Martha Kuwee Kumsa

Catching the shimmers of the social: from the limits of reflexivity to methodological creativity

With the questioning of the neutral objective researcher, reflexivity has jumped to the forefront of qualitative research, thus positioning the embodied researcher within the research process. In its power to reveal tacit embodied social structures, reflexivity is touted as the hallmark of methodological validation while also being described as a messy process, particularly in participatory research. In this article, we use illustrative examples from our participatory research exploring the healing practices of racialized minority youth in Canada to highlight the limits of reflexivity and participation. We examine the messy processes in the preliminary phase of our research project and the invaluable insights we took into developing a creative methodology.

Negotiating Intimacies in a Globalized Space: Identity and Cohesion in Young Oromo Refugee Women

This article explores the paradoxical processes in how young Oromo refugee women negotiate identity and cohesion in a globalized space. It argues that these womens experiences reveal the interplay of local and global forces of identity and cohesion.The myth that contemporary migration has diversified and expanded the pool from which people choose intimate partners is challenged, and the multiple boundaries of gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity, and nationality interweaving in this pool of choice are critically analyzed. Implications for feminist social work practice are discussed.

Rethinking youth violence and healing

In a world where violence and healing are posited as oppositional, critical youth studies, youth work practitioners, and human rights and social justice activists often locate themselves on the healing side of the divide, shedding light on the suffering and alleviating the pain of the violence. However, current theoretical developments prompt us to critically engage this oppositional binary constructed between violence and healing. We have come to a crossroads where we can no longer innocently position ourselves on the side of healing because we are deeply implicated in the violence as well. In this paper, we draw on our research on the healing practices of racialized minority youth in Canada to think through the prevailing dichotomy of violence and healing. We use a poignant case scenario of an ordinary encounter in an ordinary place to explore the complexities of the space between youth violence and healing and make visible their inseparably relational and interactional nature. We draw on both foundational and emergent conceptualizations of encounters, emotions, spaces and places, as well as subjects and subjectivities to rethink and theorize youth violence and healing.

The response of youth to racial discrimination: implications for resilience theory

This paper presents a qualitative participatory study of Canadian young people who identified themselves as visible minorities and who have experienced discrimination based on their skin colour or ethnicity. Eighteen participants aged 15–24 (12 girls and 6 boys), representing four ethnic minority groups, participated in focus groups and in-depth interviews and shared their responses to racial discrimination against them. Analysis of the data from the four discussion groups reveals that racism occurs in everyday situations and places, a lot of times manifesting itself as subtle forms of discrimination. Our findings also suggest that most of the participants tend to employ non-confrontational approaches when dealing with racial violence against them, and provide us with the rationale behind their intentions. Further, youth are not uniformly impacted by racialized events, and therefore the coping strategies they use vary based on individual and contextual factors. Three common strategies for healing can be derived from the participants’ narratives: expressive-emotional, spiritual-forgiving and communicative-relational. We discuss our findings in the light of theoretical frameworks of resilience and coping approaches and argue that young people’s subjective appraisals of racialized events as well as contextual factors need to be addressed in any discussion on coping and resilience within minority youth populations.

Playing hide-and-seek: searching for the use of self in reflective social work practice

With the increasing awareness of power and privilege in current theorizing, social workers are increasingly called upon to engage in critical self-reflection and develop strategies of reflective use of self in their practice. However, despite this call the use of self is disappearing from social work curricula. This paper presents an overview of findings from a small qualitative study exploring the use of self among reflective social work practitioners. In-depth collegial conversations were used to generate data. Narrative and discourse analysis were used to interpret the data. Findings are nuanced and textured reflecting the diversity of participants’ worldviews.

Reflections on using physical objects as data generation strategies: An example from a study of youth violence and healing

In this article, we present an innovative methodological use of physical objects in facilitating the construction and reconstruction of meaning in a qualitative social work research project exploring youth violence and healing among racial minority youth in Canada. To highlight the role of physical objects in making visible the intricate processes of meaning making and remaking, we provide a close-up view of a symbolic objects activity performed by members of a Research Advisory Group in one site of a larger multisite project. We discuss the implications for broader qualitative practices in social work.