Ways of thinking about young people in participatory interview research

Abstract

This chapter explores what it means to treat young people and children as being worthy of study in their own right, and not in terms of their relationship with adulthood. Moving from the adult-centric theories that have traditionally dominated childhood and youth research, this chapter highlights engaging with young people as active agents in research. Focusing on issues that are particularly relevant to young people (sexuality, HIV/AIDS), the chapter draws on participatory interviews to illustrate the inversion of power relations that enables researchers to engage with and learn from young people who are positioned as figures of authority. It is argued that an analysis of how research with children and young people can be democratized enables an understanding of the pedagogic implications of participatory research. Thinking about interviews as a social encounter between participants, rather than as a device to elicit information from young people opens up an understanding of the way in which interviews are spaces in which the discursive practices of the young person are displayed. Respecting these practices enables researchers to draw on young people’s knowledge about issues such as HIV/AIDS, for example. The chapter concludes by elaborating on the pedagogical opportunities and risks of using participatory research to open up performance spaces for young people.