Youth Empowerment in South Auckland: Gauging the Potential of Participatory Action Research

Abstract

Motivated by a sense of dissatisfaction with prevalent research methods which tend to overlook significant bodies of knowledge and capacity for social action, the researcher sought to investigate the potentialities and limitations of Participatory Action Research (PAR) in working with youth in the South Auckland suburb of Manurewa. By engaging youth as co-researchers in Participatory Action Research, the researcher investigated three questions: What does PAR reveal about the perspective of young people towards issues of underdevelopment which affect them? If any, what impact does engaging in PAR have on their capacities and willingness to engage in social change? If at all, how and in what ways does PAR alter some of the barriers and challenges which might otherwise prevent young persons from participating in social action? The research findings indicate that all the participants attained a higher level of critical consciousness as a result of conducting PAR and consistently identified ways in which conducting PAR had a positive impact on enhancing their ability to engage in social action. The findings also provide insight into risks and limitations of conducting PAR with young people in New Zealand. Issues of facilitator dependence, facilitator capture, as well as barriers to participation are exposed. Also the significant levels of time, energy and commitment required for conducting PAR are better understood. While making more explicit certain opportunities and challenges which PAR presents, the research findings point towards certain factors and conditions which enable researchers to more fully realise the potentialities of PAR, while minimizing some of its risks. The author argues that the process of empowerment set in motion by PAR is essentially organic in nature and that progress and development is therefore dependent upon the ability of those who conduct PAR to create certain conditions conducive to growth. A number of these conditions are examined. The author suggests that much depends upon the adoption of an approach which is informed by an appreciation of the philosophical and ideological roots of PAR as well as its technical features. The outcomes of the research provide insight into how PAR can be more fully utilised in the area of youth development in New Zealand.