PhotoVoice; EthicsThis training was adapted from material available through PhotoVoice.org in their work with refugee youth using photovoice technologies. It was edited to reflect American phrasing and for use with youth with mental health needs in the USA. PhotoVoice is a nonprofit entity in the UK using participatory photography to support social justice for marginalized people and communities. Please visit their website at www.photovoice.org to access a wealth of information!

Thank you to Alamo Area Youth Move for use of photovoice images

Priorities

Ethical and responsible practice should lie at the heart of all participatory photography projects. Unless sufficiently thought through and sensitively and flexibly managed, activities may end up doing harm rather than enabling and supporting young people. Their needs and interests – which can be complex and changeable – have take priority over all other considerations. Active participation rarely just happens. Facilitators need to nurture the group, which takes skill, time and understanding.

Key Priorities = Safety, Security, Respect

introduce the purpose of the project clearly & provide simple and regular information about what’s going to happen next

ask participants to set and enforce ground rules describe expectations around confidentiality and limits be clear what personal or creative risks you might be

asking participants to take ensure participants feel able to opt out of an activity at

any time use trust and confidence-building activities make sure participants feel listened to and listen to each

other ensure all activities are inclusive

Using personal experiences as creative material

Personal experiences can be rich sources of creative material, and emotional stories have a powerful impact on audiences. It can be tempting to base photovoice workshop activities around personal or recovery themes

A young person should never experience any pressure – explicit or implicit – to tell their personal story. It’s neither safe, nor ethical, to assume that this will hold therapeutic value for someone. A workshop fulfils different needs for different participants. For many it may be a place to forget worries, make friends, be creative and have fun.

Using personal experiences as creative material

You may experience a situation where a participant wants to tell a personal story, either in the workshop itself or to a potential audience. It’s important that the implications of this are discussed with the individual. What are their motivations? Is it OK? For the rest of the group? For the facilitators? Who takes that decision? Any discussion with the participant should make clear to them the impact their story may have on potential audiences, and any possible consequences for themselves. If they choose to go ahead, it’s important that facilitators are able to support them.

Using personal experiences as creative material

Participation in an arts workshop can mean participants taking personal and creative risks for a young person. The job of a facilitator is to provide an environment where risks can be understood and managed. It’s important to: recognize that even simple activities can feel risky make sure that there are elements of play within activities provide participants with a choice and respect their choices provide a safe space where participants feel respected;

and ensure participants never feel judged recognize difference, some young people are more

risk-averse or prone than others.

Responsibilities of Facilitators

Every young person is unique and will respond differently to being in a workshop. It can take a while for participants to get used to non-hierarchical relationships, and a friendly atmosphere.

Workshops can lead to unpredictable emotional and psychological responses for various reasons: a particular trigger; stress and discomfort with the activity; or the feeling that it’s safe to let go. Facilitators need to balance the needs of the individual with those of the group.

Facilitators may need to refer issues arising to the appropriate support services linked to the young person: a social worker, youth worker, community worker or case worker. In some cases, it may be appropriate to establish more formal links so that a support worker can be in a workshop or able to input into workshop plans.

Responsibilities of Facilitators

Facilitators working with young vulnerable people are in a position of responsibility. They should recognize the extent of and limits to their responsibility and be qualified to handle it.

Facilitators need to be mindful that they don’t send inappropriate signals; young people should not feel expected to share confidences, or share their stories to satisfy curiosity.

Facilitators need to set clear boundaries. Vulnerable young people may seek out the company of a supportive adult who they can trust. Facilitators may come to care deeply about the young people they’re working with and want to help them. It’s right to work in a way which is open and friendly but professionally inappropriate for facilitators to try to be friends with project participants.

Responsibilities of Facilitators

As a rule, facilitators shouldn’t offer support beyond the workshop, unless within a structured mentoring program. This is to protect both the facilitators and the participants. It’s the facilitators’ responsibility to ensure that they’re conscious about their practice, stay aware of dynamics and maintain boundaries. It underlines the need to recruit experienced practitioners who have a clear professional approach to working with vulnerable young people.

If a participant does disclose personal information that is outside the scope of the photovoice group (subjects that likely require some individual work), either to a single facilitator or to the whole group, it’s important that the facilitators know what to do.

What to do if a participant discloses…

If the facilitator is not a trained mental health professional, they can explain that they’re not trained in that area and it would be more appropriate for the young person to speak to someone who is.

Part of the advance group preparation should be to have a person lined up for participants to talk to should they need to do so.

If the facilitator has appropriate professional training, they may still want to defer the issue to outside the group time, particularly if the issue is outside the purpose of the group and affecting the rest of the group negatively.

What to do if a participant discloses…

If the youth has an outside counselor, discuss with the youth the need to work through the issue with their counselor and offer to support them in sharing the issue with their outside professional.

If they are not able to stop and it’s affecting the rest of the group, then that person will need to leave the workshop. A staff member or co-facilitator should go with them and support working through the issue with the appropriate support professional.

When there are subjects that negatively affect other group members, leaders help maintain a neutral tone and facilitate the group working through their feelings as needed.

Confidentiality

Trust is essential to a successful project and participants must feel sure that confidentiality will be respected. Facilitators must always respect confidentiality (unless there is an over-riding child protection concern).

It’s important to discuss ground rules with the whole group up front to ensure that participants respect each others’ confidentiality if something personal is discussed.

It is also important to discuss the limits to confidentiality up front when the rules are being set. Explicitly state that issues of harm to self or others will be disclosed in order to protect the safety of participants and others.

Supporting facilitators

Project managers need to give facilitators guidelines and support. They can do this by: establishing a peer support mechanism for facilitators to

help each other deal with issues that arise – an occasional meeting, a virtual forum or extra time during debriefs

ensuring facilitators understand their own role in group dynamics, and have the skills to reflect on their practice

ensuring facilitators have access to external supervision – working with vulnerable people can give rise to powerful emotional responses which may require professional support

establishing clear guidelines and procedures for referral – facilitators need to have the appropriate information and support to deal with difficult situations.

Public and media exposure: issues of safety and confidentiality

Having photos exhibited publicly, whether it’s online or in a gallery, involves exposure and risk. Youth may experience complex feelings about why people want to see their photography, from fear to pride.

The creative process should be as much about building self-confidence as about creating images. Participants should feel that they’re doing this for themselves, not to satisfy the curiosity of others.

Participants need to discuss the issue of ‘being seen’ by an audience and its implications. They should be encouraged to think about what they want the audience to take away from looking at their images. They’ll need to make sometimes difficult decisions about what personal information or views they want in the public domain.

Public and media exposure: issues of safety and confidentiality

Attitudes towards public exposure may vary greatly within a group of young people. Some may be keen to show their pictures and talk publicly about their experiences with mental illness and child serving systems. Others may not have discussed their illnesses or experiences with their friends and will want to retain their privacy, either by not participating in public work, using a false name, using just their first name, or by not using images that identify them.

Participants can get very excited and nervous and it’s good to discuss these feelings. High profile projects can mean publicity and media coverage. Their images (and words) may be seen in lots of places by many different people and this may lead to questions. Or it can also involve being recognized by people who the participants don’t know personally.

Public and media exposure: issues of safety and confidentiality

High profile projects may involve interviews with journalists or legislators which can be intimidating. Young people need to be accompanied, supported and protected through this process. Think about who will speak to the media - it’s often useful for one or two young people to take on the spokesperson roles - and use role play to practice responding to media questions.

If handled sensitively and young people are motivated to speak out to audiences, public exposure can be a hugely rewarding and exciting experience. Young people’s images also have significant potential to educate audiences about the successes and struggles of living with mental health needs and to raise awareness of the experiences and policy issues relating to youth and families.

Informed Assent and Consents

Initially, you must seek signed consent for the young people to participate in the project from their parents or guardians. The youth should also be fully informed and sign assent forms acknowledging their willingness to participate in the photovoice group.

The young people also need to be informed about issues of consent related to the photographs. There are two sides to this – the consent of people who are the subjects of the photographs and the consent/permission of the photographers themselves for the public usage of their images.

If images are being used publicly a ‘model release form’ may be required for the subjects in the pictures. This is especially the case if the pictures feature other young people.

Sustainability

All participatory photography projects should give prior consideration to the question – what happens after the project ends? You don’t want participants feeling that they were abandoned.

Participants might want to continue their involvement with photography, or continue the relationships formed within the project. It’s important to begin to assess this mid-way through the project, not wait until it’s finished.

Think about how to enable some of the benefits and outcomes of the project to continue. Project organizers need to be realistic about their capacity to sustain activities and ensure that the project is embedded within ongoing support structures in order for benefits to be long-lasting and sustainable.

Key points in this powerpoint – Ensure:

all staff have skills/experience, are trained in child protection risks and procedures

facilitators maintain appropriate boundaries with young people

participants make informed choices about public project activities

young people have support to deal with public & media exposure

project benefits and outcomes are sustainable

support facilitators throughout the project

establish clear referral procedures for participants

respect confidentiality needs at all times