Let’s do this together: an integration of photovoice and mobile interviewing in empowering and listening to LGBTQ+ youths in context

Abstract

Evidence from a meta-analysis suggested that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) youth experience elevated levels of victimization in schools as compared to their heterosexual peers, and that victimization was shown to be persistent and lasting, indicating that school environments are hostile. These findings point to the need to better understand youths' own efforts in becoming more aware and engaged in impacting systemic inequities. Photovoice and mobile interviewing, two relatively novel qualitative methodologies in the field of LGBTQ research, are methodologies that involve the participants by 1) taking photos of interest as a means of critical discussion, and 2) moving alongside the researcher in a participant-chosen area and have critical discussions highlighted by the visual cues. The goal of this paper is to highlight ways of listening to opinions of LGBTQ youth that are contextualized in the environments in which they are victimized.

Can mobile methods bridge psychology and place-based research?

“…In one of the earliest studies using Photovoice, researchers blended narratives with participants’ photographs to explore first-person accounts of homelessness (Wang, Cash, & Powers, 2000). Photovoice remains a research technique rooted in a tradition that uses images to teach, amplify voices from the community, and communicate with policymakers, by sharing personal knowledge about issues that may be difficult to express with words alone (see Leung & Flanagan, 2019; Nykiforuk, Vallianatos, & Nieuwendyk, 2011; Wang, 1999; Wang & Burris, 1997).…”

To Whom It May Affirm: Considerations for Advancing LGBTQIA+ Equity in Research

“…For example, one research team studying resilience among transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people, although still led by and comprised of TGD researchers, developed a community advisory board of TGD people who provide peer support within the TGD community to triangulate ideas and improve research processes (Kia et al, 2023). Drawing on the expertise of LGBTQIA+ communities, these types of community-based approaches have been shown to increase community satisfaction, autonomy, and participation and lead to more-relevant, more-sustainable results and policies (Hwang et al, 2022;Leung & Flanagan, 2019).…”

“…As a result, it is important for researchers to consider the various contexts of communities participating in the research and the factors that may influence participants' understanding of SOGII (Ricks et al, 2022). Community members may have insights into the nuances of how individuals perceive and define identities, and as such, can help craft language and methods that will be easily interpretable, celebrate community identities, and have practical implications for research findings (Anderson & Mastri, 2021;Leung & Flanagan, 2019). Considering these cultural contexts requires exploring tenets of decoloniality that encourage us to question longstanding definitions of SOGII that have been imposed (Phillips et al, 2022b).…”

Book Review: DONN SHORT. Am I Safe Here? LGBTQ Teens and Bullying in Schools. 2017.

“…Briefly, positive youth development is a prosocial framework that recognizes, utilizes, and enhances youths' strengths by promoting positive outcomes for youths (Ginwright & James, 2002;Wagaman, 2016). It does this by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support necessary to strengthen youths' leadership strengths based on four key principles: 1) assets, 2) agency, 3) contribution, and 4) enabling environment (Guerra & Bradshaw, 2008;Leung & Flanagan, 2019).…”

“…For photovoice, teens were provided with cameras and invited to photograph their daily experiences, documenting their lived experiences. Such visual documentation achieves three goals: 1) storytelling, 2) community discussion, and 3) action (Wang, 1999;Leung & Flanagan, 2019). For its part, mobile interviewing is a methodology in which the researcher can follow teens to collect contextualized information as they collaboratively explore physical spaces.…”