Doing Sensitive and Emotionally Demanding Participatory Research (EDRN x PRN@TUoS)

In this session, we'll hear from researchers about their experiences of doing participatory research on sensitive and emotionally demanding topics.  

The event will involve two informal talks, a Q&A discussion, and opportunities to reflect in small groups on your own experiences of doing participatory, sensitive research. 

Issues we hope to consider together in the workshop include: 

• What is it like for peer/community researchers to do emotionally demanding research?
• What is the role of academic researchers in supporting peer/community researchers where the research is emotionally demanding?
• Where are the gaps in institutional support and what resources would be helpful?  

This workshop is a collaboration between the Participatory Research Network (PRN@TUoS) and the Emotionally Demanding Research Network (EDRN) at The University of Sheffield.

Sign up by 5th May.

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Access details

The Cornerstone is a flat-floored room and there are accessible and gender-neutral toilets nearby.  For further details about the building, including directions visit: AccessAble: The Wave.

We'll have a 10 minute break after the first hour of the workshop. There will also be light refreshments available from 12.45pm (an assortment of teas, coffee and biscuits) .  

Talks & speakers

Talk 1: Co-production with Care – Emotional Labour in Research with Women Facing Pre-Birth Assessments and Substance Use

Speakers: Dr. Shirley Lewis & Danica Darley

This session introduces an upcoming NIHR-funded study exploring how pre-birth assessments are experienced by women who use or are in treatment for substance use during pregnancy in England and Wales. This is part of a larger study that aims to explore the perspectives of social workers involved in these processes, and obtain statistical data on the number of pre-birth assessments involving substance use.

During the session, Shirley and Danica will:

• reflect on the emotionally demanding nature of engaging in participatory and co-produced research on sensitive topics (such as substance use and child protection)
• reflect on co-production during the grant writing process in addition to when the research starts
• explore the emotional labour researchers may navigate when moving between roles (e.g. practitioner and researcher) and the significance of deep listening
• consider the need for supervision and support for researchers undertaking emotionally demanding research
• open up discussion around what effective support structures might look like  

About the speakers

Dr Shirley Lewis is a Research Associate in the School of Allied Health Professions, Nursing and Midwifery. Her research focuses on children and adults who have been affected by involvement with children’s social care including care experienced people, parents who have had a child in care, children in care, and birth and adoptive parents. Shirley is also a registered social worker with work experience in children’s social care. Shirley is working on a Leverhulme funded study ‘Everyday Parenting with Care Experience’, and is the Principal Investigator of the Willow Study, around pre-birth assessments for women who use substances.
 

Danica Darley is a Research Associate at The University of Sheffield on The Willow Study, which is exploring how pre-birth assessments for women who use substances in England and Wales are experienced by women and social workers. Dani’s PhD research examined the experiences of care-experienced young people of child criminal exploitation (CCE) and was co-produced with three young people who had been in the care of the local authority and had experienced CCE. Her research interests include care-experience, child exploitation, women in conflict with the law, relational practice, professional boundaries, lived experience criminology and co-production.

Talk 2: Beyond Data – The Emotional Labour of Arts-Based Methodology in Feminist Research

Speaker: Raj Saghera

In this talk, Raj reflects on the emotional journey of conducting  doctoral research using arts-based methods to implement a methodoloigcal design based on feminist participatory action research principles. The research investigated the lived experiences of a group of Latina high school students and their experiences of their built school environment through walking, mapping, art-creation and sharing. Raj will discuss how the research became a profoundly emotional journey for all involved and how it raised further questions on ethical research, which can be emotionally challenging and surprising.

About the speaker

Raj Saghera is a researcher and teacher specializing in girls’ experiences of school environments. She is completing her PhD in Education at The University of Sheffield with a focus on emotions in research, arts-based methods, and feminist methodologies.