Visual methods in resilience research: reflections on its utility

The potential of the visual image to foster reflection and to mobilise individuals and communities into action coupled with its capacity to bridge language and cultural divides has made the inclusion of visual methods (VMs) increasingly popular in resilience research as well as in research on sexual violence. In spite of this popularity, VMs are not beyond criticism and there have been calls to scrutinise the efficacy of VMs in research. Our aim, in this article, is to reflect critically on the usefulness of VMs to increase understandings of resilience processes in girls with child sexual abuse histories. We also consider the effectiveness of VMs in initiating social change by following up on audience members who viewed a screening of digital stories that dealt with the CSA experiences of adolescent girls. Our findings suggest that VMs are effective in creating greater awareness of resilience processes but in terms of initiating social change, dissemination of outputs produced through VMs requires greater consideration and clearer guidelines.