Posted on July 8, 2003

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Institute for Community Research

Founded: 1987

Contact: Jean J. Schensul, Executive Director

Address:
2 Hartford Square West
Suite 100
Hartford, CT 06106

Phone: (860) 278-2044
Fax: (860) 278-2141
E-mail: info@icrweb.org
URL: http://www.incommunityresearch.org

Mission:
To conduct research in collaboration with community partners that promotes justice and equity. The Institute for Community Research (ICR) works with local residents to help communities ask better questions and get better answers about the complex problems they face.

Background:
ICR was founded in 1987 as a nonprofit research institute to develop research partnerships and conduct research with communities and organizations in New England and beyond. Under the direction of Executive Director Jean J. Schensul, an anthropologist, the organization stresses collaborative research for change, critical thinking, and cultural enhancement and development. The group's staff has expanded over the years to include youth researchers, anthropologists, psychologists, social workers, sociologists, artists, community health advocates, health educators, community professionals, and others. ICR partners with other research institutes, community-based organizations, hospitals, schools, local and state agencies, public housing, museums and cultural centers, universities, ethnic and national groups, funders, and the media.

Current Programs:
ICR conducts research in the program areas of health and mental health, education, arts and culture, and international. Health and mental health research projects focus on issues that affect individuals but have implications for the public at large, such as HIV/AIDS, substance abuse, depression, violence, and sexual identity. A current ICR project in this area works with older African-American and Latino adults in Hartford, Connecticut, to examine barriers to mental health resources. In education, ICR works with school and after-school programs to develop and test innovative HIV/AIDS and drug education initiatives, and its Youth Action Research Institute trains youth in participatory action research methods for identifying and solving problems that affect them and their peers.

The group's arts and culture programs work with individual urban artists, cultural conservation organizations, and cultural/historical associations to support access to artistic resources and sustain heritage art forms and traditions. And ICR's international efforts focus on HIV/AIDS risk and prevention, substance abuse, and other health issues in India, Canada, Sri Lanka, and China.

Recent Successes:
Urban Women Against Substance Abuse, an ICR project that took place between 1996 and 2001, was recently recognized by the Western Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention as a "Promising Program" for substance abuse prevention. In addition, the Youth Action Research Institute honored project participants in graduation ceremonies that included the presentation of research findings on risky teen sex and suicidal thoughts and emotions.

Web site:
The ICR Web site provides general information about the organization and detailed information about current and recent research projects and programs. The site also links to ICR's publications and partnering organizations.

Funding:
ICR receives support from state and federal agencies and local and national foundations, including the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the William T. Grant Foundation.