Dissertation
Decolonizing safety: a critical narrative analysis to end policing
University of Iowa
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
Summer 2022
DOI: 10.25820/etd.006615
Abstract
The dominant narrative in much of the world is that public safety is provided by policing. This is evidenced in supportive rhetoric from institutional forces such as politicians and media, as well as large budget allocations in all levels of government. Alongside a long history of violence committed by police, especially against Black, Brown, and poor people, many social movements have rejected the idea that policing provides safety and have sought out other methods for community wellness. Although this ideology is gaining popularity amidst protests and organizing for Black lives in recent years, it is still a minority viewpoint. The present study attempts to utilize critical narrative analysis (CNA) to provide empirical evidence for how financially insecure Black and Brown residents of a small city in Eastern Iowa construct their understanding of personal and community safety. Seven financially insecure Black and Brown residents were interviewed two times each and told stories that illuminated how they understood and constructed feelings of safety in their lives and in their communities. Their stories and the dialectic exchange of the interviews illustrated several counternarratives and moments of conscientization for participants and the research team where safety was deconstructed and understood outside the power of recycled institutional narratives. Participants rejected popular notions of safety such as police and embraced more robust relationships, community resources, and forms of self-knowledge such as mental health, among other sources of safety. We analyze their interviews as efforts to be humanly recognized within violent white supremacist structures and their stories and responses help to decolonize the popular messages about how safety is achieved in society. Finally, we highlight their world-making abilities as they craft their own networks of community and safety outside of the state and other popularly understood notions of safety.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Decolonizing safety: a critical narrative analysis to end policing
- Creators
- David Drustrup
- Contributors
- Saba Rasheed Ali (Advisor)Simon Balto (Committee Member)Martin Kivlighan (Committee Member)Leslie Locke (Committee Member)Saba Vlach (Committee Member)
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), University of Iowa
- Degree in
- Psychological and Quantitative Foundations (Counseling Psychology)
- Date degree season
- Summer 2022
- DOI
- 10.25820/etd.006615
- Publisher
- University of Iowa
- Number of pages
- vii, 90 pages
- Copyright
- Copyright 2022 David Drustrup
- Language
- English
- Description illustrations
- illustrations, charts
- Description bibliographic
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 63-78).
- Public Abstract (ETD)
- Much of the world believes that public safety is provided by police. Supported by research, the lived experience of many Black, Brown, and poor people is that throughout history, police have not only failed to provide safety, but have been the cause of individual and systemic violence against the most marginalized. While relatively unpopular, abolitionist movements have offered new ways of creating safe and equitable communities. Despite positive outcomes, the unpopularity of abolitionist movements is likely due to the way powerful voices, such as media and politicians, discredit these movements in an attempt to preserve their own influence. In this study, seven participants who identified as racially Black or Brown and financially insecure were interviewed about their understanding of safety and told stories about feeling unsafe. The research team held conversations with the participants about their responses and how their answers either 1) were contrary to popular messages about safety, or 2) were influenced by powerful actors, such as messaging from media and politicians. The research findings suggest that these participants largely disagreed with popular ideas about safety. These participants felt that police were the source of danger, and instead preferred to stay away from “professional” or government-sponsored social services in favor of their local community and neighbors who have experienced similar struggles. They frequently discussed the need for healthy relationships, psychological health, and the need to feel human—something that is not possible in current U.S. society given the way police and other government forces regularly dehumanize people, especially the marginalized. Our participant responses highlight how powerful actors in society misconstrue and mislead the ways that true safety can be achieved, and how a more fulfilling and human strategy is to learn to rely on our neighbors and community for safety and wellness.
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Quantitative Foundations
- Record Identifier
- 9984285346502771
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