Intersections of Critical Systems Thinking and Community Based Participatory Research: A Learning Organization Example with the Autistic Community

Metadata sources used for this reference

OpenAlex Crossref PubMed OpenCitations
Learn more about the sources used

Raymaker, D. M. (2016). Intersections of Critical Systems Thinking and Community Based Participatory Research: A Learning Organization Example with the Autistic Community. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 29(5), 405-423. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11213-016-9376-5

Publication date: 4 Apr 2016 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
OpenAlex source Publisher source (DOI)

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Dora M Raymaker *

Abstract

Critical systems thinking (CST) and community based participatory research (CBPR) are distinct approaches to inquiry which share a primary commitment to holism and human emancipation, as well as common grounding in critical theory and emancipatory and pragmatic philosophy. This paper explores their intersections and complements on a historical, philosophical, and theoretical level, and then proposes a hybrid approach achieved by applying CBPR's principles and considerations for operationalizing emancipatory practice to traditional systems thinking frameworks and practices. This hybrid approach is illustrated in practice with examples drawn from of the implementation of the learning organization model in an action research setting with the Autistic community. Our experience of being able to actively attend to, and continuously equalize, power relations within an organizational framework that otherwise has great potential for reinforcing power inequity suggests CBPR's principles and considerations for operationalizing emancipatory practice could be useful in CST settings, and CST's vocabulary, methods, and clarity around systems thinking concepts could be valuable to CBPR practioners.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Bibliography inclusion overview

These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:31.

Cited references
68
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
12 / 68 (17.6%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
25 / 173 (14.5%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 25 / 72 (34.7%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 6 / 127 (4.7%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
72 / 173 (41.6%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 32 / 127 (25.2%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
47 / 72 (65.3%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 47 / 173 (27.2%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 26 / 32 (81.2%).
  1. Christina Nicolaidis , Dora M Raymaker * , Katherine McDonald , Sebastian Dern , Elesia Ashkenazy * , W. Cody Boisclair * et al. (1985). Natural experiments and the educational context: The environment and effects of an alternative inner‐city public school on adolescents . American Journal of Community Psychology, 13(6), 617-643. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf00929793 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4083272
    OpenAlex
  2. AASPIRE (2013) Academic Autism Spectrum Partnership in Research and Education: Home. aaspire.org. http://aaspire.org . Accessed 29 Jan 2013
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  3. Rhonda BeLue , Chakema Carmack , Kyle R. Myers , Laurie Weinreb-Welch , Eugene J. Lengerich (2012). Systems Thinking Tools as Applied to Community-Based Participatory Research . Health Education & Behavior, 39(6), 745-751. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1090198111430708 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2031472759
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  4. AASPIRE (2014) AASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit. http://autismandhealth.org . Accessed 3 May 2014
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  5. José‐Rodrigo Córdoba (2009). Critical reflection in planning information systems: a contribution from critical systems thinking . Information Systems Journal, 19(2), 123-147. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2575.2007.00284.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1993717303
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  6. Barbara A. Israel , David Satcher (2013). Methods For Community - Based Participatory Research For Health .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1498878353
    OpenAlex
  7. R Ackoff (2003). Redesigning society . Redesigning society.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  8. M. C. Jackson (1991). The origins and nature of critical systems thinking . Systems Practice, 4(2), 131-149. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf01068246 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1982057530
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  9. (1980). The systems approach and its enemies . Business Horizons, 23(3), 85-87. Elsevier BV.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1016/0007-6813(80)90037-3 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1506732837
    OpenAlex
  10. C Argyris (1977). Argyris C (1977) Double loop learning in organizations. Harward Bus Rev 55:115–125 Harward Bus Rev, 55, 115.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  11. Gerald Midgley (2006). Systemic Intervention for Public Health . American Journal of Public Health, 96(3), 466-472. American Public Health Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2005.067660 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2013704629
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  12. Werner Ulrich , Martin Reynolds (2010). Critical Systems Heuristics . In Systems approaches to managing change: a practical guide (pp. 243-292). Springer London.
    Type: Book chapter DOI: 10.1007/978-1-84882-809-4_6 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1672707617
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  13. Kenneth J. Arrow (1950). A Difficulty in the Concept of Social Welfare . Journal of Political Economy, 58(4), 328-346. University of Chicago Press.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1086/256963 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2043278166
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  15. Jim Sinclair * (2013). Why I dislike “person first” Language . Autonomy, the Critical Journal of Interdisciplinary Autism Studies, 1(2), 2.
    Type: Article OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1829568558
    OpenAlex
  16. Gerald Midgley (1992). The sacred and profane in critical systems thinking . Systems Practice, 5(1), 5-16. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf01060044 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4250884815
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  17. Anne Stephens , Chris Jacobson , Christine King (2010). Towards a Feminist-Systems Theory . Systemic Practice and Action Research, 23(5), 371-386. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s11213-009-9164-6 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1966854615
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  18. S Bigirimana (2011). Bigirimana S (2011) Changing paradigms in the information society: from analysis to systems thinking. Int J Interdiscip Soc Sci 5:1–12 Int J Interdiscip Soc Sci, 5, 1.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  19. Carolyn M. Garcia , Lauren Gilchrist , Centro Campesino , Nancy Raymond , Sandy Naughton , Janeth Guerra de Patino (2008). Using Community-Based Participatory Research to Develop a Bilingual Mental Health Survey for Latinos . Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 2(2), 105-120. Project MUSE.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1353/cpr.0.0011 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1971562006
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  20. Raymond Caldwell (2012). Leadership and Learning: A Critical Reexamination of Senge’s Learning Organization . Systemic Practice and Action Research, 25(1), 39-55. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s11213-011-9201-0 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2001617671
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  21. P Checkland (1999). Systems thinking, systems practice: includes a 30-year retrospective . Systems thinking, systems practice: includes a 30-year retrospective.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  23. CW Churchman (1979). The systems approach and its enemies . The systems approach and its enemies.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  25. José-Rodrigo Córdoba , Gerald Midgley (2008). Beyond organisational agendas: using boundary critique to facilitate the inclusion of societal concerns in information systems planning . European Journal of Information Systems, 17(2), 125-142. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1057/ejis.2008.4 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1996634916
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  26. William M. Trochim , Derek A. Cabrera , Bobby Milstein , Richard S. Gallagher , Scott J. Leischow (2006). Practical Challenges of Systems Thinking and Modeling in Public Health . American Journal of Public Health, 96(3), 538-546. American Public Health Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2005.066001 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2099182045
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  27. Gerald Midgley (1991). The Sacred and Profane in Critical Systems Thinking . In Systems Thinking in Europe (pp. 397-405). Springer US.
    Type: Book chapter DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4615-3748-9_55 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1997848598
    OpenAlex
  30. HG Daellenbach (2007). Hard OR, soft OR, problem structuring methods, critical systems thinking: a primer . Hard OR, soft OR, problem structuring methods, critical systems thinking: a primer.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  31. the REACH Coalition of the African American Building a Legacy of Health Project , David C. Sloane , Allison L. Diamant , LaVonna B. Lewis , Antronette K. Yancey , Gwendolyn Flynn et al. (2003). Improving the nutritional resource environment for healthy living through community-based participatory research . Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(7), 568-575. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.21022.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2006965798
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  32. Bob Dick (2011). Action research literature 2008—2010: Themes and trends . Action Research, 9(2), 122-143. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1476750310388055 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2095600305
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  34. R. L. Flood (1990). Liberating Systems Theory: Toward Critical Systems Thinking . Human Relations, 43(1), 49-75. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/001872679004300104 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2126843324
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  35. Morten Levin (1994). Action research and critical systems thinking: Two icons carved out of the same log? Systems Practice, 7(1), 25-41. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/bf02169163 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2332584336
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  36. F. P. Wheeler , P. Checkland (2000). Systems Thinking, Systems Practice: Includes a 30-Year Retrospective . The Journal of the Operational Research Society, 51(5), 647. JSTOR.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2307/254200 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2009310991
    OpenAlex
  37. Robert Louis Flood (2010). The Relationship of ‘Systems Thinking’ to Action Research . Systemic Practice and Action Research, 23(4), 269-284. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s11213-010-9169-1 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2050556122
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  38. RL Flood (1991). Critical systems thinking: directed readings . Critical systems thinking: directed readings.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  39. W Ulrich (2003). Beyond methodology choice: critical systems thinking as critically systemic discourse . Journal of the Operational Research Society, 54(4), 325-342. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jors.2601518 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2018527020
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  40. Edison J. Trickett , Sarah Beehler , Charles Deutsch , Lawrence W. Green , Penelope Hawe , Kenneth McLeroy et al. (2011). Advancing the Science of Community-Level Interventions . American Journal of Public Health, 101(8), 1410-1419. American Public Health Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2010.300113 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2116149936
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  41. Thomas P. O’Toole , Kaytura Felix Aaron , Marshall H. Chin , Carol Horowitz , Frederick Tyson (2003). Community-based participatory research . Journal of General Internal Medicine, 18(7), 592-594. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2003.30416.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2032602484
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  42. B Israel (2003). Community-based participatory research for health . Methods in community-based participatory research for health.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  43. George G. Lendaris (1986). On Systemness and the Problem Solver: Tutorial Comments . IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 16(4), 603-610. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1109/tsmc.1986.289266 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2086685572
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  44. Katherine McDonald , Dora M Raymaker * (2013). Paradigm Shifts in Disability and Health: Toward More Ethical Public Health Research . American Journal of Public Health, 103(12), 2165-2173. American Public Health Association.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2013.301286 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2134344619
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  45. G Midgley (2001). Systemic intervention: philosophy, methodology, and practice (contemporary systems thinking) . Systemic intervention: philosophy, methodology, and practice (contemporary systems thinking).
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  47. Meredith Minkler , Nina Wallerstein (2002). Community-Based Participatory Research for Health .
    Type: Book OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2168815104
    Crossref OpenAlex
  48. Christina Nicolaidis , Dora M Raymaker * , Marsha Katz , Mary Oschwald , Rebecca Goe , Sandra M. Leotti et al. (2015). Community-Based Participatory Research to Adapt Health Measures for Use by People With Developmental Disabilities . Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action, 9(2), 157-170. Project MUSE.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1353/cpr.2015.0037 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2110239954
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  49. Peter M. Senge (1991). The fifth discipline, the art and practice of the learning organization . Performance + Instruction, 30(5), 37-37. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1002/pfi.4170300510 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2101157755
    Crossref OpenAlex
  50. Christina Nicolaidis (2015). The SAGE handbook of action research . The SAGE handbook of action research.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  51. Christina Nicolaidis , Dora M Raymaker * (2013). Healthcare Experiences of Autistic Adults . Journal of General Internal Medicine, 28(7), 871-871. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s11606-013-2427-z OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2053213779
    AutiHub · Autistic Scholars OpenCitations
  52. (n.d.). Nicolaidis C, Raymaker DM, McDonald K, Kapp S, Weiner M, Ashkenazy E, Gerrity M, Kripke C, Platt L, Baggs A (in review) The development and evaluation of an online healthcare toolkit for autistic adults and their providers. J Gen Intern Med
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  53. Progress in Community Health Partnerships (2013) Progress in community health partnerships: research, education, and action: author guidelines. http://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/progress_in_community_health_partnerships/guidelines.html . Accessed 21 Nov 2013
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  54. Dora M Raymaker * , Christina Nicolaidis (2013). Participatory research with autistic communities: Shifting the system . Worlds of autism: Across the spectrum of neurological difference, 305.
    Type: Article OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2468210776
    OpenAlex
  55. DM Raymaker (2013). Worlds of Autism . Worlds of Autism.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  56. BA Israel , A. J. Schulz , EA Parker , A B Becker , AJ Allen , Guzmán et al. (2008). Critical issues in developing and following community based participatory research principles .
    Type: Article OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2529138854
    OpenAlex
  57. (n.d.). Raymaker DM, Nicolaidis C, Boisclair WC, McDonald KE, Wiener M, Kapp S, Ashkenazy E (in review) Community based participatory research methods in co-developing an accessible web site for end users on the autism spectrum. Hum Comput Interact
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  58. Hilary Bradbury (2015). The SAGE Handbook of Action Research . SAGE Publications Ltd.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.4135/9781473921290 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2585890957
    OpenAlex
  59. Christina Nicolaidis , Dora M Raymaker * (2015). Community-based participatory research with communities defined by race, ethnicity, and disability: Translating theory to practice . In The SAGE Handbook of Action Research (pp. 167). SAGE Publications Ltd.
    Type: Book chapter DOI: 10.4135/9781473921290.n17 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2585959274
    OpenAlex
  60. J Shapiro (1994). No pity: people with disabilities forging a new civil rights movement . No pity: people with disabilities forging a new civil rights movement.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  61. Stanislas Bigirimana (2011). Changing Paradigms in the Information Society: From Analysis to Systems Thinking . The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences: Annual Review, 5(11), 1-12. Common Ground Research Networks.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.18848/1833-1882/cgp/v05i11/51846 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2803214623
    OpenAlex
  62. Sinclair J (1999) Why I dislike “person first” language. http://autismmythbusters.com/general-public/autistic-vs-people-with-autism/jim-sinclair-why-i-dislike-person-first-language/ . Accessed 9 Sept 2015
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  63. Cheryl A. Leighty , Joseph P. Shapiro (1994). No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement . Michigan Law Review, 92(6), 1953. JSTOR.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2307/1289622 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3022730379
    OpenAlex
  64. John Holt (1992). Critical Systems Thinking: Directed Readings . Journal of the Operational Research Society, 43(12), 1183-1184. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1057/jors.1992.185 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W375404513
    OpenAlex
  65. John Mingers , Werner Ulrich (1996). Critical Heuristics of Social Planning: A New Approach to Practical Philosophy . Journal of the Operational Research Society, 47(4), 596-596. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1057/jors.1996.69 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2072863585
    OpenAlex
  66. W Ulrich (1995). Critical heuristics of social planning: a new approach to practical philosophy . Critical heuristics of social planning: a new approach to practical philosophy.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  67. Ulrich W (2005) A brief introduction to critical systems heuristics (CSH). Open University, Web site of the ECOSENSUS Project
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  68. N Wallerstein (2003). Community-based participatory research for health . Community-based participatory research for health, 27.
    Type: Other
    Crossref