How can community and context-focused artistic methodologies facilitate significant research with young individuals regarding safety?
This blog will delve into a criminology initiative that employed an arts-based framework to engage young people, aiming to prevent distress and enabling them to discuss aspects of their lives and living conditions.
In my creative and experimental research within criminology and sociology in Scotland, I developed a project centred on art, sensory neighbourhood exploration, and dialogues with young people. The objective was to connect with those who gather, 'hang around', or reside in communities affected by organised crime amidst urban inequality and industrial poverty. The results led to the perception of the arts-based methodology as an asset for practitioners and scholars seeking to engage meaningfully and innovatively with youth regarding safety.
The streets in urban areas serve as a familiar and accessible entry point for observing and articulating various elements of social life. They provide insights into patterns, regularities, and trends that underlie individual narratives. Within criminology, the street is known as a site of risk, danger, thrill, culture, art and politics; one which needs more attention for its multi-sensory properties.
Communities affected by organised crime are often stigmatised due to their associations with poverty, violence, substance abuse, and poor health. Yet, these communities face additional victimisation from prolonged sensationalist narratives that depict them solely as perilous, obscuring any community strengths. The project aimed to counter this trend.
This project drew significant inspiration from a paper on street life and ‘atmospheres’. The research advocates for an integrated, place-based understanding of street life elements combined with a ‘mobile criminology’ approach to art, understanding crime in urban environments, and walking.
Contextual Safeguarding acknowledges that children and young people are influenced by their environments and social circles outside of their families. Arts-based approaches can be instrumental in understanding and addressing these contexts. Engaging with urban spaces through walking offers a fresh perspective on crime, justice, punishment, and social harm.
During my neighbourhood walks, I documented street art and graffiti, which served as the ‘visuals’ for my project. These artworks not only caught the eye but they are also connected to various social issues. Street art often resonates with audiences, evoking surprise and joy. These visuals guided my understanding of topics young people might be inclined to discuss, facilitating conversations around safety, harm, and place, while minimising the risk of trauma.
These images were subsequently employed to spark group discussions. The young participants shared their perspectives and concerns on issues such as safety, peer relationships, friendship, compassion, and creativity, articulating their feelings and thoughts with ease.
The methodology highlights what can be achieved with young people. Sensory and arts-based techniques promote inclusion, education and healing, offering a platform to express emotions that traditional research methods often fail to elicit. Furthermore, regarding the continuum of trauma, art has demonstrated the capacity to alleviate the body’s stress response. This in turn contributes to a sense of safety for young individuals.
Fifteen young people were invited to participate through the support of a grassroots charity that provides diversionary activities and sports in disadvantaged areas. While the project is rooted in larger sensory experiences, I will focus on the latter half, sharing the visuals, creative writing, and feedback from the participants.
Utilising arts-based methodologies allowed young individuals to articulate their thoughts with the additional support of trusted grassroots youth workers, fostering a safe space for dialogue about danger, safety, and peer support under appropriate circumstances. Young participants were able to articulate their challenges and preferences regarding their community. Below are some examples of their responses:
The heart piece, I quite find that good, because in life you have puzzle pieces to connect things. So, in life you have to work your way through it slowly putting the pieces together until you get what you need. You need to get all the pieces in the right order, but if you mess up, you can still find a way of putting it back together. Like an achievement. You can mess up and try again.
I like the fish, they look like guppies, they are very adorable. Who doesn’t like fish? They make me think about meeting people and playing together. I’d like to see this at a skatepark. I like playing at the local skatepark with my friends. I feel safe there.
I like it. He looks like a gangster, but he has something nice to say.
It makes me think of pirates and danger. Pirates use this skull to let people know they are about to attack, when they are about to be bad. You’re not safe because they are bad. Like Pirates of the Caribbean.
That, you can just, if you love somebody, or a family member, you can always just think of that person when you see this, the people you love very much. Like communication and connection. I’d like more of that in the area.
I think the person who drew this was trying to make the area better, more fun. There are lots of spaces here which need to be made better.
This is like toxic waste, and it looks like black blood. In horror games, there are monsters, so people might start thinking bad things about it, like horror or danger. I don’t know. I like the smile, but it’s bad at the same time. It’s like the area.
Inequalities significantly influence young people's experiences of harm, often framing them as ‘problems’ to be solved instead of exploring solutions within their broader environments. This project provided an alternative to community stigma and marginalisation, enhancing youth involvement and creative development in an area lacking representation and investment.
Importantly, it illustrates the value of blending creativity with exploration, paying attention to the signs and surprises of the streets as a method of engaging with, and conducting research alongside, young people concerning safety and their sense of belonging.
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