Power Sharing and Democratic Decision-Making In Youth Participatory Action Research

Background and Purpose: Young people with foster care experience often navigate instability and marginalization, yet are rarely positioned as decision-makers in research about their lives. While participatory approaches like photovoice aim to elevate youth voice, many projects remain researcher-directed. If social work research is to truly serve democracy, it must move beyond inclusion toward shared power.

This study examines how an intentionally egalitarian youth participatory action research (PAR) structure—where all participants held equal decision-making weight—shaped engagement and group processes. We focus on how youth made collective decisions about research direction, session structure, and a public exhibition. Guiding questions include: How does genuine power-sharing influence engagement, and what conditions support democratic decision-making with marginalized youth?

Methods: This study draws on a photovoice PAR project with six young adults (ages 18–25) with foster care experience, representing diverse racial/ethnic and gender identities. The project was designed around shared governance, with youth collaborating across planning, facilitation, analysis, and dissemination. Data sources included a session transcript capturing a collective vote on exhibition organization, chat logs documenting collaboration, digital Jamboards reflecting co-developed themes, and follow-up interviews exploring participants’ experiences of voice and empowerment. Using an inductive thematic approach, we examined how decisions were enacted in practice, how participants experienced those decision-making moments, and the mechanisms that facilitated democratic decision-making, as well as what supported or constrained equitable participation.

Results: Moments of collective decision-making made power-sharing visible in practice. During exhibition planning, participants were intentionally asked: “Do you prefer to see the images...by individuals...or...organized by themes?” This opened space for discussion and a group vote on how their work would be presented.

These practices increased participants’ investment in the project and allowed them to develop voice. Youth emphasized the importance of having a direct role in decisions that shaped the exhibition and overall direction of the work. Structured opportunities for input—such as voting, open dialogue, and collaborative tools—helped reinforce that each perspective carried equal weight. This sense of ownership extended beyond the project itself, with many team members choosing to participate in the development of a peer-reviewed publication.

Group composition also influenced these dynamics: all but one participant had lived experience in foster care. This shared background fostered trust and openness, supporting more active participation in decision-making. The inclusion of one member without this experience did not disrupt the process, suggesting that clearly structured democratic practices can support collaboration across different lived experiences.

Conclusions and Implications: Findings suggest that meaningful power-sharing in youth PAR requires intentional design, facilitation, and attention to group dynamics. For youth with foster care experience, participating as equal decision-makers can strengthen engagement and deepen their connection to the research process.

For social work, these findings highlight the importance of embedding democratic practices into research design. Creating structures where participants actively shape decisions, not just share perspectives, can better align research with democratic values and produce knowledge that is shaped by, and accountable to, the communities it intends to serve.