3 results
16 - Transformative participation in the lifeworlds of marginalised youth: learning for change
- Edited by Maria Bruselius-Jensen, Aalborg Universitet, Institut for Statskundskab, Ilaria Pitti, Università degli Studi di Siena, E. Kay M. Tisdall, The University of Edinburgh
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- Book:
- Young People's Participation
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 18 December 2021
- Print publication:
- 29 March 2021, pp 275-292
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Summary
This chapter contributes to discourses of youth participation by developing understanding about which forms of participation might make a difference for marginalised young people living in the context of structural inequality. The chapter critically reflects on some of the complexities and limitations currently at play in relation to enhancing the participation of marginalised young people and sets out key elements of a more critical epistemological framework. Drawing on youth participatory action research (YPAR) and critical utopian action research (CUAR), the chapter makes the case for a transformational learning approach to participation that involves learning and change at both an individual level and professional level in interventions with marginalised young people. The chapter is supported by case-study empirical material focusing on one project developed in collaboration with young people engaged in criminal and violent activities in Denmark. This case study provides an opportunity to reflect on the challenges and possibilities of using ‘alternative’, transformative, action-based interpretations of youth participation and empowerment involving social learning rooted in professional encounters with young people's lifeworlds.
Key findings
• Conventional, formalised approaches and interpretations of youth participation are falling short in terms of efficacy and accountability of policy and professional-led responses to youth marginalisation and inequality.
• Participatory action research offers an alternative possibility for transformative work rooted in the everyday lived realities of marginalised young people rather than professional agendas based on normative assumptions of youth.
• Reconstructing interventions using YPAR and CUAR reframes professional relationships with young people in ways that redress power imbalances and engender co-inquiry and mutual reciprocity in relationships of respect.
Participation of marginalised youth: contesting orthodoxies and assumptions
Austerity across Europe in the past decade has exacerbated the plight of large sections of the youth population already experiencing marginalisation and exclusion at the edge of society (Blackman and Rogers, 2017; Davies, 2019). In Europe, the current numbers of young people in the Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) category range from 7% to 24%. At the same time, in the context of post-austerity, inequality has given rise to higher levels of crime, homelessness, poverty and mental health problems for young people in Europe (Horton, 2016) and decreasing levels of participation in education and the labour market (Andersen et al, 2017).
5 - Exploring Young People’s Experiences of Growing up Under COVID-19
- Edited by Helen Kara, Su-Ming Khoo, National University of Ireland, Galway
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- Book:
- Researching in the Age of COVID-19
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 23 March 2021
- Print publication:
- 23 October 2020, pp 58-67
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Summary
Introduction
With many countries still in some form of lockdown, young people stand to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in quite specific ways. Children and young people's voices have been notably absent in media coverage about COVID-19. Measures are being proposed, but often with little consideration of the views and perspectives of young people (Fox, 2020). Research highlights the role and value of children in responding to crisis situations (Ray, 2010; Save the Children, 2015); however, little is known about children and young people's roles specifically in major public health crises such as pandemics. This chapter draws on early lessons from an international longitudinal participatory research project involving young people as co-researchers and experts in their own lives (Thomson, 2008; Abebe, 2009). The project seeks to understand the experiences and realities of young people living under COVID-19 according to their own priorities, concerns and terms of reference and puts forward recommendations for how to promote young people's wellbeing, rights and participation during and after the pandemic. The chapter focuses on the challenges (logistical and ethical) of engaging young people from seven countries in participatory action research while working entirely online. It provides an overview of the research methodology and outlines how young people were recruited to the project. At the time of writing (July 2020), this project is ongoing. Thus, we provide several reflections on our experience of designing an international study online and present a number of emerging findings.
The research approach
In keeping with the values of the research team, the study adopts a child and youth-centred, rights-based approach involving young people documenting and making sense of their own views and experiences while also undertaking their own research projects into their own interests, priorities and concerns. The project is informed and framed by three theoretical influences. First, a whole systems approach to inquiry (Burns, 2007) seeks to understand the dynamic interaction between COVID-19 and young people in terms of multiple layers of contextual influence (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) that play out in children's lived realities – their family, peers, community, socio-structural position, political economy and the virtual world.
6 - Listening to Learn: Enhancing Children and Young people’s participation in a large UK Health Trust
- Edited by Louca-Mai Brady
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- Book:
- Embedding Young People's Participation in Health Services
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 25 February 2021
- Print publication:
- 07 October 2020, pp 157-176
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Summary
Introduction
Involving children and young people in NHS services has become an imperative for Hospital Trusts and given momentum by the Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) initiative and organisations such as National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) INVOLVE. An overriding concern with attempts to ‘involve’ children and young people in health settings has been on seeking their views or advice on matters defined by health professionals and researchers. Yet with a growing ethos towards shared decision-making, co‑production, and developments to the theory and practice of children's participation (Banks et al, 2018; Tisdall, 2013; Percy-Smith, 2018), there is a shift towards more active approaches to children's participation in healthcare settings that recognise the importance of involving children and young people in all phases of the project cycle and in a wider range of contexts. This chapter draws on a collaborative action inquiry project with a UK NHS Hospital Trust to share the experience of developing meaningful and effective opportunities for involving children and young people across the Trust. Different strategies adopted, as well as some of the issues and challenges faced, will be discussed. In particular, the chapter will critically reflect on the significance of participation as patient experience and the challenges of integrating children's participation into organisational cultures and systems. Emphasis is placed on the need for creativity and flexibility in work with children, the critical role of adults as advocates and the importance of integrating a learning ethos into systems and practices across the Trust.
Developing the participation of children and young people in healthcare settings has been slower than in many other sectors such as schools and broader contexts of local governance in local authorities (ECORYS, 2015), in spite of the PPI initiative. Emphasis in involving children and young people has predominantly focused on seeking consultation and advice from children and young people, for example, through the gold standard of young people's research advisory groups (Nuffield Council on Bioethics, 2015; Caldwell and Jarrett, 2018). Children's participation in health settings is primarily about influencing the way in which hospital services are delivered, and in turn experienced, by children and young people.