Linking YPAR and Youth Sociopolitical Development: Reflections on a photovoice study with youth organizers

Sociopolitical development (SPD) is the process by which youth develop knowledge, skills, and capacity for critical social and political action. Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is increasingly being integrated into school and community settings, not just as a method of inquiry but as an avenue to support youth social and civic well-being in and of itself. YPAR has been theoretically linked to models of critical consciousness and SPD. However, more needs to be documented about the specific mechanisms linking the YPAR process and youth SPD.  At the end of a photovoice project on youth SPD and social media, I interviewed ten adolescent organizers who are diverse in racial and gender identity and have varying levels of organizing experience. They identified specific ways the YPAR process affected their SPD based on their conceptualizations of what SPD practice looked like. This paper reports these insights using in vivo coding and a process analysis approach. The findings give insight into YPAR implementation and generate ideas for youth SPD programming/intervention.