Indigenous Peoples, Research and Ethics

A heavy over-representation of Indigenous people within criminal justice andstate welfare systems is a co1runon factor of first-world colonized nation-states. InAustralia, Aotearoa New Zealand, the US and Canada this over-representation positionsIndigenous peoples as a group of key interest for criminological researchersand there is a significant body of criminological literature documenting this positioningin each country. This over-representation also positions Indigenous peoplesas a disproportionately vulnerable group and highlights the criticality of ensuringthat the conduct of research with Indigenous peoples meets high ethical standards.Conducting ethical research with, or about, Indigenous peoples, however requiresmuch more than standard ethical approval from university or other institutional ethicscommittees. Research with Indigenous peoples, particularly the ethical aspects of this research,is not neutral territory. Not only are there unique ethical principles, guidelines andneeds associated with such research, the realm is also awash with racial, cultural,social and political assumptions. The signing of a consent form, for example, takenas evidence of a participant's voluntary informed participation in the research, mayneither be culturally applicable nor meaningful for Indigenous participants. Thecomplex realm of ethical Indigenous research practice in settler states, therefore, hasto be examined from both ends of the research spectrum. The ethical principles andperspectives that the Indigenous subjects of research have articulated and the ethicaldimensions of worldviews and values that researchers themselves bring to theirresearch alongside the compatibility of these with Indigenous research ethics arecentral concerns of ethical research practice with Indigenous peoples. The chapter begins with an overview of the shared positionality of Indigenouspeoples on the hierarchy of socio-economic and cultural disadvantage and withincriminal justice systems in their respective first-world colonized nation-states:Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, the US and Canada. The chapter then detailsIndigenous ethical perspectives, as they are conceived formally and informally, andtheir ramifications for criminology researchers in the practice of ethical research.For Indigenous peoples, ethical research is research that recognizes and respectsIndigenous cultural values, norms, knowledges and sovereign rights. To this encl mostof our example first-world settler states have developed sets of ethical guidelines toinform researchers designing and conducting culturally appropriate and collaborativeresearch. A cross-national comparative analysis of these demonstrates both the essentialsimilarities across cultures and nation-states as well as national variations. The chapter then addresses the ethical impact of the cultural, social and racialmilieu of the researcher: the researcher's worldview. Even if the researcher is fullycognizant of Indigenous ethical dimensions, the outc01ne is not necessarily ethicalresearch. If they do not understand their own social position and how this framestheir research practice then a significant potential to do research harm remains.Researchers' worldview, and the value and belief systems that flow from this, shapeand influence the research questions they regard as important, the way data aregathered, from whom, and, often most critically, the interpretation of those data.Criminological research is not purely a scholarly endeavor and those interpretationshave social and public policy resonance. Far removed from researchers themselves,research findings have real life effects on Indigenous peoples and communities. AnAustralian research example is used to demonstrate such ethical issues.

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