Consensus Organizing and Community-Based Participatory Research to Address Social-Structural Disparities and Promote...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Community Psychology
• Criminology

Background:

• Health disparities and social-structural risk factors disproportionately affect marginalized communities.
• Building trust between law enforcement and community members is crucial for addressing public safety and health.
• Community-based participatory research (CBPR) and consensus organizing offer frameworks for collaborative problem-solving.

Observation:

• A majority African American community, in partnership with law enforcement and cross-sector stakeholders, engaged in a planning initiative.
• The initiative focused on deconstructing social-structural risk factors contributing to crime and health disparities.
• Community residents actively participated alongside criminal justice system members.

Findings:

• Integrating CBPR and consensus organizing facilitated a deconstruction of social-structural risk factors.
• The collaborative approach fostered positive relationships between the criminal justice system and community members.
• Empowerment of the community to take action was a key outcome.

Implications:

• This integrated approach can effectively dismantle social-structural disparities.
• It promotes a culture of health and well-being by addressing root causes of inequality.
• Findings support the scalability of CBPR and consensus organizing in diverse community settings.