Photo-Elicitation and At-Promise Youth: Sharing Perceptions of Self and Identity

ABSTRACT

Adolescents go through a critical process of identity formation. This time in their life can be confusing and having a mentor to provide support and guidance has proven to be helpful and may increase self-esteem, self-efficacy, problem-solving and coping skills in youth. In this qualitative narrative study, at-promise youth from historically oppressed communities (ages 12 to 15) who participated in a 12-week therapeutic youth mentoring program, were interviewed utilizing a creative method called photo-elicitation. Photo-elicitation and semi-structured questions facilitated the narrative interview process allowing the youth to share experiences surrounding identity formation through photographs. Significant findings are presented in narrative form utilizing participant quotes to capture the emotion, language, and perspective of the participants’ perceptions of self and identity. Implications for mental health professionals working with adolescents during a time of self-exploration and identity formation, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Identity
• intervention/prevention
• mental health
• early adolescence
• qualitative methods
• creativity in counseling

Acknowledgments

The research team would like to extend a special thank you to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Diversity and Inclusive Excellence Grant that partially funded this research study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).