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University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA

June 18-21, 2026 

Embracing Maladjustment: Deaf-Led Resistance, Police Violence, and Decolonial Participatory Action Research

Laura N. Mahan
Year of publication: 2025
DOI: 10.63961/2025.201

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Abstract

This paper integrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s concept of creative maladjustment with decolonial participatory action research (DPAR) to address systemic violence and inequities experienced by the Deaf community. Rejecting deficit-based paradigms, the study centers the lived experiences of Deaf, Hard of Hearing, DeafBlind, and DeafDisabled individuals to develop community-led responses to institutional harm. Focus group findings reveal persistent structural barriers, epistemic exclusion, linguistic marginalization, and systemic inaccessibility, that reinforce carceral logics and undermine Deaf autonomy in seeking justice. In response, the study proposes participatory workshops that foster cultural competency, empowerment, and solidarity across service institutions and advocacy networks. These interventions reimagine safety, accessibility, and justice beyond carceral frameworks. Situating this work within broader resistance movements, the paper illustrates how creative maladjustment and DPAR function as transformative tools to resist epistemic violence and advance disability justice. It contributes to critical disability studies, participatory research, and abolitionist frameworks by demonstrating the power of community-driven research in challenging systemic harm.

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