I live in a politically polarized household. That makes talk of any politics a challenge and 99.9% of the time we have to agree to disagree in order to avoid divorce court. One thing we do agree on is that we need to be informed voters. Many of the campaign advertisements use statistics and information to sway voters in one direction or the other. Unfortunately, the sources of the data are often revealed in very fine print at the bottom of the screen or in a two second flash at the end of the commercial. We, as the viewing public, are then left to do our own research to determine the validity of the claims in the commercials. My husband and I figure that not very many people take the time to do that.
This isn’t to say that all advertising or social programming is aiming to deceive in order to receive support. Quite the contrary. On any given day, I receive at least five emails asking for my time or money to support different causes. Most of these causes (i.e. The American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, The Kennedy Foundation) are proven to put their funds to good use. They are intervening in society to implement change for the betterment of physical health, material communities, and mental health services across the country. Each of these organizations rely on research to further their respective goals. Activist research is research conducted on behalf of a certain entity to collect data that supports continuation of the work being done (The Pennsylvania State University World Campus PSYCH 424 L13 P1, 2015). One entity in particular, Soldiers Who Salsa, has done extensive work in this regard.
Soldiers Who Salsa is a non-profit organization that uses dance therapy to assist soldiers with a variety of issues (i.e. post-traumatic stress disorder, missing limbs, etc.) (Soldiers Who Salsa, 2014). They recognized a need in the community and knew that in order to gain funding for their program, they would need to conduct research. Their board of directors is composed of several retired military personnel as well as physical therapists and professional dance instructors – each of whom contributed their own research to support the benefits they list on their website (www.soldierswhosalsa.org). While the data is not scientific, the researchers have seen the before and after in each participant. They observed improvements both physically and mentally in both the participants and their spouses.
(Ables, 2014)
Obviously, the work they are doing is remarkable and noteworthy. Their non-scientific approach to research does not necessarily invalidate the outcomes. In this case, the testimonials from participants and their families makes the case for Soldiers Who Salsa better than any scientific study could hope to achieve.
I will add that I am proud to personally know the Executive Director of Soldiers Who Salsa. Jennifer Ables is an amazing woman that I have known for almost 30 years (yes, we were children when we met). So in a way, even this blog entry could be considered activist in nature. I’ll take that risk because the work she is doing is essential. Helping our service members find their voices, through their feet, is the least we can do to say “Thank You”.
Ables, J. (2014, May 4). Salsa Therapy for Wounded Warriors. (B. Lawrence, Interviewer)
Soldiers Who Salsa. (2014). Resources and Education. Retrieved from Soldiers Who Salsa: http://www.soldierswhosalsa.org/menu/resources-education
The Pennsylvania State University World Campus PSYCH 424 L13 P1. (2015). Lesson 13: Social Change/Participatory Research. Retrieved from PSYCH 424: Applied Social Psychology: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa15/psych424/001/content/14_lesson/01_page.html
Tags: activist, dance therapy, giving back, making a difference, military, research, salsa, social change, soldiers who salsa, wounded warriors