Florina Pop, Alina Bărbuţ

A Photovoice Analysis of Ukrainian Adolescents’ Coping Strategies and Future Orientation in the Context of Forced Migration

Article Information

Pages: 61-92

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24193/RJPS.2024.1.04

Florina Pop, Alina Bărbuţ

Babeş-Bolyai University, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, 128-130 21 Decembrie 1989 Blvd, 400604 Cluj-Napoca, Romania, florina.pop@ubbcluj.ro, alina.barbuta@ubbcluj.ro

Abstract. The forced internal and external displacement to which children and young people are exposed during and as a result of war stands in stark opposition to their developmental requirements and entitlement to grow up in an environment that is physically and emotionally secure and stable. Adolescents’ perceptions of the future are linked to the maintenance and modification of social structures and their surroundings, which are affected by forced migration. The feeling of uncertainty characteristic of the transition period of children and young people affected by the Ukrainian armed conflict can influence the temporal orientation towards the past and future, both of which are important for understanding their present reality and specific needs. We use a Photovoice approach to illustrate the changes that appeared in their everyday lives after the outbreak of the war. This study aims to explore how Ukrainian adolescents assert agency throughout their experience of forced migration. Engaging adolescents in Photovoice participatory research allows them to capture and describe images of what is meaningful to them as co-constructors of knowledge and meaning. Having 15 Ukrainian adolescents as co-researchers, we aimed to explore the present life circumstances, giving them voice and potential to illustrate their future priorities, orientations, aspirations, and expectations through photography. This participatory approach comes as a resource for the personal empowerment of adolescents, imagined futures implicitly builds on the assumption that the capacity to conceive and aspire to the future serves as a tool for individual self-empowerment. With future aspirations determined by interlocking structural forces, which are constantly revised in the context of forced displacement, the future orientation of adolescents starts from the resource system currently available to respond to their basic needs.

Keywords: participatory research; photovoice; war; children; adolescents; forced migration; displacement

References

Abma, T., Breed, M., Lips, S., Schrijver, J. (2022). “Whose voice is it really? ethics of photovoice with children in health promotion”. International Journal of Qualitative Methods 21.

Aldridge, J. (2012). “The participation of vulnerable children in photographic research”. Visual Studies 27(1): 48-58.

Appadurai, A. (2004). “The Capacity to Aspire: Culture and the Terms of Recognition”. In Vijayendra Rao and Michael Walton (eds), Culture and Public Action. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, pp. 59-84.

Barnes, D. M., Aguilar, R. (2007). “Community social support for Cuban refugees in Texas”. Qualitative health research 17(2): 225-237.

Beckert, J., Sucker, L. (2021). “The future as a social fact: the analysis of perceptions of the future in sociology”. Poetics 84.

Berry, J. W. (2003). Conceptual approaches to acculturation. American Psychological Association.

Birman D. (2006). “Measurement of the “acculturation gap” in immigrant families and implications for parent–child relationships”. In Bornstein M. H., Cote L. R. (Eds.). Acculturation and parent–child relationships: Measurement and development . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 113–134.

Bishop, K. (2014). “Challenging research: completing participatory social research with children and adolescents in a hospital setting”. HERD: Health Environments Research and Design Journal 7(2): 76-91.

Bradbury-Jones, C., Isham, L., Taylor, J. (2018). “The complexities and contradictions in participatory research with vulnerable children and young people: A qualitative systematic review”. Social Science and Medicine 215: 80-91.

Cairns, D. (2014). Youth transitions international student mobility and spatial reflexivity: being mobile? London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Caprara, G. V., Steca, P., Gerbino, M., Paciello, M., Vecchio, G. M. (2006). “Looking for adolescents’ well-being: Self-efficacy beliefs as determinants of positive thinking and happiness”. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences 15(1): 30-43.

Christensen, P., & Prout, A. (2005). “Anthropological and sociological perspectives on the study of children”. In S. Greene & D. Hogan (Eds.), Researching children’s experience: Approaches and methods London: Sage Publications, pp. 42-60.

Clark, A. (2005). “Listening to and involving young children: A review of research and practice”. Early child development and care 175(6): 489-505.

Collyer, M. (2010). “Stranded migrants and the fragmented journey”. Journal of Refugee Studies 23(3): 273-293.

Cornwall, A., Jewkes, R. (1995). “What is participatory research?” Social Science and Medicine 41(12): 1667-1676.

Correa-Velez, I., Gifford, S. M., Barnett, A. G. (2010). “Longing to belong: Social inclusion and wellbeing among youth with refugee backgrounds in the first three years in Melbourne, Australia.” Social Science and Medicine 71(8): 1399-1408.

Dator, J. (2022). Beyond identities: human becomings in weirding worlds. Cham: Springer Nature.

Doumas, K., Avery, H. (2024). “Lives ‘on hold’in Europe: an explorative review of literature on youth aspirations and futures in situations of migration and mobility”. European Journal of Futures Research 12(1).

Eberl, JM., Meltzer, CE., Heidenreich, T., Herrero, B., Theorin, N., Lind, F., Strömbäck, J. (2018). “The European media discourse on immigration and its effects: a literature review.”. Annals of the International Communication Association 42(3): 207–223.

Folkman, S. (2008). “The case for positive emotions in the stress process.”. Anxiety, stress, and coping 21(1): 3-14.

Foucault, M. (1983). “The subject and power”. In: Dreyfus HL, Rabinow P (eds) Michel Foucault: Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics, 2nd edn. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, pp. 208–228.

Gallacher, L. A., Gallagher, M. (2008). “Methodological immaturity in childhood research? Thinking throughparticipatory methods”. Childhood 15(4): 499-516.

Green, E., Kloos, B. (2009). “Facilitating youth participation in a context of forced migration: A photovoice project in northern Uganda”. Journal of Refugee Studies 22(4): 460–482.

Guillemin, M., Gillam, L. (2004). “Ethics, reflexivity, and “ethically important moments” in research”. Qualitative inquiry 10(2): 261-280.

Guribye, E., Sandal, G. M., Oppedal, B. (2011). “Communal proactive coping strategies among Tamil refugees in Norway: A case study in a naturalistic setting”. International journal of mental health systems 5: 1-13.

Haliovich, H. (2013). “Ethical approaches in research with refugees and asylum seekers using participatory action research”. In K. Block, E. Riggs, & N. Haslam (Eds.), Values and vulnerabilities: The ethics of research with refugees and asylum seekers. (pp. 127–150). Australian Academic Press.

Hirsch, E., O’Hanlon, M. (Eds.). (1995). The anthropology of landscape: perspectives on place and space. Oxford University Press.

Isik-Ercan, Z. (2012). “In Pursuit of a New Perspective in the Education of Children of the Refugees: Advocacy for the” Family””. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice 12(4): 3025-3038.

Kawachi, I., Berkman, L. F. (2001). Social ties and mental health. Journal of Urban health 78: 458-467.

Kraly, E. P., Abbasi-Shavazi, M. J., Torres Colón, L. L., Reed, H. E. (2023). “Social consequences of forced and refugee migration”. Annual Review of Sociology 49: 129-153.

Lazarus, R. S., Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. New York: Springer.

Lee, T. L., Fiske, S. T. (2006). “Not an outgroup, not yet an ingroup: Immigrants in the stereotype content model”. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 30(6): 751-768.

Liebenberg, L. (2018). “Thinking critically about photovoice: Achieving empowerment and social change”. International journal of qualitative methods 17(1).

Lundy, L., McEvoy, L., Byrne, B. (2011). “Working with young children as co-researchers: An approach informed by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child”. Early Education and Development 22(5): 714-736.

Minkkinen, M. (2020). “Theories in futures studies: examining the theory base of the futures field in light of survey results”. World Futures Review 12(1):12–25.

Müller-Funk, L., Üstübici, A., Belloni, M. (2023). Daring to aspire: theorising aspirations in contexts of displacement and highly constrained mobility. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 49(15): 3816-3835.

Pain, R. (2004). “Social geography: participatory research”. Progress in Human Geography 28(5): 652-663.

Park, C. L. (2010). “Making sense of the meaning literature: an integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events”. Psychological bulletin 136(2): 257–301.

Perkins, D. D., Zimmerman, M. A. (1995). “Empowerment theory, research, and application”. American Journal of Community Psychology 23: 569-579.

Polak, F. (1973). The image of the future. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Porumbescu, A. (2023). “The war beyond the border: Romania’s response to the arrival of Ukrainian refugees”. Studia Securitatis 17(2): 158-168.

Rajaram, P. K. (2002). Humanitarianism and Representations of the Refugee. Journal of Refugee Studies 15(3): 247-264.

Ramachandran, N., Vathi, Z. (2022). “Agency in waiting? Everyday tactics of asylum seekers and refugees in Glasgow”. European Journal of Social Work 25(6): 1104-1116.

Rappapon, J. (1984). “Studies in empowerment: Introduction to the issue”. Prevention in Human Services 3(2-3): 1-7.

Rappaport, J. (1987). “Terms of empowerment/exemplars of prevention: Toward a theory for community psychology”. American Journal of Community Psychology 15(2): 121-148.

Rappaport, J. (1990). “Research methods and the empowerment social agenda”. In P. Tolan, C. Keys, F. Chertok, L. A. Jason (Eds.), Researching community psychology: Issues of theory and methods. American Psychological Association, pp. 51–63.

Rubin, A., Kaivo-Oja, J. (1999). Towards a futures-oriented sociology. International Review of Sociology 9(3): 349–371.

Safouane, H., Jünemann, A., Göttsche, S. (2020). “Migrants’ agency: A re-articulation beyond emancipation and resistance”. New Political Science 42(2): 197-217.

Schwartz, S. J., Unger, J. B., Zamboanga, B. L., Szapocznik, J. (2010). “Rethinking the concept of acculturation: implications for theory and research”. American Psychologist 65(4): 237-251.

Shaw, P. A. (2021). “Photo-elicitation and photo-voice: using visual methodological tools to engage with younger children’s voices about inclusion in education”. International Journal of Research and Method in Education 44(4): 337-351.

Strack, R. W., Magill, C., McDonagh, K. (2004). “Engaging youth through photovoice”. Health Promotion Practice 5(1): 49-58.

Swift, C., Levin, G. (1987). “Empowerment: An emerging mental health technology”. Journal of Primary Prevention 8: 71-94.

Turton, D. (2006). “Who is a forced migrant? Risk, complexity and local initiative in forced resettlement outcomes”. In C. de Wet (Ed.), Development-induced displacement: Problems, policies and people. Berghahn Books., pp. 13-37.

UNHCR (2023). Plan regional de răspuns privind situația refugiaților. Raport de final de an. https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/107106. Accessed on 02.05.2024.

UNICEF (2023). Ukraine and Refugee Response. https://www.unicef.org/media/144901/file/2023-HAC-Ukraine-revised-Aug.pdf . Accessed on 02.05.2024.

United Nations (2022). Youth Declaration from the Transforming Education Summit. Retrieved from https://transformingeducationsummit.sdg4education2030.org/youth-declaration.

Vaughn, L. M., Jacquez, F. (2020). “Participatory research methods–choice points in the research process”. Journal of Participatory Research Methods 1(1).

Wallerstein, N., Bernstein, E. (1988). “Empowerment education: Freire’s ideas adapted to health education”. Health Education Quarterly 15(4): 379-394.

Wang, A. (2006). “Advertising engagement: A driver of message involvement on message effects”. Journal of Advertising Research 46(4): 355-368.

Wang, C. C. (1999). “Photovoice: A participatory action research strategy applied to women’s health”. Journal of Women’s Health 8(2): 185-192.

Wang, C., Burris, M. A. (1997). “Photovoice: Concept, methodology, and use for participatory needs assessment”. Health Education and Behavior 24(3): 369-387.

Wenger, A., Dunn Cavelty, M., Jasper, U. (2020). “The politics and science of the future: assembling future knowledge and integrating it into public policy and governance”. In Wenger A, Jasper U, Dunn Cavelty M (eds) The politics and science of prevision: Governing and probing the future. Routledge, pp 229–251.

Women’s Refugee Commission (2022). We must do better: Including refugee girls in education. Retrieved from https://www.womensrefugeecommission.org/research-resources/we-must-do-better-including-refugee-girls-in-education/.

Worth, N. (2009). “Understanding youth transition as a ‘becoming’: identity, time, and futurity”. Geoforum 40(6): 1050–1060.

Zetter, R. (2018). “Conceptualising forced migration: Praxis, scholarship and empirics”. In Forced migration. Routledge, pp. 19-43. eBook ISBN 9781315623757.

Zimmerman, B. J. (1995). “Self-regulation involves more than metacognition: A social cognitive perspective”. Educational Psychologist 30(4): 217-221.

Zimmerman, M. A., Israel, B. A., Schulz, A., Checkoway, B. (1992). „Further explorations in empowerment theory: An empirical analysis of psychological empowerment”. American Journal of Community Psychology 20: 707-727.