Homeless Youths' Interest in Social Action Via Photovoice

Background: Engaging homeless youth in services is challenging. Researchers have thus noted the importance of utilizing novel methods to better retain and empower this population. PhotoVoice, an innovative form of community-based participatory research, facilitates participants’ use of photography to document their everyday lives and struggles, while also advocating for social change. Due to its transformational philosophy and visual methodology, PhotoVoice has the potential to not only better engage this population, but also to help youth build skills as they work as a group to share voices and create change. However, such potential has not been well-studied among homeless youth. This study therefore examines, 1) whether and why homeless youth would be interested in participating in PhotoVoice activities, 2) what social issues homeless youth would be most motivated to explore, and 3) homeless youths’ opinions and ideas about committing to a longer-term, group-oriented project.

Methods: The sample consisted of young adults (N=21) staying at an overnight shelter serving homeless youth ages 18-21. Youth participants entered the study either by being nominated by shelter staff who thought they would be a good fit for a PhotoVoice project, or as youth self-nominated themselves after reading posted fliers at the shelter. Upon expressing interest, each youth was individually interviewed by a trained research team member using a semi-structured interview guide. Interviews were presented as dual-purpose: 1) to understand how youth thought about PhotoVoice and social action, and 2) to identify youth who would be a good fit for an upcoming pilot PhotoVoice project. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using template analysis by 4 members of a research team.

Results: Reasons offered by youth for wanting to get involved with the PhotoVoice project included: 1) a desire for self-expression and to use their voices to contribute to positive community change, 2) wanting to connect socially with others and have a purpose and something consistent to do each week, and 3) interest in learning and practicing photography skills. Youth indicated numerous social issues of great interest and importance that could be a focus of PhotoVoice projects, including: 1) improving shelter living conditions, 2) mitigating barriers to housing, services, employment, and education, and 3) reducing societal stigma toward homeless youth. Finally, youth indicated that they would be motivated to participate in a long-term PhotoVoice project if: 1) the group provided opportunities to demonstrate leadership, 2) there was a clear ending or major goal toward which the project was advancing, and 3) the project was challenging and elicited individual determination.

Conclusions: Homeless youth demonstrated great enthusiasm toward being involved in a PhotoVoice project and in engaging in social action-oriented activities, particularly to overcome stigma, to raise awareness regarding their situations and challenges, and to have opportunities to connect and work with others toward a common goal. Despite this population being traditionally viewed as difficult to engage, youth report they are motivated and determined to commit to this type of project. Accordingly, PhotoVoice may represent great promise for engaging marginalized and difficult-to-retain populations in future research/programming.