The Park Hill Photovoice Project examined youth photography as an alternative measure of social capital. Traditional measures rely on researcher-developed questionnaires that assess subjective perceptions of neighborhood qualities (e.g., sense of community), or counts of "objective" neighborhood features (e.g., number of liquor stores). Our goal was to complement these approaches with a third approach in which community insiders, in this case urban youth, create a visual community portrait based on their lived experiences. Thirty youth attended four weekly workshops in which they thought about social capital in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver and learned photographic techniques. They compiled the best of their work into community portraits of five to ten photos from which photographic scores were derived. The most important score was whether the space depicted was nurtured (e.g., tended garden), neglected (e.g., unkempt yard), or disrespected (e.g., graffiti on garage door). This score correlated strongly with existing measures, especially those tapping subjective perceptions. The Organized Activities score (e.g., tennis lessons, street fairs) correlated most consistently with measures using objective counts of neighborhood features. Scores assessing social relations and informal activities were less correlated. Photographic narratives can effectively tap dimensions of social capital also tapped by existing measures, and also yield new insights, empower youth, and inform community intervention.

*This project funded by the Aspen Institute Roundtable on Comprehensive Community Inititatives

Papers

Presentation on Youth as Experts: Creating Contexts for Competence (Word Document)

Poster Presentation: Youth Photography as an Alternative Measure of Social Capital (Word Document)

Research Document (Word Document)

A Youth's Perspective on the Park Hill Photovoice Project (Word Document)

How To Manual (Word Document)

Final Research Report (Word Document)