Meeting in the margin: can participatory research address the root causes of Indigenous mental health problems?

Abstract

Although Indigenous Peoples represent 5% of the population in Canada, they present higher rates of psychosocial problems including mental health issues and suicide than their non-Indigenous counterparts. They are also over-represented in the youth protection and prison systems. This must be understood within the specific context of the oppression of Indigenous Peoples in Canada through colonization and colonialist policies. To improve Indigenous mental health and wellbeing, the oppression underlying it must be addressed. The objective of this article is to illustrate how we, as mental health researchers, can contribute to this process. Based on Collins’ matrix of domination, and bell hooks’s space of resistance, an analysis of community-based participatory research and its impacts on helping Indigenous People overcome oppression is offered. Limits of participatory research’s contributions to social change are presented. Anti-oppressive participatory research is offered as a promising alternative.