Caged Women: Incarceration, Representation, and Media S.A. Jackson and L.L. Gordy (Eds.). Abingdon: Routledge (2018) 240pp. £104.00hb, £23.99pb ISBN 978–1138297395
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12337 |
| Published date | 01 September 2019 |
| Author | Lizzie Seal |
| Date | 01 September 2019 |
The Howard Journal Vol58 No 3. September 2019 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12336
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 450–456
Book Reviews
Participatory Visual Methodologies: Social Change, Community and Policy C. Mitchell,
N. De Lange and R. Moletsane. London: Sage (2017) 311pp. 248pp. £29.99pb ISBN
9781473947313
Participatory visual methodologies (PVM) are becoming increasingly popular in the
field of criminology and criminal justice. This book offers a thought-provoking guide
to engaging stakeholders as audiences in participatory visual research and is highly rec-
ommended to anyone with an interest in these methodologies. Each chapter is carefully
grounded in the theoretical and methodological literature and brought vividly to life by
the inclusion of real-life case studies, field notes, quotes, and photographs.
A range of techniques fall under the umbrella of PVM including photovoice, draw-
ing, and participatory videos. These methodologies are designed to empower (usually
marginalised) social groups to visually represent and make sense of their lived experi-
ences, then communicate these experiences to stakeholders through visual media such
as photographic exhibitions. It is widely believed that the viewing process elicits a visceral
response from audiences that facilitates dialogic communication between stakeholders
as well as social and policy change. As the authors correctly observe, audience studies
are rare, highlighting the need for more systematic studies to track the impact of vi-
sual data across time and place. The book sets out to address this gap and opens with
a presentation of the Critical Visual Methodology framework that structures the book
(Chapter 1). According to this framework, three interrelated elements – audience en-
gagement, political listening, and reflexivity – must be present to facilitate community
and policy dialogue.
Turning first to audience engagement, Chapter 2 makes the important, but often-
overlooked, point that research must be designed with the end goal in mind if social
change is to be achieved. In other words, audience engagement strategies should be
built into the research design from the outset. To maximise impact, the authors argue
that visual data must be viewed ‘over and over and over again’, a process termed ‘cir-
culating the vernacular’ (p.77). This can occur in varied formats; for instance, images
from a photographic exhibition could be recirculated via digital platforms. The poten-
tial of new digital technologies to extend the afterlife of visual data is explored further
in Chapter 6. Given their ubiquity, an exploration of the use of new technologies in
PVM – and the ethical issues they raise – is timely.
Perhaps the most interesting discussions centre on the topic of ‘political listening’,
a concept originally proposed by Darcy Alexandra. Mitchell, De Lange and Moletsane
employ this concept to address the tensions that can arise when different worldviews
collide, and argue that consensus is not always possible. Rather,the aim of making visual
data public ‘is not just to tell positive stories, but rather to create an environment in which
participants and audiences can listen to each other’ (p.12). This process is illustrated by
a case study involving college students who captured images of student life in Ethiopia
(Chapter 4). When the photographs were shown to senior administrators, a college dean
objected to one photograph which, in his eyes, portrayed the college in a negative light.
At a reshowing of the exhibition one year later, the same dean took pride in pointing
450
C
2019 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
To continue reading
Request your trial