Participation in Decision Making

Disempowerment, Disappointment and Different Directions

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12902162
AutoresJoy Trotter (Schlumberger (Ireland), autor de correspondencia), Carol Campbell (0000-0003-3086-3352, Teesside University)
Año2008
Volumen2
Número3
Páginas262-275
Fecha de publicación2008-10-31
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaEthics and Social Welfare (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1749-6535 • E-ISSN: 1749-6543
EditorialTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17496530802481755
OpenAlexW2070177925
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas29

This paper considers the positioning within British social care research of young disengaged people who are ‘invisible’ to formal support services. Using a recently completed research project as illustration and focusing primarily on mental health and well-being, it raises questions regarding the practical and ethical implications of engaging such young people to actively participate in research and other decision-making endeavours. We aimed to engage and empower young people aged between 17 and 21 years (who were not in employment, education or training) by enlisting them as co-researchers, with youth-friendly technology (mobile phones, video cameras, and MSN messaging) and involve them in decisions relating to each stage as the research progressed. We adopted separate roles in the process: Carol provided consultation and project oversight, Joy worked as the primary researcher with the key support agency and the young researchers. Throughout the research project we questioned the practical and ethical implications of ‘involving’ the young people as co-researchers. The fact that the young people were paid for each element of their involvement in the project, the use of ‘inducements’ and the ‘training’ of these young people to be co-researchers, felt exploitative rather than empowering. However, a small number of the young people continued with the project and, resisting the suggestions and aspirations of the researchers, made their own decisions and set their own agendas. In addition, one of the young men experienced a marked increase in social engagement and improved well-being

Agency (philosophy · Disappointment · Element (criminal law · Medical education · Mental health · Political science · Public relations · Set (abstract data type · Social science · Sociology · Adolescent and Pediatric Healthcare · Family Support in Illness · Medicine · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Psychology · Social Psychology