ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on research of ethnic minority communities living in a small geographical location in the United Kingdom, with a reputation for gun crime, gang-related violence and drugs. It is written by a researcher who works in urban communities from a social action participatory research perspective using video as a research tool. The focus of this approach is on the ‘voice’ of young people and how this can be articulated through making their own films about their everyday lives and concerns. The work with video has been developed over many years on a diverse range of research projects. In each project, video has been used slightly differently depending on the objectives of the research and the type of users it aimed to engage. Each piece of research though has a common aim, to legitimate a range of ‘voices’ through creating a series of spaces for critical dialogue and action. To do this, video is used as a community consultation tool drawing on Melucci’s (1989) approach to exploring group self – representation, and collective and individual identity.
