Psychosocial Support Through Skateboarding: Photo Novella With Displaced Youth in Greece

Abstract

Displaced youth have a need for and a right to humanitarian aid that includes more comprehensive supports for their psychosocial well-being. Funding for humanitarian aid has reached record highs in recent years, but financial and organizational support for relief continue to lag behind when it comes to addressing the full spectrum of a young displaced person’s rights and needs. This qualitative, participatory research focuses on six young displaced people and their experiences at Free Movement Skateboarding (FMS), an Athens-based social skateboard project that addresses displacement through sport and play-based interventions. Participants of the study completed activities in an adapted version of the photovoice method, describing and documenting their experiences on the board and in the skatepark-classroom environment at FMS. Displacement is a macro level issue impacting young people at a micro level with regards to their psychosocial well-being. This study offers a view into FMS and the psychosocially supportive programming that is working to address the impact of displacement on young people.