The Photovoice Decision Tree: Legal Considerations and Ethical Implications for Photographs and Captions

This article presents a photovoice decision tree that serves as a guide for making lawful and ethical decisions during the portions of the photovoice process that involve photograph selection, caption development, and public display of photographs and captions. Lawful and ethical considerations encompass privacy of person, privacy of place, illegal acts and obscenity, defamation, representation of truth versus actual malice, and opinion versus assertion of fact, but do not address pursuing and obtaining institutional review board approval for photovoice projects and/or other important steps of photovoice projects that are beyond the scope of this article. The decision tree presumes that a comprehensive photo release process was completed with all photovoice participants and collected from any individual captured within a photograph. The decision tree has important implications for research and practice, including movement of photovoice practitioners beyond the required institutional review board approval for research projects to consider lawful and ethical issues associated with photograph selection, caption development, and public display of photographs and captions. This decision tree can serve as a meaningful tool for all photovoice practitioners and participants to guide their lawful and ethical decisions.