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Social Sciences
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Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and...
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Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations

A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 15828

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gail Kenning

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Art & Design, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
Interests: psychosocial wellbeing; ageing; social determinants of health

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Psychosocial research explores the relationship between ‘inner’ psychological experience and social factors. Such approaches are key for advancing research and practice in the area of mental health and wellbeing, where it is increasingly acknowledged that social determinants are critical to health outcomes and, according to the World Health Organization, can be more important than health care and lifestyle choices (World Health Organization, 2021; World Health Organization and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2014). A wide range of methods and approaches are available grounded in ‘bottom-up’ generative inquiry to understand lived experience in social, material, and institutional settings. Art and design methods are increasingly being used by psychosocial researchers to examine subjective and inter-subjective experiences and the dynamic relationships between individuals and social contexts.

This Special Issue will focus on methods, protocols, and case studies encompassing key methods including psychosocial design, psychosocial engagement, and psychosocial evaluation (Jill Bennett, Froggett, Kenning, Manley, and Muller, 2019). It will include examples of how psychosocial art and design theories and practices are used in relation to aging, dementia, trauma, abuse, refugees, and social isolation and loneliness. It will demonstrate how psychosocial art and design arises from and engages with lived experience contributing to knowledge in practical ways, in ongoing dialogue with psychosocial theory (J. Bennett, Froggett, and Muller, 2019).

Dr. Gail Kenning
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • psychosocial engagement
  • psychosocial design
  • psychosocial evaluation
  • social work
  • social action
  • aging

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 302 KiB  
Article
‘My Dad Was, Is a Soldier’: Using Collaborative Poetic Inquiry to Explore Intergenerational Trauma, Resilience, and Wellbeing in the Context of Forced Migration
by Lydia Wanja Gitau, Achol Arop and Caroline Lenette
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(8), 455; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080455 - 15 Aug 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1657
Abstract
The topics of intergenerational trauma, resilience, and wellbeing as they relate to forced migration are receiving more attention in the arts and health literature. Yet, we know very little about how refugee-background young adults manage their psychosocial wellbeing when they grow up surrounded [...] Read more.
The topics of intergenerational trauma, resilience, and wellbeing as they relate to forced migration are receiving more attention in the arts and health literature. Yet, we know very little about how refugee-background young adults manage their psychosocial wellbeing when they grow up surrounded by stories of conflict, loss, and trauma. Achol has been writing poetry to represent and amplify the narratives of those around her (parents, family, and the South Sudanese community in Sydney, Australia). These stories are central elements of her lived experience and the diverse experiences of her community. Using collaborative poetic inquiry, this paper identifies key themes in one of her poems, My dad was, is a soldier, to illustrate how poetry is an important artistic mode of expression that can improve our understanding of intergenerational trauma, resilience, and wellbeing. Rather than conveying interview data through research poems, we place Achol’s poem at the centre of our collaborative poetic inquiry to gain new insights into refugee lived experiences. This paper contributes to contemporary debates on how artistic means enrich our knowledge of psychosocial wellbeing through trauma-informed, culturally safe, and decolonial research methods. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations)
15 pages, 273 KiB  
Article
Aesthetic Enactment: Engagement with Art Evoking Traumatic Loss
by Lynn Froggett and Jill Bennett
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(8), 437; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12080437 - 01 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 856
Abstract
This article analyses audience responses to two creative works inspired by traumatic loss—the first, a performance presentation, recounting events from the author’s adolescence; the second, a short film about a suicide in the filmmaker’s family. Both were shown in 2017 as part of [...] Read more.
This article analyses audience responses to two creative works inspired by traumatic loss—the first, a performance presentation, recounting events from the author’s adolescence; the second, a short film about a suicide in the filmmaker’s family. Both were shown in 2017 as part of a mental health arts festival, attracting audiences with affinity for the lived experiences portrayed. Given the potential for such works to give rise to negative feelings and/or to retrigger trauma, the objective of this research was to understand firstly whether audiences could process the trauma conveyed in a contained and facilitative setting and, secondly, how the specific aesthetic modality of each work supported this processing. The psychosocial methodology adopted consisted of a group-based, image-led associative method—the visual matrix—which invites participants to express their sensory-affective and felt responses to a creativework. In the case of both works, the visual matrix gave rise to a distinctive form of aesthetic enactment, expressed through rhythm and image association. This imagistic and ‘rhythmic’ mode of engagement appeared to be key to the re-symbolisation of trauma for the audiences. The implication of this study is that the re-visiting of potentially distressing experiences in an aesthetically mediated, containing setting is potentially reparative in its effect. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations)
19 pages, 5635 KiB  
Article
I Can Do: Co-Designing a Service with and for People with Dementia to Engage with Volunteering
by Kristina Niedderer, Isabelle Tournier, Laura Orton and Steve Threlfall
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(6), 364; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12060364 - 19 Jun 2023
Viewed by 3139
Abstract
This article reports on the co-development of the concept of a skills exchange service for people with early to mid-stage dementia. The service was co-designed with people with dementia, carers and professionals from the health, care and volunteer sectors in Greater Manchester, UK. [...] Read more.
This article reports on the co-development of the concept of a skills exchange service for people with early to mid-stage dementia. The service was co-designed with people with dementia, carers and professionals from the health, care and volunteer sectors in Greater Manchester, UK. The idea for the service arose from the recognition that it is important to people with dementia to be able to continue contributing to the life of others and to be valued for it, but that there is little support for people to do so. The initial data collection with stakeholders into opportunities and barriers in Greater Manchester provided key insights as a starting point for the service concept development. For its development, seven co-design workshops were held: two with people with dementia and five with carers and health, care and volunteer professionals. The outcome was the development of the concept and criteria of the I Can Do Pathway to support people with a dementia diagnosis in identifying their interests and strengths and to connect them with relevant volunteer opportunities. The article explains the transformative co-design process and its results, followed by a reflection of the insights of designing a new service within an existing service system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations)
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14 pages, 276 KiB  
Article
Transforming Trauma through an Arts Festival: A Psychosocial Case Study
by Jill Bennett, Gail Kenning, Lydia Gitau, Rebecca Moran and Marianne Wobcke
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(4), 249; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12040249 - 19 Apr 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2213
Abstract
Through a psychosocial lens, informed by relational psychoanalysis, this article discusses the design, delivery, and impact of The Big Anxiety’s 2022 festival in Warwick, Queensland—an arts-based program that engages with lived experiences of trauma, distress, and suicide, and in this case with the [...] Read more.
Through a psychosocial lens, informed by relational psychoanalysis, this article discusses the design, delivery, and impact of The Big Anxiety’s 2022 festival in Warwick, Queensland—an arts-based program that engages with lived experiences of trauma, distress, and suicide, and in this case with the devastating impact of youth suicide, disproportionately affecting First Nations communities. It describes the festival’s methods of creative engagement, examining how these create conditions for the transformation of trauma and for experiences of growth. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations)
16 pages, 2573 KiB  
Article
Drawing Ageing: Using Participant-Generated Drawing to Explore Older Australians Expectations and Experiences of Ageing in a Retirement Village
by Evonne Miller
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(1), 44; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12010044 - 13 Jan 2023
Viewed by 3567
Abstract
This article discusses the use of an arts-based visual methodology, drawing, to explore older people’s experiences and expectations of ageing in a retirement village. Tactile, generative, and visual, drawing is a quick, inexpensive, and extremely participatory process, which, compared to traditional text-based data, [...] Read more.
This article discusses the use of an arts-based visual methodology, drawing, to explore older people’s experiences and expectations of ageing in a retirement village. Tactile, generative, and visual, drawing is a quick, inexpensive, and extremely participatory process, which, compared to traditional text-based data, provides rare and compelling insight into conscious and unconscious feelings, emotions, sentiments, and experiences. As part of a broader project exploring life in retirement villages, 12 older adults in their 70s and 80s were asked to sketch their experiences of ageing, as well as their expectations and experiences of retirement village life. Sketches were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, which revealed that participants drew ageing as both a time for opportunity and enjoyment and decline, while retirement village life very much met their expectations in terms of being a place of fun, friendship, and leisure. While drawing as a method is rarely used in gerontological research, the outcomes of this project demonstrate how it enables the powerful production of evocative, interactive, and memorable imagery, and it should be a greater part of the methodological toolbox. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations)
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15 pages, 2016 KiB  
Article
The Caregiving Journey: Arts-Based Methods as Tools for Participatory Co-Design of Health Technologies
by Evonne Miller and Oksana Zelenko
Soc. Sci. 2022, 11(9), 396; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci11090396 - 01 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2117
Abstract
Being an informal caregiver to a loved one with an illness, disease, or chronic disability is a rewarding but frequently stressful experience. In this design research project, caregivers participated in a half-day workshop to (1) share their caregiving experience, (2) reflect on the [...] Read more.
Being an informal caregiver to a loved one with an illness, disease, or chronic disability is a rewarding but frequently stressful experience. In this design research project, caregivers participated in a half-day workshop to (1) share their caregiving experience, (2) reflect on the potential of a mobile smartphone ‘app’ for carers and (3) co-design this app, as well as in-depth interviews. Our design research process used multiple arts-based methods, including visual experience mapping tools, storytelling, photo-elicitation, documentary photography, cartoons, drawing, and research poetry, to provide rich and empathic insight into daily life as a caregiver and illuminate the potential of technology. Workshop activities included creating a visual collage of lived experience, annotated visual maps illustrating the reality and misconceptions of caregiving, pathways of care, and mapping a day in their life using the visual metaphor of a clock. Carers then trialled and provided feedback on a prototype app, creating a collective map of desired features. This co-design feedback informed the final app design, which was formally launched at a public exhibition showcasing stories collected from our arts and design-led processes. This paper outlines the value of arts and design methods in the design of future health technologies, which provide a critical space for an informed, reflexive, and empathic dialogue about illness and caregiving, resulting in designs that truly met consumer’s needs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations)
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Review

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9 pages, 277 KiB  
Review
Suicide Research with Refugee Communities: The Case for a Qualitative, Sociocultural, and Creative Approach
by Caroline Lenette
Soc. Sci. 2023, 12(11), 637; https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12110637 - 17 Nov 2023
Viewed by 1014
Abstract
People from refugee backgrounds experience distinctively complex situations pre- and post-resettlement and are at heightened risks of suicide. The bulk of research on refugee suicide and suicidal ideation is based on diagnostic perspectives, biomedical approaches, and quantitative measures. To explore lived experience of [...] Read more.
People from refugee backgrounds experience distinctively complex situations pre- and post-resettlement and are at heightened risks of suicide. The bulk of research on refugee suicide and suicidal ideation is based on diagnostic perspectives, biomedical approaches, and quantitative measures. To explore lived experience of suicide among refugee communities in more depth, this review highlights the need for qualitative, creative methods and a different paradigm to conceptualise suicide research from a social and cultural perspective as an alternative to framing and treating suicidality purely as a mental health issue. Situational and lived experience-based knowledge can significantly expand understandings of how to curb the rise in suicidal ideation and reduce suicide risks among refugees. In this context, creative research methods can be excellent tools to uncover the deeply contextual dimensions of suicidality. When interdisciplinary research explores subjective and sociocultural meanings attached to suicidal ideation, there is a greater potential to develop culturally safe supports, which are models attuned to cultural norms as determined by those most affected by lived experience of an issue or problem. Qualitative suicide research using creative methods and grounded in sociocultural knowledge can address the multidimensional and situational factors affecting refugee communities to improve interventions beyond medical framings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Psychosocial Research Methods to Understand Lived Experience through Art and Design Collaborations)
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