Photovoice: Qualitative Technique of Awareness and Processing of Emotions in a Situation of a Collective Traumatic Event

The present study emphasizes how the photovoice can be an instrument of awareness and emotion processing. In fact, the photovoice is a relational tool of participatory action research (PAR), which allows, through the group discussion, to reflect critically on the proposed themes. Since its inception, photovoice has gained popularity and has been applied to different disciplines, such as psychology, education, and nursing, and to study particular issues, such as those related to parenting, refugees, intercultural relations and other marginalized groups. In this study, through the photovoice, the theme of the collective trauma was addressed in a psychological perspective, involving 30 young adults. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate how the photovoice can bring out the emotions and strengthen a people that has faced a collective trauma event, supporting the participants in finding solutions for their environment.Therefore, we used the photovoice to stimulate reflection on a collective traumatic event that happened in Italy in the summer of 2018: the collapse of the Morandi bridge. This event had enormous emotional consequences for the inhabitants of the area. The researchers analyzed visual and textual data through a process of triangulation, with the support of the software NVivo9, based on Grounded Theory. In light of the main results, the potential of the photovoice as a significant tool for developing empowerment, awareness and processing of emotions in contexts of collective trauma will be discussed, underlining the theoretical and practical implications