Through Their Eyes: Using Photography with Youth Who Experienced Trauma

By the time most children enter the child welfare system, they have already been exposed to a wide range of painful and distressing experiences, many of which remain unknown and unreported during intake (Harpaz-Rotem, Berkowitz, Marans, Murphy, & Rosenheck, 2008), which involves assessing allegations of abuse and/or neglect. These traumatic stressors include family violence, poverty, and neighborhood crime, and may have both short-and long-term consequences for the child's mental health, physical health, and life trajectory (Ethier, Lemelin, & Lacharite, 2004; Harpaz-Rotem et al., 2008; Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, 2008). Time, energy, and resources are put into finding a permanent placement, either reunification or adoption, for these youth. However, as these youth become adolescents in care, there is an abrupt change in their permanent plans, to "successfully" age out of the system, which means achieving self-sufficiency and independence. Unfortunately, there has not been preparatory services put into place (Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, 2008), and the system and providers scramble to prepare these adolescents to live entirely on their own with no familial or societal support. Photo elicitation is a qualitative research methodology that engages participants in taking photographs that are used in interviews to facilitate discussion (Rose, 2007). Photos can carry or evoke information, affect, and reflection. This strategy allows participants to reflect on aspects of their lives that they typically do not consider and may be used to facilitate discussion of sensitive topics (Rose, 2007). According to Rose (2007), the photo elicitation process comprises six steps. An initial interview is conducted with participants, focusing on questions that guide the intended research. A camera is then given to each participant, with guidelines for how to use the camera, an overview of interview topics or prompts, and a specified number of photographs to be taken. Typically, photos are then developed and participants are asked to write something about the photos that were taken. Blinn and Harrist (1991) suggest that each participant be provided with paper for notes so that she or he can provide a title, description of each photo, and description of thoughts and feelings each photo evokes after each photo is taken. After photographs are taken, the researcher interviews the participants to discuss photos with them in detail. This step is vital in clarifying the meaning of the photographs to the participants. The narrative remarks written by the participant provide important information that is also discussed during the interview. The benefits of photo elicitation are that it provides detailed information about how participants see their world and allows participants to reflect on things they may not usually contemplate (Rose, 2007). Photo elicitation is often used with youth as it is a method to extract their feelings and experiences in a way that empowers them (Sontag, 1973). Adolescence is a time of identity development, exploration, and clarification. Teens are engaged in making sense of the world around them and finding their place in it (Goessling & Doyle, 2009). Photos can serve as an externalized medium for the expression of youths' personal issues and can have a positive effect on their health and enhanced outcomes include increasing self-esteem, instilling hope, and assisting with personal and interpersonal development (Goessling & Doyle, 2009; Trainin Blank, 2009). Youth who have experienced multiple traumas may obtain specific benefits through photo elicitation, including helping them to work through unconscious material, identify unresolved trauma, gain new perspectives on enduring problems, or gain valuable insights (Trainin Blank, 2009). The purpose of this study is to provide adolescent youth who must negotiate normal developmental processes, as well as additional traumas caused by family disruption, multiple placements in foster care, and loss, with an avenue to express what is important to them. …