Structured ethical reflection as a tool to recognise and address power: a participatory action research study with separated young people in France

Abstract

Participatory Action Research (PAR) is often applauded for creating a more egalitarian relationship between researchers and research participants. Nonetheless, PAR studies, particularly those involving young people, have been critiqued for their claims about its benefits, particularly the assertion that PAR is ‘more’ empowering and/or morally and ethically ‘better’ than other research approaches. At the core of these critiques is discussion of the issue of power and the assertion that the very power structures that PAR researchers hope to deconstruct may be reinforced if they do not take measures to address the various power hierarchies that can emerge during the conduct of PAR. Drawing on a PAR study involving the participation of 12 separated young people in Northern France, this paper documents the use of a Structured Ethical Reflection (SER) framework to guide a critically reflective process. Researcher acknowledgement of power and privilege led to the implementation of approaches that supported greater participant engagement and ownership of the research. The SER not only enabled the identification of emergent power asymmetries, but also supported the development of strategies that aimed to address ethical dilemmas as they arose during the research process.