What Motivates Young People to Participate in Research?: Youths Own Voices

Background and Purpose

Research confirms that Youth Dating Violence (YDV) is an extensive social problem. Nevertheless, the need of further research is also clear. Among other things, the field lacks qualitative studies of youths who have been subjected to YDV, using youth’s own voices as empirical data, resulting in gaps in the current social work knowledge base. Research with youths as informants can lead to policy outcomes based on the experiences of youths themselves, for example, providing well-informed policies on prevention. Without the inclusion of youths own voices, policies might be less effective. In the light of this, and by taking its starting point in a mixed methods study on YDV, this presentation will bring forward qualitative data on what motivates youths to participate in research, contributing to an overall discussion on including youths in research. The questions asked are: What motivates youths to participate in research? How do they experience the interview itself?

Methods
This presentation will draw upon 20 in-depth interviews with victimized youths (16-22 years) in Sweden. For recruitment, information letters were sent out to agencies across Sweden that target youth. A majority of the participants were female youths who had experienced Youth Dating Violence (YDV) within a heterosexual relationship, three were subjected to YDV within a same sex relationship; two young men and one young woman.

The interviews were conducted with a ‘teller focused’ approach. At the end of the interview, questions on the participation experiences itself were asked. The data was analysed thematically in order to identify patterns.

Results
The data analysis resulted in two overall themes: 1. A solidarity motive; the youths expressed how they wanted to participate in research to help others with similar experiences and not let their own experiences ‘go to waste’, and 2. to be able to talk freely about their experiences and get listened to. The first motive can be understood in relation to an expressed disappointment about how the legal system, school staff, or parents had responded to the youth’s victimization, and also in relation to the youths’ reflections on preventing Youth Dating Violence. Many of the participants voiced that it felt good to share their story. For some of them, the interview gave them the opportunity to verbalize some of their experiences for the first time, addressing that participation in itself can be of therapeutic value. The second motive was also contextualized on a more abstract level, where the need for research to highlight Youth Dating Violence as a societal problem was reflected on.

Conclusions and Implications
Findings show how youths are indeed reflective research informants, and how they undertake considerations before they give their consent to participate. Furthermore, findings also show how youths can articulate the need for research, also placing their own experiences in a larger context. This adds important knowledge to the discussion on youths’ participation in research, presenting their voices and own motivations.