Publications by authors named "Alana Gunn"

While current ethical procedures aim to minimize risks to imprisoned individuals, there is heightened awareness of the need to protect those who participate in research post-incarceration while under community-based supervision. Formerly incarcerated women, in particular, face myriad challenges to community reintegration which also make them vulnerable participants in research. As such, this study explores how 28 formerly incarcerated Black women experience the qualitative research process.

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Anti-oppressive qualitative inquiry can be a powerful tool for members of marginalized communities to engage in storytelling that is both therapeutic and transformative. For individuals navigating marginalization due to multiple systems of stigmatization, the process of telling their story offers the opportunity to engage in awareness raising and health promotion that can benefit their communities. Formerly incarcerated Black women are one such community experiencing multilevel marginalization.

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Introduction: There is limited functional knowledge and utilization of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) among young adult Black cisgender women (YBW).

Methods: We conducted four focus groups with YBW using an intersectional framework to explore multiple levels of factors that impede YBW awareness, interest, and utilization of PrEP in conjunction with their sexual and reproductive healthcare needs.

Results: Influences at the cultural-environmental level included a lack of information and resources to access to PrEP and medical mistrust in the healthcare system.

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Black women experience myriad challenges post incarceration, from managing stigma within social relationships to navigating surveillance when interfacing with service systems. It is these challenges that also make them vulnerable participants in community-based research. With many of potential research harms not falling under the guidance of Institutional Review Boards, it is critical to explore how communities experiencing stigma and surveillance perceive their engagement in research.

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Intersectionality is a critical tool for understanding how socially constructed categories shape multiple dimensions of lived experience. In this study, we apply an intersectional lens to explore how women of color from two different contexts, Hyderabad, India and Chicago, Illinois, manage gendered forms of stigma and oppression as they converge with other devalued statuses, namely living with HIV or having a history of drug use or incarceration. Applying intersectional stigma as our conceptual framework, and drawing from transnational feminist perspectives, we identified two overarching themes.

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Formerly incarcerated women face diverse challenges to re-entry, which include recovering from health illnesses and trauma to navigating various systems of stigma and surveillance. It is these multilevel challenges to reintegration that also make formerly incarcerated women vulnerable participants in research. As such, this qualitative study explores how 28 formerly incarcerated Black women experience the research interview process.

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Problem-solving courts such as prostitution courts are becoming an important feature of the American court landscape. Internationally, while there is a great deal of skepticism regarding problem solving courts, at least five countries (e.g.

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Qualitative research grounded in a social constructionist epistemology troubles the assumption, integral in positivist research, that a researcher can be neutral and apolitical. In fact, many scholars are drawn to constructionist epistemologies because they situate the research process as a site of ontological resistance and social change. This essay explores the politics of voice and representation in anti-oppressive qualitative research.

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This article explores how intrapersonal and structural oppression may impact treatment and the recovery process of 23 self-identified African American women with histories of incarceration and substance use. Using a critical consciousness (CC) framework and content-based thematic analysis, researchers systematically coded and extracted themes and patterns from focus group data to evaluate how marginalizing processes-such as race-based discrimination-impact treatment, the therapeutic relationship, and service provision. Results indicate that participants' health and treatment were negatively impacted by oppressive factors, specifically the oppressive process of silencing.

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Changes in identity are critical to managing transitions to recovery from substance and alcohol addictions. Identity change is particularly important for mothers, whose recovery processes are often in the context of critical but complex family relationships and societal expectations. But research and practice often underestimate the relational dimensions that promote or inhibit changes in one's identity during recovery.

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Significant previous research has focused on how individuals experience stigma when interacting with the public sphere and service agencies; the purpose of this grounded theory study is to explore how formerly incarcerated mothers with histories of substance use experience stigmas from their intimate relationships with family and romantic partners. Using an intersectionality lens, this study reveals that the women perceived multiple stigmas due to their previous substance use, incarceration, and other addiction-related behaviors that challenged their roles as mothers and romantic partners. Compounding the behavioral-related stigmas were race and class-based stereotypes of black criminality that also challenged women's ability to embody key motherhood and womanhood roles.

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Knowledge of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) continues to remain scarce among Black women who are disproportionally affected by HIV in the United States. A thematic analysis of open-ended questions from a sample of Black women (n=119) who completed a mix-methods, online, e-health study was conducted to examine the perceived advantages and disadvantages of using PrEP. Being a female controlled method, empowerment, option for women with risky sex partners, and serodiscordant couples were advantages described.

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Background: Young people from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in the U.S. are engaging in opioid and injection drug use (IDU) in substantial numbers, paralleling nationwide trends.

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Objective: Prescription drug diversion, the transfer of prescription drugs from lawful to unlawful channels for distribution or use, is a problem in the United States. Despite the pervasiveness of diversion, there are gaps in the literature regarding characteristics of individuals who participate in the illicit trade of prescription drugs. This study examines a range of predictors (e.

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This grounded theory study explores how women with histories of addiction perceive stigma while in treatment. In-depth interviews were conducted with 30 women participating in a residential drug treatment center. Previous research has found that support from peers during recovery can be critical to managing illnesses.

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