TruthStory: A study of the empowering elements of a creative storytelling project for gender-diverse people
Suoninen, Heli; Ågren, Minttu (2023)
Suoninen, Heli
Ågren, Minttu
2023
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023121035762
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023121035762
Tiivistelmä
This master’s thesis examines the empowering elements of a creative storytelling project for gender-diverse people. In this research we study which elements of creative activities, group dynamics and facilitation are essential to promote empowerment for gender-diverse people and how to describe and understand them. The research question is: In what ways can a creative project for gender-diverse people enhance participants’ empowerment? The study is a multidisciplinary cooperation, and the researchers are professionals from social and cultural fields.
The TruthStory project was implemented in the spring of 2023, and it consisted of group meetings where the participants created their own stories the way they wanted to tell them. Audio-visual pieces were created from the stories which were presented to the public.
The conceptual framework of this study is based on the theory of empowerment as well as previous studies and theoretical knowledge of how empowerment has previously been promoted through art and various creative activities.
This research was carried out as a qualitative empirical study with a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Data was collected by focus group interview and systematic observation model and analysed by using in vivo coding and qualitative content analysis. In this study special attention was paid to research ethics.
According to the data analysis, the key elements for promoting empowerment were the creation of a safer space and encouraging group interaction. The activities of the facilitators were considered important for creating a safer space. Promoting elements for empowerment were also the importance of creative activities, becoming visible and creating representation and by that transforming discriminatory attitudes. The timeliness of the project in relation to the participant's internal process and the participant's personality were also significant elements in enabling empowerment.
The TruthStory project was implemented in the spring of 2023, and it consisted of group meetings where the participants created their own stories the way they wanted to tell them. Audio-visual pieces were created from the stories which were presented to the public.
The conceptual framework of this study is based on the theory of empowerment as well as previous studies and theoretical knowledge of how empowerment has previously been promoted through art and various creative activities.
This research was carried out as a qualitative empirical study with a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. Data was collected by focus group interview and systematic observation model and analysed by using in vivo coding and qualitative content analysis. In this study special attention was paid to research ethics.
According to the data analysis, the key elements for promoting empowerment were the creation of a safer space and encouraging group interaction. The activities of the facilitators were considered important for creating a safer space. Promoting elements for empowerment were also the importance of creative activities, becoming visible and creating representation and by that transforming discriminatory attitudes. The timeliness of the project in relation to the participant's internal process and the participant's personality were also significant elements in enabling empowerment.