Doing Anti-Racist Scholarship With Adolescents: Empirical Examples and Lessons Learned

Abstract

The goal of this two-part special issue is to present and engage theories and methods for pursuing anti-racist developmental science and to provide a critical self-evaluation of the field of adolescent development. The first volume in this series encompasses empirical-focused manuscripts that engage in doing anti-racist scholarship through critical methodological approaches (e.g., QuantCrit, Critical Qualitative Research, and Youth-Participatory Action Research) with opportunities for critical self-reflection for scholars, as well as centering research around adolescents who are systematically marginalized in scholarship within the field of adolescent development. In this introduction, we stress the value of engaging in anti-racist research within the field of developmental science and provide an overview of the articles, placing these manuscripts in conversation with one another and gleaning insights with respect to the who, what, how, and why of anti-racist developmental research with adolescents. This special issue intentionally features manuscripts that embrace plurality in methodology, exhibit an openness to challenging dominant research paradigms (i.e., intentionally rooting out racist ideologies, methods, and theories within the field), and place an introspective spotlight on the process of conducting research. We conclude by offering our collective considerations and points of reflection for pursuing anti-racist research.