Using photo elicitation interviewing to access the subjective well-being of children from poor families within an affluent Asian society: Insights for service delivery

Abstract

SummaryIncorporating the voice of the child is essential for a holistic assessment that is used to guide social work interventions targeted at enhancing the well-being of children. In order to include children as key participants in understanding their worldview, social workers need to provide a space for children to voice out their subjective assessment of their current life experiences and conditions. This paper aims to bring attention to utilizing photo eliciting interviewing (PEI) as a means to access children's subjective well-being from low-income families. FindingsBy utilizing photoraphy and in-depth interviews sequentially to engage and gain access into children's worldviews, this study found that children from low-income families possessed agentic capabilities and are capable of contributing towards their well-being. Despite the financial constraints experienced by their families, children did not perceive their families to be poor. Instead, they took into account the family context and parental efforts in assessing the family's circumstances. Furthermore, children initiated strategies to create opportunities of happiness or to intervene in situations of sadness that stemmed from financial constraints. ApplicationThis study propose social workers to employ PEI as a complement to the objective measurement tools commonly utilized in social work assessments and interventions when working with children from low-income families. Other than constructing a holistic assessment of children's well-being, PEI also allows for the inclusion of children as integral partners in social work interventions and programme designs. Children possess the knowledge and ability to initiate and contribute solutions to problems, which when identified and tapped upon, promotes children's participation as change agents of their own lives.