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In Her Own Eyes: Photovoice as an Innovative Methodology to Reach Disadvantaged Single Mothers

Publication: Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
4 February 2015

Abstract

Photovoice is a photographic technique allowing people to identify, represent, and enhance their community by entrusting cameras to the hands of participants to enable them to capture issues central to their lives. However, few studies have used Photovoice with disadvantaged single mothers, and explicitly studied the impact of using this type of methodology with this population. Hence, the purpose of this study was to assess the impact of Photovoice with disadvantaged single mothers participating in the community-based program Toward Success. Results showed that participants experienced generally positive impacts, such as a sense of accomplishment and increased agency in their lives, and reported no negative impacts.

Résumé

Photovoice consiste en une technique utilisant la photographie afin de permettre les participants et participantes d'identifier, de représenter et d'améliorer leur communauté, et ce en leur remettant des caméras pour capter les enjeux qui sont centraux dans leur vie. Rares sont les études ayant employé Photovoice chez des mères monoparentales défavorisées pour s'attarder aux impacts d'une telle méthodologie auprès de cette population. Ainsi, cette étude vise à évaluer l'impact de Photovoice auprès de 6 mères monoparentales participant au programme communautaire Vers la réussite. Les participantes ont rapporté des impacts généralement positifs, notamment un sentiment d'accomplissement et un désir d'agir comme agentes du changement, alors qu'aucun impact négatif n'a été noté.

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Information & Authors

Information

Published In

cover image Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health
Volume 34Number 1April 2015
Pages: 1 - 16

History

Version of record online: 4 February 2015

Key Words

  1. Photovoice
  2. single mothers
  3. social inclusion
  4. participatory methods

Mots-clés

  1. Photovoice
  2. mères monoparentales
  3. inclusion sociale
  4. méthode participative

Authors

Affiliations

Sophie-Claire Valiquette-Tessier
Marie-Pier Vandette
Julie Gosselin [email protected]

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