The use of art (e.g. visualized narratives) in social work may stimulate dialogue between community members about family support in their neighbourhood. The Visualized Narratives on Parenting Interactions in the Neighbourhood (VN-PIN) were developed in order to foster this dialogue. The aim of this study was to evaluate the implementation of the VN-PIN in social work practice and to gain insight in mechanisms that stimulate dialogues supported by visualizations. A qualitative process evaluation was conducted to explore the use of the VN-PIN in various urban settings. We observed meetings (N = 14) where the VN-PIN was applied and interviewed professionals and community members (N = 81). The results of this study show that the VN-PIN intervention gives parents a voice and allows them to recognize and reflect on their own parenting behaviour, thereby contributing to mutual exchanges in a supportive community. The conclusion of this study is that the VN-PIN is a useful intervention that social work professionals can use to foster dialogues about parenting within diverse contexts in super-diverse neighbourhoods. The intervention fosters a supportive structure to share experiences of various community members. Future research is needed to further evaluate the experiences and satisfaction of community members with the intervention.
This paper presents the design and long-term study of BiebBeep, a large interactive touchscreen that has been developed with the aim to augment the information and social function of a library. BiebBeep displays user-generated and context-relevant content, such as information about local events and book trailers. The system’s distinctive feature is that people can add information to the screen themselves, such as tweets and Flickr photos, so that the library and its visitors can inform and connect with each other. For more than a year, the BiebBeep system has been iterated and studied in the library. The research approach presented is an exemplar of the study of a public screen in situ for long-term to best meet the demands for its actual use in present and future.
In this study the Vignettes Parenting Interactions in the Neighbourhood (V-PIN) was validated. These vignettes can be used to gain insight into and reflect on interactions in the neighbourhood between parents and nonparental adults. A correlational design (N = 134) was used to assess the reliability (i.e. internal consistency, test-retest), convergent and discriminant validity and relations with background variables of the V-PIN. Reliability (both internal consistency and test-retest) proved good. Positive, significant correlations provided evidence for convergent validity. The measure did not correlate with non-related constructs or background characteristics, which was an indication for discriminant validity. The newly developed measure seems useful to explore the perspectives of nonparental adults in parent-child interactions in neighbourhoods with a wide group of stakeholders with diverse cultural backgrounds and can (complemented with visualisations), be used to stimulate supportive interactions and inclusion in social work practices and the community.
