Participatory Video: A Process that Transforms Self and Others, Shirley White

White, Shirley, ed. Participatory Video. Sage Publications: California, 2003.

Chapter 3: A Process that Transforms Self and Others
p 63-86

Shirley White's main point of this article is to point out that there are two seperate uses to participatory video: as a process and as a product. Each has their different uses, benefits, and consequences. As a process, participatory video sets the stage for communication and self-expressiong. "Thus, it has the potential to bring about person, social, political, and cultural change. That is what video power is all about" (P64). The video power that she talks about is achievable because people are able to self-express, gain identity, and have their voice acknowledged as valid (P65). She goes on to say that PV purely as a product is very different because it is a passive entity. Watching is optional, interpretation is personal, and control only exists for the video-makers, not the viewers (P66).

I will focus mostly on PV as a process in this summary. PV needs to be conducted a certain way for it to be successful, that is that PV needs to focus on "interaction, sharing, and cooperation with an outcome of individual and group growth" . It is about allowing people to express as well as offer another mode of interaction (P64-65). As a process, it has many uses: self-definition, education and training, community building, message-making, mediator, and many other things. This is made possible through PVs ability to transform individuals and eventually communities (P76). The facilitator must possess certain skills and encourage PV to grow in certain ways for the community to be transformed, however. They include things such as "encouraging interpersonal encounter, promoting dialog, reconciling differences, reaching consensus, dealing with prejudice, conflict management, and fostering cooperation" (P77). This is yet another acknowledgment that PV alone is not enough to bring about change, but rather a myriad of variables need to be aligned correctly for it to occur. One of these is the attitude of the facilitator.

Each one of these topics is explained in more detail, giving examples and advice on how to exemplify these characteristics as the PV facilitator's work. The other thing that the facilitator should be aware of Maslow's concept of "self-actualization" and Kelley's concept of "fully-functioning." Maslow believed that the human continues to reach for higher levels throughout life due to their desire for "knowledge, undestanding, meaning in life, beauty, peace, and self-fulfillment." White says that this humanistic approach pushes participation in the process of development, and that PV can help address issues of self-fulfillment. "When a person is fully functioning, he/she must look at the self and feel that they are capable of peforming the task at hand... [and] facilitating persons can further assist in the process of building, helping people realize their potential for change and improvements" (P82).

White says that self is an important concept to acknowledge as a facilitator as they must deal with disparities between how the self perceives self and how others perceive that person. She explains how self is shaped by our relations with others, creating a constanly evolving and changing self-concept. Thus, interpersonal interaction has impact on self-concept (P84).

She goes onto develop ideas of self-esteem and self-respect which are two things that "require a basic process whereby individuals can examine, assess and modify their existing concepts, attitudes and behaviors." PV is one such way of "questioning the assumptions one makes about their own actions or beliefs that often forces a person to modify their self-concept in order to maintain self-esteem" (P85-86). Basically that a person's ability to change lays in critical reflection in a process of "understanding a decision, thinking about what they are doing, obersving the reaction to what they are doing, and checking out the relationship between action and observation" (P86). Again, PV is able to bring this process to the forefront fo conscious change.


Reflections:
I enjoyed the portion of this text about psychology. The claims of PV are often thrown out there without absolute proof or even pointing towards possible reasons for why "PV causes change" or how "PV can induce empowerment." Her argument feels fleshed out. Instead of simply relying on case examples, she is able to pull from theoretical evidence to prove that PV is able to propogate impact from individual to the group.

I am also a fan of how she acknowledges that there are certain pre-conditions that make PV successful. Her outline for the facilitator is fairly detailed and could be useful in part of a handbook for hosting PV. They are reminiscent of therapy or mediator characterstics, and her techniques push the boundaries between using the camera for action versus psychological aid. The process is self-reflective, but also a very conscious manner. In a way, her process feels like the participants are being treated as children or as clients.

I think White is correct when she outlines the way in which facilitation must occur. I like that she has turned the process into less of a touch-feely-we-can-change-the-world and more into science. She outlines certain characteristics needed for PV to work as a process. However, I am also wary of her clearly-defined steps as it implies that PV intervention can always been the answer or have the potential to always be successful on some level. Based off of summer experiences, I would still question whether intervention always has more positive impacts than negative.

Further reading of the text is needed for further conclusions.