Promoting dignity, pushing new conversations: Digital storytelling as a tool to engage and organize with young parenting women.
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Join Camino PR and the University of Massachusetts Amherst for a workshop on using digital storytelling as a tool to empower young parents to speak up about their lived experiences--which can have a powerful impact for policy, combatting stigma, and creating a more positive narrative on young parents. We will share from the Hear Our Stories project, which worked with young parenting women to produce their own digital stories and a number of strategic partners across the U.S. to shift the conversation around teen pregnancy and parenting.
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Promoting dignity, pushing new conversations: Digital storytelling as a tool to engage and organize with young parenting women.
- 1. Promoting dignity, pushing new conversations: Digital storytelling as a tool to engage and organize with young parenting women Aline Gubrium, PhD Associate Professor Community Health Education School of Public Health and Health Sciences University of Massachusetts Amherst Mickey Martinez Camino Public Relations Account Manager New York City office April 26-28, 2015 San Francisco, CA #YTHLive Annual Conference on Youth + Tech + Health
- 2. DIGITAL STORYTELLING: UMASS HEAR OUR STORIES A L IN E G U B R IU M U M A S S H E A R O U R S TO R IE S M IC K E Y M A RT IN E Z C A M IN O P U B L IC R E L AT IO N S
- 3. OVERVIEW Hear Our Stories: Diasporic Youth for Sexual Rights and Justice 3-pronged approach as model for engaged research design: Research Training Strategic Communication http://www.umass.edu/hearourstories/ UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 4. PROJECT PURPOSE To use digital storytelling as a social justice research method to engage and empower young parents. negative/risk-based/prevention approaches. Positive versus negative/risk-based/prevention approaches. Voice and agency versus stigma and shame. To gain an understanding of how young parenting Latinas experience and negotiate sexual disparities. To transform dominant assumptions about young parents. UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 5. “PUBLIC AWARENESS” . . . UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 6. … OR PUBLIC SHAMING? UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 8. CONTEXT Household income at or below 50% of the poverty level; ~2/3 pushed out of high school by the 10th grade (the majority before getting pregnant). Intimate partner and gang violence, housing and food insecurity. Highest teen birth rate in the state (86.3 per 1000 in 2010). Latina teen birth rates (99.3 per 1000) are above the national average and almost three times higher than white teen birth rates (36 per 1000). www.carecenter.org UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 9. RESEARCH QUESTIONS In what ways do young parents link social memories, structural violence, and lived experiences with sexual practices in their personal narratives? How do these linkages, and the way participants negotiate dominating discourses about “fit” parenting, shape sexual practice dialogues between them and their children? How do digital stories have the capacity to transform youth subjectivities, public conversations and policies surrounding sexuality, health, rights, and justice? UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 10. DIGITAL STORYTELLING: OVERVIEW UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM Disseminate Implement Perspective Goal Description Identify which persepective the story will be told through Description Distribution of story Description Identify why the story matters Description Story creation
- 11. DIGITAL STORYTELLING: HEAR OUR STORIES Digital stories as new “sense making” objects—created by young parenting women for reframing the conversation on teen parenting and their families. Four, 4-day workshops were organized and held at The Care Center, August-November 2013. 31 students participated. Storytellers were supported to create a short digital story that uses their voice, imagery, and sometimes sound to express a story they wanted to tell. Challenge notion of what constitutes social science knowledge (subjugated vs. erudite knowledge). Narrative shock to a tyrannical regime of “truth.” UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 12. DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROCESS Orientation 7 Elements Script writing Story circle Voice over Rough edits UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 13. DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROCESS CONTINUED Rough edits Final edits Workshop airing Public airing UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 14. SCRIPT WRITING Typing scripts after story circle UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 17. CARMEN’S STORY "Bringing a baby into this world isn't about age or money … It's about love.It's about being the best mommy. “ ” UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 18. “The ultimate goal of the program is to shift conversations about family making, sexuality, health, and rights across generations.” How can stories be used to focus more productively and supportively on the “issue” of teen pregnancy and parenting as it’s lived and realized by young parents and their families? STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 19. Teen pregnancy is often covered in the media, but not TEEN PARENTING. Addressing the shame and stigma often used as a teen pregnancy prevention tactic.. Elevating young parenting voices. STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 20. United Way campaign strategy in Milwaukee. Assumption that the “ends justify the means” via the teen shaming method. Reaching out directly to reporter. UNITED WAY ADS (MILWAUKEE) UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM
- 21. THE HUFFINGTON POST UMASS.EDU/HEAROURSTORIES CAMINOPR.COM Opinion pieces to respond to current media conversations.
- 24. #YTHLive @Eyy_Mickey @Hear_OurStories ALINE GUBRIUMMICKEY MARTINEZ THANK YOU! mmartinez@caminopr.com agubrium@schoolph.umass.edu linkedin.com/in/mickeymartinez1 @CaminoPR FB.com/HearOurStories1 linkedin.com/pub/aline-gubrium/51/32a/119
Editor's Notes
- ALINE Parenting teens often face deep obstacles such as poverty and lack of opportunity; however, their needs and realities are virtually invisible in adolescent sexual health efforts except when they are stigmatized as a cautionary tale. By “diasporic,” here we prioritize uprooted young parenting Latinas, whose material conditions and cultural worlds have placed them in tenuous positions, both socially constructed and experientially embodied. Existing programs and policies focused on these women often fail to use relevant local knowledge and rarely involve them in messaging efforts. We aim to transform assumptions about young parenting Latinas through digital storytelling, to recalibrate the conversation on young motherhood and sexuality, health, and rights across generations. Engagement across all three areas: Research Digital Storytelling Workshops Collection and analysis of ethnographic data, interviews, codebook development, coding, dissemination of stories and findings Training Ford Fellows, interns, DST workshop, tailored curriculum for graduate students, internships/training/mentoring, publications Strategic Communication Strategic outreach, partners Support pregnant and parenting women at The Care Center to gain leadership and advocacy skills through sponsored trainings, meetings, workshops and conferences (WOAA)
- ALINE Our common goal is to deliberately shift the public discourse about young mothers and to redress unsupportive policies directed at marginalized young people. The dominant discourse around teen motherhood pivots on shame. This bullying tactic exacerbates rather than reduces inequity. Our research exposes how shame tactics backfire. They dehumanize teens and render invisible structural vulnerabilities. Finding a way to message around our research findings is challenging given the fact that it is taboo to talk about teen parenting in any way other than to prevent it. To suggest another way is to be seen as pushing or romanticizing teen pregnancy and parenting, or to be labeled as anti-abortion. Our messaging is about carving out a “third-way” strategy—to humanize teen mothers. In other words, we strive to promote a reproductive justice stance that puts the needs of young families front and center.
- ALINE Popular messaging that reinforces stigma and shame
- ALINE: Shaming is a limitation on our ability to promote health and wellness. Informs circulating discourses on teen pregnancy and parenting. According to social-psych definition: Shaming is supposed to work as a socially cohesive mechanism, it’s about self-policing. Trying to make other group members behave like the collective. “Shaming is a psychic scar that refuses to heal, that is always with you” (Ho et al., 2004). http://htl.li/IlEWr To the controversial article where we are cited
- ALINE local/regional/national A key challenge in this project is to develop a strategic communication strategy that can 1) “facilitate links between project participants and materials produced to powerful and/or supportive outsiders, and 2) to persuade these people to take the storytellers’ needs seriously (Campbell and Scott, 2013, 182). Our partners were chosen to form “strategic alliances” (after Spivak, 1988)—providing significant assistance to the storytellers and project to achieve their goals (Campbell and Scott, 2013, p. 182).
- ALINE The Care Center: An alternative, GED prep program for pregnant and parenting teens (age 16-21), and their children. My history working there. Demographics: Predominantly Latina students; household income at or below 50% of the poverty level; ~2/3 pushed out of high school by the 10th grade (the majority before getting pregnant). Challenging personal histories: Intimate partner and gang violence; home and food insecurity, among others
- ALINE Stories as narrative exemplars responding to research questions. Structural violence “refers to the invisible ‘social machinery’ of social inequality and oppression (after Farmer, 2004) that reproduces pathogenic social relations of exclusion and marginalization via ideologies and stigmas attendant on race, class, caste, sex, and other invidious distinctions. [It] erases the history and consciousness of the social origins of poverty, sickness, hunger, and premature deaths[and I’d add here, premature births] so that they are simply taken for granted and naturalized so that no one is held accountable except, perhaps, the poor themselves. Structural violence is violence that is permissable, even encouraged…. Violence is perhaps best thought of in terms of a continuum comprising a multitude of ‘small wars and invisible genocides’ conducted in the normative social spaces of schools, clinics, streets, court rooms, jails and prisons, [the list goes on]” (Scheper-Hughes, 2004, p. 14) “Fit” parenting Shifting public conversations: How can these stories and surrounding material be used to create a “narrative jolt,” an “aligning moment,” “[to create] a pause in the scripts of practitioners [(i.e. social service and healthcare) [and policy makers]” and focus more productively on the “issue” of teen pregnancy and parenting as it is more fully contextualized? (Sharf, Harter, Yamasaki, and Haidet, 2011, p. 46).
- Mickey (Digital story overview will be brief and not specific to Hear Our Stories. The craft/tool itself) Intro in to digital storytelling — the tool itself Process and product Learn by doing Then after there is a product to disseminate.
- Aline In the Ford proposal, we wrote that “As ‘sensemaking’ intimate objects, digital stories will serve as transformative artifacts of understanding, pushing the production of social science knowledge—and just what constitutes this knowledge—in new directions. 100 percent of participants who started a story, finished a story!
- Part 1. ALINE We were interested in using digital storytelling as it might provide a “narrative framework…that provides] voice to individuals who are disenfranchised…and offers opportunities for ‘representing participants in ways that challenge social conventions’” (Sharf, Harter, Yamasaki, and Haidet, 2011, p. 45). Also saw the digital storytelling workshop and accompanying organizing work as potentially providing a “counter public” space for storytellers: “safe separate spaces in which marginalized groups can retreat to develop and ‘rehearse’ the types of critical arguments they will eventually take into the dominant public sphere to challenge the power of dominant groups and demand their share of symbolic and material social power” (Campbell and Scott, 2013, p. 181).
- Part 2. ALINE We were interested in using digital storytelling as it might provide a “narrative framework…that provides] voice to individuals who are disenfranchised…and offers opportunities for ‘representing participants in ways that challenge social conventions’” (Sharf, Harter, Yamasaki, and Haidet, 2011, p. 45). Also saw the digital storytelling workshop and accompanying organizing work as potentially providing a “counter public” space for storytellers: “safe separate spaces in which marginalized groups can retreat to develop and ‘rehearse’ the types of critical arguments they will eventually take into the dominant public sphere to challenge the power of dominant groups and demand their share of symbolic and material social power” (Campbell and Scott, 2013, p. 181).
- ALINE Vanessa Pabon, figured here, was the co-facilitator in the DST workshop. She leads the Latino Youth Media Institute at WGBY and has done a lot of community-based organizing and health promotion work using digital storytelling. She will also work with us on the NIH project.
- SHOW: Carmen’s story (Mickey to embed video here) https://www.umass.edu/hearourstories/people/carmen Show the video, and then post discuss the perceived stigma Carmen faced, using audience call out of reaction words to stimulate discussion.
- SHOW: Carmen’s story (Mickey to embed video here) https://www.umass.edu/hearourstories/people/carmen Show the video, and then post discuss the perceived stigma Carmen faced, using audience call out of reaction words to stimulate discussion.
- V2 of Carmen’s story for review.
- Strategic Comms UMASS: Blaming young parents—unpacking issues and seeing connections between them. Big difference between connections and causes. Supporting young people, including young parents (including fathers) and families. Questioning what it means to tell young people that they have choices (mostly around pregnancy prevention) instead of focusing on a broader, vision that supports young people and their communities. Community organizing rather than punitive prevention model. Innovative Messaged Effective Researched Develop strategic messaging – to be used in on/off camera interviews. Research – to determine where/when to insert clients to the media landscape. Communcation to reporters
- Strategic Comms Camino: (MM to weigh in here on the strategic comms from the Camino angle) (Will insert image that speaks to this slide) 1.Teen pregnancy is covered in the media, but not “teen/young parenting.” Once they have had a child, the conversation seems to disappear. “young parenting mothers” is a term rarely used, and general audience doesn’t connect that to ‘teen parents’ By omitting those voices, we devalue them. Limiting the potential of teen parents – devalues what they contribute after they have had a child as a teen. . 2. Addressing the shame and stigma used when talking about teen parenting practices. If we talk about teen pregnancy in ads/media, that ok and lets continue to do that, but only if that is by also talking about contraception info, health access, etc. Instead of the blatant shaming tactics, where we provide no materials/resources for young parents. 3. Elevate young parenting voices(Transition to next slide on United Way) Milwaukee United Way. General: Researching current media narratives Using the media to remove (identifying problematic campaigns in the media, then using the voices of teen to reshape the narrative. Elevating voices of young parents within the media (opinion piece ,thought pieces.) CNN ireport
- MM to discuss the United Way campaign (Milwaukee) here in the strategic comms area. From the Camino angle. Milwaukee United Way. http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/150052915.html Op-ed:http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/new-milwaukee-teen-pregnancy-prevention-campaign-is-misguided-cruel-b99430708z1-289486121.html Old youtube on past campaigns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE7j4JD7a8E The writer/people involved assumed that the ends justify the means via the teen shaming method. Asked teens, “would these makes ads make you think twice about being a teen parent.” Our rebuttal: When you asked teens about the effectiveness of the ads. You did not ask anyone who is a teen parent. The author of the piece had an “aha” moment, realizing the skewed reporting. In the future would be mindful of asking both teens and teen parents. Using the media to remove (identifying problematic campaigns in the media, then using the voices of teen to reshape the narrative.
- MICKEY “Venezuela's Pregnant Mannequins Are Nothing But a Shaming Tactic” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aline-gubrium/venezuelas-pregnant-manne_b_6264386.html Strategic tactic is to reframe these narratives through opinion pieces, via an op-ed (500-1000 words), bigger opp to develop message/letter to the editor LTE (short/concise way to reframe 150-175words ). Using opinion pieces (op-ed) to respond to something that is currently in the media conversation. Young school girls as mannequins, with pregnancy belies. Perfect time for Umass to respond and lend voice on how this is a stigmatizing message (reinforced) to those that are young and become pregnant. An effective campaign doesn’t say “you don’t want to be this. This is how to you can prevent.
- MICKEY Elevating voices of young parents within the media (opinion piece ,thought pieces.) CNN ireport http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-1229996?ref=feeds/latest Discuss using CNN ireport as an avenue to lift up HOS voices. Pull FB post stats Pull and include any good rewteets Discuss strategy. Educate on digital storytelling lens here. Also look at the long game, cant change the national convo overnight, These stories provide a platform to weigh in on other, more broad themes are established in the media. Camino traditional media/social media strategies being interconnected. Helped promote it also via social media to reach a greater audience. Renewed focus from CNN going forward on future projects. Social strategy: (Could be an additional slide on social strategy) Tactics that Camino employs: Social media calendars/drafted for approval. Divide between social and traditional media (earned media) Distinction between the two is disappearing rapidly. Going to these social sources to connect with reporters and news consumers. Due to the way that news is passed through social media. These two focuses need to be married together to elevate voices. Social media sharing has allowed for stories to have a greater reach. Focus on the potential of sharing. Using the #hashtags like #noteenshame (NATASHA VIANNA) Reaching the audience that is not aware of your project. In the future, as a more robust social media program is developed. WE would want reporters to see these social platforms as a resource to young parenting information, advocates, programs, education, health care, etc.
- MICKEY Hear Our Stories web overview: Creating a home (vibrant) where these stories are housed. The language on the site is free of stigma/shame. Showing/providing an academic connection to the work For ex: Sometimes media invalidates/questions material around young parenting advocacy, but information within an academic setting (.edu) tends to validated the messaging and lend credibility. Provides reassurance to a reader/audience. Thought went in to even the writing of the descriptions of the H.O.S videos on the site — written by Erika. Written in a way that would invite others to want to read more/watch the videos (whet their appetite) but not giving it all away in the first sentence. Also being mindful of not preventing the young mothers from telling their own story. Giving the video an opportunity to speak for itself.