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. 2018 Feb;28(3):446-455.
doi: 10.1177/1049732317729137. Epub 2017 Sep 29.

Photovoice Ethics: Critical Reflections From Men's Mental Health Research

Genevieve Creighton  1 , John L Oliffe  1 , Olivier Ferlatte  1 , Joan Bottorff  1 , Alex Broom  2 , Emily K Jenkins  1
Affiliations

Photovoice Ethics: Critical Reflections From Men's Mental Health Research

Genevieve Creighton et al. Qual Health Res. 2018 Feb.

Abstract

As photovoice continues to grow as a method for researching health and illness, there is a need for rigorous discussions about ethical considerations. In this article, we discuss three key ethical issues arising from a recent photovoice study investigating men's depression and suicide. The first issue, indelible images, details the complexity of consent and copyright when participant-produced photographs are shown at exhibitions and online where they can be copied and disseminated beyond the original scope of the research. The second issue, representation, explores the ethical implications that can arise when participants and others have discordant views about the deceased. The third, vicarious trauma, offers insights into the potenial for triggering mental health issues among researchers and viewers of the participant-produced photographs. Through a discussion of these ethical issues, we offer suggestions to guide the work of health researchers who use, or are considering the use of, photovoice.

Keywords: Canada; North America; North Americans; ethics; moral perspectives; qualitative; qualitative methods; research design, photography, photovoice; research evaluation, methodology; research strategies.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
He was my son.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Dazed and Confused.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Photo exhibition.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Last words.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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