Analysis of Community Responses to Girls Photovoice

Event Center A&B

Community-based participatory research emphasizing community-university partnership represents a promising research perspective that can address issues in at-risk communities. The following study represents an example of university response to a community-university research project that highlighted a community-derived needs and strengths assessment. Student participants from California State University San Bernardino were asked to review and provide possible solutions to concerns addressed by a group of female youth ages 8-12 years old at the Boys and Girls Club of Waterman Gardens, a public housing complex in downtown San Bernardino. Student participants responded to qualitative structured prompts signified by the acronym “SHOWED” to evaluate photographs derived from a collaborative Photovoice project using SONA, an online research management system. Participant responses to the “SHOWED” prompts were qualitively analyzed. The themes developed by the student participants were consistent with the themes initially established by the girls; however, new themes arose from the SONA participant data emphasizing multiple themes such as awareness, safety, and carelessness. The results of this study will help direct potential participatory action research with regards to community-university involvement initiating education and constructive change within the community.