Participatory research in a mental health clubhouse

Participatory research, also known as participatory action research, has it s roots in communities around the world, particularly iir Africa, Asia, and South America. The fundamental characteristics are that people who have ex perienced oppression become researchers. They generate knowledge and dissem inate findings through consciousness raising, social critique, and social c hange with the explicit aim of transform their oppression into empowerment. Through participatory research, people with long standing mental health pr oblems, for example, may be able to transform their oppression into empower ment. Articles on participatory research generally report a single research project. This paper analyzes a portion of the data front a two-year instit utional ethnography of a participatory research program. Presented here is an analysis that: 1) addresses the questions: What is research? and Who is driving research? and, 2) offers a critical perspective on the social organ ization of knowledge land ruling power) when members and staff of a mental health clubhouse take up research as an occupation. Highlighted are power i nequities between participants and the importance of social critique in par ticipatory research. The paper includes reflections on participatory resear ch as a form of client-centered practice in which clubhouse members and sta ff engage together in a meaningful occupation.