Photovoice as a Research-Intervention Tool for Youth Neighborhood Activism in Societally Vulnerable Contexts

Abstract

Teenagers who live in vulnerable neighborhoods have a higher probability of entering into a vicious circle where they suffer the consequences of an unfair structure and, at the same time, contribute to the maintenance of it. A researchintervention with photovoice was carried out with youth from a vulnerable multicultural neighborhood on the outskirts of Seville (Spain). The objective was to increase the teenagers’ neighborhood activism through an increase in their psychological sense of community, forecast of future participation, and empowerment. Young girls with different cultural roots, between the ages of 13 and 18 years old participated. After the photographs were taken by the participants, a space was opened for reflection on the strengths and challenges of the neighborhood. The photographs were worked on using artistic techniques to express the desired changes and then the group discussed how to make effective changes. Lastly, the extended community was involved through a photography exhibition. We measured the variables of interest through a prepost questionnaire given to the participant group and to a comparison group. Complementary, narratives which emerged during the meetings were analyzed. Participants increased their level of psychological sense of community and their wish to participate in the future, but continued with the same level of empowerment. Theoretical contributions and useful suggestions for researchintervention with photovoice are discussed. Although people’s daily lives today are more frequently spent in dispersed settings, neighborhoods maintain an important role as a point of reference for the construction of the inhabitants’ personal and social identities and for satisfying their need for a sense of belonging (Tartaglia, 2006). Furthermore, neighborhood conditions significantly impact the level of activism and well-being of their inhabitants. Vulnerable neighborhoods characterized by the insufficient provision of resources and services limit the wellbeing and endanger the identity construction process carried out by teenagers (Rankin & Quane, 2002). Communities with high levels of crime, drug dealing, and other indicators of low quality of life are indeed typically characterized by minimal neighborhood activism among youth (Kelly, 2009). It appears therefore necessary to find appropriate research-intervention methods to prepare teenagers with the ability to increase their neighborhood activism in order to change those elements of their environment which impede their well-being. Using the photovoice methodology, this research-intervention experience aimed to increase the level of youth neighborhood activism in a multicultural societally vulnerable neighborhood in the outskirts of Seville (Spain). This study defines neighborhood activism as the process in which teenagers work towards change in neighborhood conditions (Gilster, 2012). Photovoice is a researchintervention strategy whereby the participants take photographs that are later used as stimulus for group reflection on the strengths and challenges of their neighborhood for promoting both an individual and a social change (Nicotera, 2007). This study understands that the environment Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice Volume 7, Issue 3 September 2016 Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, http://www.gjcpp.org/ Page 4 in which everyone lives exercises significant influence over individual behavior. At the same time, the individual can change the environment in which he/she is placed, in a relationship of reciprocal influence (Balcazar et al., 2012; Paloma & Manzano-Arrondo, 2011). From this perspective, photovoice emerges as a strategy to facilitate the youth’s awareness about the influence the neighborhood exerts on their life and to fuel youth neighborhood activism for the transformation of the environmental conditions. In what follows, we contextualize this study by showing the situation of “Su Eminencia” neighborhood in southern Spain as a vulnerable context for young people. We then expose the theoretical basis upon which this study is constructed. Later, we present the methodology carried out and the results obtained. We conclude by discussing the main theoretical contributions that emerge from this pilot study and useful suggestions for future researchintervention with photovoice. An Overview of Su Eminencia as a Vulnerable Neighborhood The neighborhood “Su Eminencia” is located in the capital of Andalusia (Seville), the southernmost region of Spain. The neighborhood originated in the 1940s, a time when a strong influx of migration was reported from diverse provinces in Andalusia and from Portugal towards the Andalusian capital. Following those changes, the urbanization of the city’s periphery grew in a rapid and disorganized manner, creating a labyrinth of narrow streets built from recycled materials, without any hydraulic, sewer, or electricity systems (Torres, 2005). Not until the 1960s, and thanks to a strong mobilization of the inhabitants, did local administration provide connections to the city’s sewer and electricity systems. In the last few years this neighborhood has received a high percentage of migrants coming mainly from Bolivia, Colombia, China, Morocco, and Romania (Torres, 2011). In fact, the neighborhood can be recognized by the diverse number of commercial activities that migrants manage in this area of the city. Eighteen percent of households in the “Su Eminencia” neighborhood are in a situation of exclusion (Ayuntamiento de Sevilla, 2012). Among the most relevant problems in the neighborhood are the lack of economic resources, unemployment, an uneducated population, widespread drug dealing, drug addiction, and crime (Torres, 2011). These conditions are associated with a psychosocial profile in which teenagers often perceive themselves as victims of uncontrollable superior forces, lack confidence and the ability to gain competence to achieve success in life (Moane, 2003). Furthermore, this experience usually produces conformist behavior, passivity, and a life based on the present moment (Martín-Baró, 1987). Thus, the experiences lived in disadvantaged neighborhoods can become naturalized and interiorized by the younger generations, undermining their membership in community organizations (Wilson, 2000). Accordingly, Putman (2000) notes that “people with lower incomes and those who feel financially strapped are much less engaged in all forms of social and community life than those who are better off” (p. 193). As a consequence, the inactive behavior of teenagers contributes to the maintenance of the neighborhood’s vulnerability, thus hindering their ability to leave this vicious cycle of oppression. These circumstances require researchintervention processes that break this vicious circle through a transformative process where teenagers become active agents of change in their environments. Given the relationship between neighborhood inequity and well-being, neighborhood activism presents an important form of participation to Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice Volume 7, Issue 3 September 2016 Global Journal of Community Psychology Practice, http://www.gjcpp.org/ Page 5 address neighborhood problems (Gilster, 2012). We propose the photovoice strategy to fuel the involvement of youth in vulnerable neighborhoods. Photovoice to Promote Youth Neighborhood Activism Photovoice is a research-intervention strategy whereby, through the use of photographs taken by the participants, group reflection on the challenges and the strengths of their community is promoted with the goal of setting in motion individual and social change (Nicotera, 2007). Wang and Burris (1997) define photovoice’s main objectives as: to allow people to understand the strengths and challenges of their community, to encourage group dialog and reflection about the challenges identified, and to favor processes of change in the community through the involvement of participants. Photovoice has been used in different contexts, involving participants from different genders, ages, nationalities, and cultural backgrounds (Baker & Wang, 2006; Killion & Wang, 2000; Oliffe & Bottorff, 2007). Photovoice allows the collection of important data on how places are experienced by people, thanks to the group reflections on the dynamics of life in these spaces. Furthermore, photovoice can increase the involvement and the collective interest in the community’s issues by inviting people to become advocates for their own and the community’s well-being (Wang & Burris, 1997). Overall, photovoice helps to find out and activate the youth’s awareness of their community and to give them the possibility of making their voice heard and to take action in their environment. For these reasons, community researchers have used the photovoice methodology as a research-intervention tool (e.g., Wang, Morrel-Samuels, Hutchison, Bell, & Pestronk, 2004; Wilson et al., 2007; Strack, Magill, & McDonagh, 2004). To our knowledge, only one other study implemented in southern Spain has used photovoice methodology among young people (Soriano & Cala, 2014). Different from that study, our work uses photovoice methodology with art therapy technique, showing how different art practices can be combined in an innovative way to achieve the goal of promoting youth neighborhood activism. Neighborhood activism is defined as the process by which teenagers work to bring change to the conditions of their neighborhood (Gilster, 2012). The importance of this process for youth goes beyond the immediate impact of their actions, as it provides them with opportunities to acquire significant civic and social skills critical to navigating and transforming their environment in adulthood as well (Kelly, 2009). Many studies have confirmed that neighborhood activism is related to the concepts of psychological sense of community, community participation, and empowerment (Garcia, Giuli