Group Meeting Dynamics in a Community-Based Participatory Research Photovoice Project with Exited Sex Trade Workers

Abstract

This article is based on a secondary analysis of transcripts from a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project that sought to represent through photovoice the lived experience of five exited sex trade workers. The focus of the secondary thematic transcript analysis was to discern group processes and describe group dynamics of six two-hour group meetings. Creating and maintaining an environment of safety emerged as a primary theme. The group processes resembled mutual aid groups, which are characterized by people offering assistance to each other in an interpersonal forum that demands personal reflection. Group dynamics revealed that an important aspect of CBPR photovoice research is the collaborative creation of a safe place for showing photographs and storytelling.