Four practices for conducting feminist participatory action research with young women

Abstract

While there has been an increase in action research explicitly defined as feminist in orientation, there has not been sufficient discussion on the actual translation of feminist theory into research practices. The aim of this article is to contribute to the growing body of knowledge labelled Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) by articulating specific research practices for conducting research with young women who are negotiating social injustice and marginalization. We define and describe four research practices: 1. coalescing into a group; 2. encouraging the shared ownership of the research process and its outcomes; 3. developing multiple centres of power; and 4. promoting interdependency. We illustrate these principles with specific examples from an FPAR study that explored how social workers in Israel can best support girls and young women in situations of distress. We explored this question with a group of young women who were active partners in the research process. We conclude the article by underscoring the linkage between these four practices and feminist theory.