Saying It Like It Is? Power, Participation and Research Involving Young People

Abstract

Developments in the conceptualisation of childhood have prompted a fundamental shift in young people's position within social research. Central to this has been the growing recognition of children's agency within the landscapes of power between child participants and adult researchers. Participatory research has rooted itself in this paradigm, gaining status from its principles of social inclusion and reciprocity. While participatory research has benefitted from a growing theoretical analysis, insight can be deepened from reflexive accounts critiquing participation 'in the field'. This article presents one such account, using the example of an ethnographic study with young people living in a 'disadvantaged' housing estate in the UK. It describes how efforts to 'enable' young people's participation were simultaneously embraced, contested, subverted and refused. These, often playful, responses offered rich insight into how the young participants viewed themselves, their neighbourhood, and 'outsiders' efforts to give them voice. The article concludes by emphasising the importance of conceptualising participation not simply as a set of methods, but as a philosophical commitment which embraces honesty, inclusivity and, importantly, the humour that can come from this approach to research.

Privileges of Power: Authenticity, Representation and the “Problem” of Children’s Voices in Qualitative Health Research

“…Methodological reflexivity needs to encompass a critical reflection on how we come to interpret and represent children's perspectives, but crucially how such representation may inadvertently contribute to children's marginalized and disenfranchised status. The dominant tendency to evaluate the value of young voices in line with developmental trajectories and age-based competencies highlights the need to develop approaches that expose the tricky issues of power in research that shape the representation of children's voicesrather than suggesting that giving children a voice simply diffuses unequal adult/child power relations (Davidson, 2017).…”

Children and Young People’s Participation in Disaster Risk Reduction

“…In the case of hard-of-hearing children, depending on their communication needs we communicated orally or in Greek Sign Language. The main concepts about emergencies were chosen from words pre-selected by the facilitators and, after a discussion in-group, participants gradually selected the words connected to disaster definitions, and also found others to build a vocabulary bank (Nikolaraizi et al, under A second, important, aspect when engaging with children and young people in participatory projects refers to issues of symmetry, power imbalance and mutuality (Davidson, 2017). As mentioned before, to be child-led a process should involve children and young people themselves identifying issues of concern, expressing what they like and what they don't, and driving the activity design based on their views and needs.…”

Contar con la infancia en situación de riesgo en los procesos de investigación: pasos hacia la coproducción

“…Los avances en la conceptualización de la infancia han supuesto un cambio en el foco y en la posición de ésta en las investigaciones de tipo social, lo que refleja una progresiva incorporación de los derechos de la infancia en diferentes esferas, entre ellas, la investigación (Davidson, 2017;Flewitt et al, 2018). Esto supone la búsqueda del equilibrio de poderes dentro de las investigaciones entre los niños y las niñas y el equipo de investigación de adultos (Shier, 2019).…”

“…Esto supone la búsqueda del equilibrio de poderes dentro de las investigaciones entre los niños y las niñas y el equipo de investigación de adultos (Shier, 2019). Se trata de ir más allá de métodos participativos, asumiendo los principios de inclusión social y reciprocidad (Davidson, 2017) así como de configurar investigaciones acordes con los derechos de la infancia y que permitan a niños, niñas y adolescentes expresarse, en un espacio propio, donde alguien les escuche y, finalmente, sus ideas y opiniones sean adoptadas (Lundy, 2007). En la línea de las aportaciones de Flewit et al (2018) y Templeton et al (2019), existen grandes diferencias entre el papel del adulto interpretando las perspectivas de los niños y niñas y la realidad y perspectivas que aportan estos mismos cuando se les brinda la oportunidad.…”