing knowledge and lessons we learned. We summarized these learnings into 12 key points for reflection, grouped into three categories: community-university partnership concerns (n = 3), dilemmas related to the arts (n = 5), and team issues (n = 4). In addition to addressing previous concerns outlined in the literature (e.g., related to consent, anonymity, dangerous emotional terrain, etc.), we identified power dynamics (visible and hidden) hindering meaningful participation of community partners and university-based teams that need to be addressed within a reflective critical framework of ethical practice. We present how our team has been addressing these issues, as examples of how such concerns could be approached in community-university partnerships in arts for social change. © 2016, The Author(s).

Author Keywords

Community-university-artist partnered research Team dynamics Collaboration Interdisciplinarity Ethics in teams

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84964018554&doi=10.1007%2fs10805-016-9257-7&partnerID=40&md5=6dc6d90e84296976fd7f20da41a3d2cd
DOI: 10.1007/s10805-016-9257-7
ISSN: 15701727
Cited by: 6
Original Language: English