Offering Space for Choice and Voice: Participant Assent as a Creative Workshop Informed by Dramatherapy Practice

Abstract

Undertaking research in the field of Creative Arts Therapies involves a continual search to find new ways to utilise our creative tools to engage participants in research processes which are both accessible and meaningful. One of the key ethical considerations in designing a research project is the notion of informed consent. This article discusses an innovative approach to exploring assent with adolescents in a special education setting through creative workshops. This approach was aimed at enabling potential participants to make a more informed decision about their own willingness to engage with the research project. An argument for the role of creative arts therapists to embed their creative practices into research designs which represent more inclusive practice for populations whose contributions and accessibility are limited by traditional research methods is discussed.in an attempt to make research practices more accessible and meaningful to young people with intellectual disability/special needs.