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Using 'photo-phenomenology' in critical health psychology research within communities experiencing health inequalities: theory and practice
Dr Iain Williamson, Critical Health Psychologist/ Senior Lecturer / Programme leader MSc Health Psychology at De Montfort University.
As health psychology researchers are increasingly recognizing the limitations of one-off interviews, and the taking of photographs to document aspects of day-to-day life has become a quotidian habit, so critical psychology research integrating a photographic component is flourishing. In this lecture I will be reflecting on recent experiences of integrating participant-authored photographs alongside phenomenologically-framed interviews in critically oriented research. As a critical health psychologist my focus has been on aiming to develop genuinely collaborative and inclusive research partnerships with communities who might be considered marginalized or hard-to-reach.
Illustrating arguments with findings from recent and ongoing research on gay and bisexual men's experiences of multiple sclerosis, men's accounts of living with breast cancer and single mothers caring for a daughter with Rett Syndrome, I propose the benefits of expanding conceptual and methodological approaches in qualitative health psychology research whilst discussing methodological, ethical and epistemological challenges and cautioning against 'methodolatry'. I will consider some of the practical issues with regard to designing, applying and delivering this visually informed strand of critical research, and discuss the potential for enhancing opportunities around participant engagement and dissemination.
Dr Iain Williamson is Associate Professor of Applied Psychology at De Montfort University Leicester. He has many years of experience in undertaking qualitative research and in teaching critical health psychology and supervising and assessing postgraduate students. He has carried out research in partnership with members of a number of communities experiencing social injustice and stigma including young offenders, LGBT communities and members of minority faith and ethnic communities and much of his recent work has focused on the intersection of inequalities incorporating theories around syndemics and compound discrimination. He has advocated the utilization of a varied palette of multiple qualitative methods in various fora and has particular interest in audio-diaries and visual methods. He has published in a variety of journals including Journal of Health Psychology, Qualitative Research in Psychology, Social Science and Medicine and Psychology and Health.
Links and references mentioned in the seminar:
Williamson (2018): http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/6v4ZsaSg265jDx7uMWZy/full
Papaloukas, Quincey and Williamson (2017): http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/YIbyhrMpfmeQGtiwM4tD/full