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Poetic Justice: Engaging in Participatory Narrative Analysis to Find Solace in the “Killer Corridor”

  • Original Article
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American Journal of Community Psychology

Abstract

The author engaged with adolescents at a community-based youth organization as “co-researchers” to delve deeper into the lived experiences of youth of color residing in an urban neighborhood undergoing change. Participatory narrative analysis was used to empower participants to produce texts to make sense of their lives and their home, school, and neighborhood contexts. The process of engaging youth as co-researchers and experts in issues pertaining to their own neighborhood is discussed. Nuanced analyses of poems-as-data is shown to be critical in informing the recent surge of interdisciplinary, community-engaged, place-based initiatives focused on neighborhood revitalization, violence prevention, and positive youth development.

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Notes

  1. All names used are pseudonyms.

  2. Words from Hip-Hop artist Nasir Jones’ (2003) song “I Can,” whose lyrics from the chorus adorn The Center’s walls: “I know I can/Be what I wanna be/If I work hard at it/I'll be where I wanna be.”

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a Roselyn Lindheim Award and the Phoebe Prince Memorial Scholarship from the University of California Berkeley.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SUNY Downstate Medical Center, School of Public Health, State University of New York, 450 Clarkson Avenue, MSC 43, Brooklyn, NY, 11203, USA

    LeConté J. Dill

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Correspondence to LeConté J. Dill.

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Dill, L.J. Poetic Justice: Engaging in Participatory Narrative Analysis to Find Solace in the “Killer Corridor”. Am J Community Psychol 55, 128–135 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9694-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10464-014-9694-7

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