Michele Jarldorn

What can Ruby do with a camera? Ex-prisoners use Photovoice to reverse the rules of surveillance

This article provides an account of the possibilities of using Photovoice as a research method that can empower participants by foregrounding the data produced by Ruby (a pseudonym) to highlight women’s unique experiences of imprisonment and release. Designed using an anti-oppressive, critical social work perspective, this project aims to gain a greater understanding of the post-release experiences of ex-prisoners in South Australia. Participants were posed with the research question ‘if you were able to spend 15 minutes with a politician or policy maker, what would you want to tell them about your experiences?’ Through her lens, Ruby returns the gaze of surveillance, commenting on the disempowerment women experience in prison and their attempts at reclaiming their rights and dignity. Ruby’s data discredit some of the pervasive myths surrounding criminalised women, while calling for fair medical treatment and equal opportunities for women to prepare for their release. This article concludes that the solidarity built between women in prison helps them to tolerate undignified spaces and that their freedom is tempered with an enduring concern for those left behind.

Planting a seed: encouraging service users towards educational goals

Some interventions by social workers, teachers and parents take time to develop but can produce, in the longer term, powerful and unexpectedly positive results. We were reminded of this in 2013, when we undertook a small qualitative study where we used feminist memory work to explore the experiences of 11 women from low socio-economic backgrounds studying social sciences at an Australian university. Of the eleven participants, seven were from social work. When asked to remember their journey into tertiary education, the women revealed memorable encounters with social workers, teachers and parents, the impact of which had lasted well into the future. We use the gardening metaphor of ‘planting a seed’ to refer to interventions that may not blossom in the short term but can bear fruit months or years later. Yet, we also note that ‘seeds of doubt’ can be planted too. We conclude by suggesting that planting seeds of possibility is a worthy but potentially overlooked professional activity. Yet, since ours is a small study, further research is warranted to explore the influence of social workers who plant seeds of possibility and whose actions help to recruit and retain socially disadvantaged students in higher education.

Solidarity and support: feminist memory work focus groups with working-class women studying social science degrees in Australia

Abstract This paper reports on our use of a two-phased, feminist memory work in a project conducted with 11 women, social science students at an Australian university. We begin by describing government-led attempts to widen participation in Australian universities because 10 of the 11 women who participated in our project were from non-traditional backgrounds. We discuss qualitative group research, identifying some of the benefits and limitations of focus groups, before differentiating them from feminist memory work and analysing key findings. Using excerpts from participants’ written stories and oral discussions, we analyse some of the obstacles the women faced trying to complete their studies. Our attention then turns to methodological concerns where we examine memory work as a feminist inquiry method. As second-wave feminists understood several decades ago through their use of consciousness-raising groups, we describe how we derived many benefits from using feminist memory work. The method invites deep reflection on the intersections between the personal and political and can be productive of insights about how people feel, not just think, about their experiences. A sense of solidarity can stem from this awareness amongst participants who have a chance to workshop and thus reinterpret their own stories and those of others, which can mean a growth in self-confidence and a reduction in self-blame.

The Practicalities of Using Photovoice in Communities and with Groups

When theory is combined with action to create praxis, the process becomes as valuable as the outcomes. To ensure that the process of Photovoice is a positive experience for participants requires a formidable skill set, one often found within social workers. This chapter then, turns to the practicalities and skills required to design, implement and facilitate a Photovoice project. These broad range of skills include grant writing, working within a budget, planning workshops, advocacy, negotiation, evaluation, and facilitating groups. Aligning the process of group-based Photovoice projects with Tuckman’s 5 stages of groupwork as a conceptual model, the chapter concludes with an examination of the sequential stages of using Photovoice with groups.

Photovoice and Its Complementary Relationship with Social Work

This chapter lays out the foundational concepts that support the basis of this book. Articulating a framework built upon radical social work enhanced with an intersectional feminist perspective, the chapter explores the value and benefits of using participatory action research approaches such as Photovoice. Photovoice, or the combination of participant created photographs and narratives, is a mechanism for facilitating engagement with people and communities, whereby participating in arts based research can support advocacy and social change. Situating participant driven research within the constraints of neoliberal times, the chapter argues the value and power of using images to convey social context in nuanced ways.

Using Photovoice with Ex-prisoners: An Exemplar

This chapter is drawn from the author’s Photovoice research project, Radically Rethinking Imprisonment, conducted with 12 former prisoners in South Australia. It demonstrates the breadth and depth of the images and narratives created by participants, showing how they took charge of the direction of the research, despite it being a researcher initiated project. Placed at its heart is the quality and significance of the ‘data’ through powerful imagery created by the participants. As active subjects, rather than passive objects of research, participants provided a considered account of their experiences as they produced new knowledge. Their data, in the form of photographs and accompanying narratives are profoundly personal while at the same time reflect common, shared experiences. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the transformative effect that participatory action research can have for researchers as well as participants.

Photovoice Theories and the Potential to Advocate for Social Change

This chapter demonstrates the importance of theory-informed participatory action research, offering practical explanations of Photovoice theories and their relevance to social work. Praxis, or the combination of theory and practice, is central to the Photovoice method, especially if it is to reach its fullest potential. Employing the critical, liberating pedagogical approaches of Brazilian educator, Paulo Freire, in combination with feminist research methods, participating in Photovoice research is positioned as a human rights-based approach to research. Highlighting the importance of lived experience as evidence, the chapter concludes by arguing the benefits of Photovoice as a means of advocacy, one of the core tasks of social workers.

Ethics and Ethical Dilemmas with Photovoice and Participatory Action Research

Central to this chapter are the concepts of research and procedural ethics. Because Photovoice research focusses so closely on creating egalitarian, participatory processes and the implications of participant generated knowledge, rarely is enough time spent considering the potential ethical challenges inherent in participatory action research. Thinking about ethics early when using Photovoice is beneficial as the process can positively contribute to the design, procedures and outcomes of a project. Yet, the relationship between ethics, feminist participatory research and radical social work is a contested space meriting further discussion. The chapter begins with a brief history of research ethics and discusses the concept of feminist relational ethics. This discussion is extended to consider the potential for distress researcher and participant, the raising of false hopes, the risks of speaking for others and matters of (self)representation.

Working-Class Women Study Social Science Degrees: Remembering Enablers and Detractors.

ABSTRACT In this article, we report on a feminist memory work project conducted with 11 working-class women in Australia. Participants responded to the question: what helps and hinders working-class women study social science degrees? The women confirmed that to succeed at university, they needed opportunities, resources, support and encouragement. We called these enablers and considered the role of ‘enlightened witnesses’ [Miller, 1997. The essential role of an enlightened witness in society. Retrieved from http://www.alice-miller.com/index_en.php?page=2]. Hindering the possibility of university success were detractors of many forms including inadequate resources and social conventions that discouraged the women from study. We describe saboteurs as undermining people and forces that the women had to overcome. We found that enlightened witnesses, broadly conceptualised, go some way but not all, to mitigating detractors and saboteurs that continue to hamper fair and meritocratic access to tertiary education.