At Legal Services for Children we use Photovoice to learn more about children’s experiences and perspectives. Photovoice is a participatory research methodology through which participants use photography to share their personal reflections and experiences. We've used Photovoice on several occasions with children and youth in the Bay Area of San Francisco, to capture their views on our services. We also used it through a Family for Every Child cross-border research project, to better understand the experiences of young people who are newly arrived in the United States from Central America in order to promote safer child migration in the region.
We find this to be an effective tool that allows children time to think about the questions posed, to respond creatively, using their own images to help describe their feelings - which is often more impactful than words alone.
- Through the use of Photovoice we see positive developments in participants as they learn a new skill, grow in confidence and take pride in presenting their photos and stories.
- Photovoice projects create a powerful, supportive group dynamic, fostering strong connections and firm friendships between group members.
- We also gain new perspectives about children’s lives and experiences that would be unlikely to come up in individual therapy sessions.
In this How We Care series we've captured our experience of using Photovoice, going into detail about how we use it, the outcomes we've seen and the challenges we've faced.
We'd love to hear of any comments or learnings you can share with the community on this topic. Share your own knowledge, or post any follow-up questions for us below!
The attached resources are part of the How We Care series, an innovative space for those working with children and families to share practice. By practitioners, for practitioners. You can also download the full package of learning, including resources from 2 other Family members, here.
