Meet Dr. Marsha-Ann Scott-Black
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, researcher, writer, and the Founder & Principal Researcher of MASB Research Consulting. My work brings faith, research, critical inquiry, and lived experience into conversation.
MASB is the home I am building for these connected expressions of my work: research and consulting, writing, teaching, community collaboration, and public scholarship. It is a space where I can bring my whole self to the questions I ask, the relationships I build, and the knowledge I share.
The Philosophy Behind MASB
Reframing Knowledge, Reclaiming Power
The philosophy underpinning MASB Research Consulting emerged from a journey of intellectual reflection and transformation.
Through doctoral research, I came to recognize how the analytical frameworks we employ shape what we see, how we interpret social realities, and the solutions we envision. When those frameworks fail to account for the complexities of lived experiences, the knowledge produced – and the policies and interventions informed by it – risk being incomplete or misdirected.
Reframing Knowledge is a commitment to questioning dominant assumptions, broadening the lenses through which we understand social phenomena, and recognizing forms of knowledge that have historically been marginalized or overlooked.
Reclaiming Power recognizes that communities are not merely subjects of research but co-producers of knowledge. Their experiences, perspectives, and insights are essential not only to understanding social realities but also to shaping the decisions, policies, and solutions that affect their lives.
Together, these principles reflect my belief that meaningful transformation begins with how we understand the world, and by extension, who has the agency to shape it.
My Research & Approach
My scholarly foundation is in criminology, with academic and teaching experience spanning criminological theory, criminal law, Canadian human rights and civil liberties, and sociological and psychological explanations of crime.
My intellectual interests extend to socio-legal inquiry, institutional practices, systems of justice, and the relationships between knowledge, power, and lived experience.
Central to my research practice is a commitment to understanding how systems operate: the principles that govern them, the histories that shape them, and the assumptions upon which they are built. I am particularly interested in how knowledge becomes established, how institutional practices are legitimized, and what becomes visible – or remains obscured – through dominant ways of understanding social realities.
My doctoral research examining informal justice systems in Jamaican garrison communities reflects this orientation. Drawing on critical criminology, Black feminist thought, decolonial scholarship, and intersectional analysis, I explored how community-based systems of governance and justice emerge, operate, and acquire legitimacy within particular social and historical contexts.
These intellectual commitments continue to inform my approach to research, alongside a broader interest in interdisciplinary inquiry, policy analysis, and institutional and social transformation.
Faith & Public Scholarship
My faith shapes how I live, the questions I bring to my work, and my commitments to others. Through the MASB Research Consulting YouTube channel, I explore Scripture through research, critical inquiry, and lived experience. These reflections invite dialogue about identity, power, relationships, and everyday life, grounded in my relationship with Jesus Christ.
