Understanding Indigenous Gender Relations and Violence

Dr. McKinley’s funded research focuses on centering sex and gender differences while promoting health equity for Indigenous peoples (American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians). As a lead editor on a special issue and associated book entitled, “Indigenous Health Equity and Wellness,” she is a leader conducting community engaged and culturally grounded health equity research. After a decade of work on violence against Indigenous women and families and associated disparities, her clinical trial research focuses on developing and testing a culturally relevant and family centered intervention (the Weaving Healthy Families, or Chukka Achaffi’ Natana Program). This program promotes health and wellness while preventing the underlying causes of premature mortality and morbidity among Indigenous peoples, namely alcohol and other drug use and violence. Along with examining sex differences related to the effect and uptake of this intervention that incorporates mhealth, sex differences related to social determinants of health related to cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic health problems are focal to this work. She led the development of the Indigenous-based and ecological “Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT)”, which identifies, and culturally relevant risk and protective factors related to wellness across community, family, and individual levels from a relational perspective. This framework was chosen for inclusion in the edited book, Grand Challenges for Society: Evidence-Based Social Work Practice, and her work has also been highlighted as Best Paper by the Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Diversity in Social Work in 2018, "Indigenous Women and Professionals’ Proposed Solutions to Prevent Intimate Partner Violence in Tribal Communities.”

• Decolonization from Prescriptive Gender Roles and Sexism – Living Gender AWAke.- Patriarchy and Its Handmaid, Sexism.- Introduction and Application of the Framework of Historical Oppression, Resilience, and Transcendence (FHORT) to Gender-Based Violence.- How Did It Happen? A Case Example of the Incremental, Cumulative, and Massive Efforts of Historical Oppression to Reverse Indigenous Women’s Roles and Statuses.- Divides, Disruptions, and Gendered Rearrangements: How Historical Oppression Impairs Communities and Contributes to Violence.- Contemporary Forms of Historical Oppression: Experiences and Consequences of Gendered IPV and Sexual Violence Experiences.- How Historical Oppression Undermines Families and Drives Risk for Violence.- Interlocking Experiences of Violence Across Women’s Life.- How Patriarchal Gender Roles, Early Childbearing (ECB) and Early Marriage (EM) Contribute to IPV.- Understanding Indigenous Women’s Experiences and Barriers to Liberation From Violence.-Patriarchal Gender Roles: Interconnections With Violence, Historical Oppression, and Resilience.- Gender Inequities in Home Life: Moms “Mostly Pulling the Weight”.- Gendered Differences in Experiences of Violence and Violence Perpetration.- Consequences of Violence on Women, Children, and Families.- Tipping the Balance: Violence Across the Life Course and Socioeconomic Strain Posing Risks While Family and Social Support Offsetting Anxiety and Depression.- Understanding Depression as an Embodiment of Historical Oppression and Ways to Transcend.- Land, Loss, and Violence: Contemporary Manifestations of Historical Oppression.- Family and Culture as Structures for Resilience, Resistance, and Transcendence From Violence.- Bending But Not Breaking: Resilience of Women Survivors of Violence.- What to Do Now? Listening and Learning From Survivors and Professionals Affected by Violence.- Understanding Gender and Connections Between Mental, Physical, Social, and Community, Cultural Health.- We Never Go Hungry There Cause My Mom Uses the Resource of the Land”: Returning to Sacred Roots of Subsistence to Promote Wellness and Resilience.- Understanding Interconnections and Factors Driving Gendered Mental Health Inequities.- Cultural, Community, Familial, and Individual Factors Related to Wellness Among Youth.- Family Resilience: Resisting and Offsetting Historical Oppression While Transcending.- Decolonizing Family Connectedness Enhancing Family Resilience.- “Your Kids Come First”: Plugged in and Protective Parenting Practices Promoting Resilience.- “Trust Us Enough to Come to Us”: Communication as a Building Block of Family Resilience.- “He Had Rules and He Had Guidelines”: Establishing Family Accountability and Structure Love: A Decolonizing Act of Rebellion to Promote Family Resilience and Reduce Alcohol Use.- “They Called [Great Grandmother] the Famous Storyteller Around Here”: Elders Transcending Historical Oppression Through Language, Story, and Culture.- “She Always KnowsWhat to Do”: Mothers Maintaining Central Roles in Family.- “We’ve Kind of Always Come Together”: Humanizing, Complementary, Fluid, Balanced, and Transcendent Gender Roles to Move Forward.- Tying It All Together: Living Gender AWAke.