Photovoice with Elementary School Children: An Evaluation of Participatory Methodology

Event Center BC

This study used quantitative and qualitative methods to measure psychological empowerment through the use of Photovoice. Photovoice aims to examine how community members use photographs to express their voice through pictures and narration of the strengths and weaknesses they see within their community. Photovoice is often applied in research on health as an instrument for personal and community change. This research group has effectively utilized Photovoice with a sample of nearby 8 – 12 year old children from the Boys and Girls Club of Waterman Gardens, a public housing complex. Children from low SES environments are at a disadvantage in regards to availability of resources. Previous work with the Boys and Girls Club from Waterman Gardens led us to work with E. Neal Robert’s Elementary School, the school that many members of the Boys and Girls Club attend. Upon learning of our previous Photovoice work to enhance children’s psychological sense of empowerment, the school principal requested that we engage in Photovoice with children from the school. The current study involved 20 elementary school age students from E. Neal Robert’s Elementary. The Community and Relationship Enhancement Team (CARE) from CSUSB led the study using the CommunityBased Participatory Research (CBPR) paradigm. Prior to participation in the project, the Psychological Empowerment Scale (PES) and the Prosocial Behavior Scale (PBS) were administered to the participating children to establish a baseline score for each child. Qualitative data was collected via semi-structured prompts used to facilitate group discussions between CARE leaders and participants focusing on the children’s narratives of their photographs. These group meetings were recorded to be analyzed at a later time to identify recurring themes. Following completion of the Photovoice project, the PES and PBS were again administered to establish post-intervention scores on Psychological Empowerment and Prosocial Behavior. Quantitative data was analyzed using paired t-tests to measure change in empowerment and prosocial behavior. Our study showed that change occurred in these two variables in the expected direction. This study, consistent with earlier work, suggests that Photovoice leads to a greater sense of empowerment and prosocial behavior in an effective way to promote change within communities.