Evaluating the Zimiseleni researchers' project: participatory research as intervention with 'hard-to-reach' boys

This article describes the Zimiseleni project that works with 'hard-to-reach' boys in an urban settlement of Johannesburg, South Africa called Kathorus. The Zimiseleni group is made up of 15 boys who have been referred to the Ekupholeni Mental Health Centre because of behavioural problems. All the boys live in extreme poverty, most are involved in crime ranging from petty activities to rape and gang involvement. Some are involved in substance abuse.The 15 boys were asked to take photographs that illustrated the 'lives of boys in Kathorus' as part of a research project that the organisers' hoped would also develop into a therapeutic intervention. The authors give an accessible account of the project and the ways in which it fulfilled and failed to fulfil its aims.