Decolonizing Social Work Research Strategies For Conducting Collaborative MMIWG Research

Abstract

The issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) has reached epidemic proportions. In recent years, there has been an increase in state and federal legislative efforts aimed at addressing the issue. Research has emerged as a main priority in these legislative efforts to help understand MMIWG and inform strategic responses to stop the cycle of violence. The social work profession, as a profession committed to human rights and social justice, arguably has an ethical responsibility to engage in solidarity with Native Americans and their efforts to end MMIWG. Social workers conduct and participate in research and should consider opportunities to pursue and participate in MMIWG research. However, both social work and research have been, and are often still seen as, forms of colonial oppression which have created the conditions and systems contributing to the MMIWG issue today. This literature review will focus on the importance of and considerations for decolonizing social work research principles and strategies that can apply to current MMIWG research to help facilitate meaningful change.