scholarly journals The Liminal Leisure of Disadvantaged Young People in the UK Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Woodrow ◽  
Karenza Moore
Keyword(s):  
Substance Use ◽  
Young People ◽  
Urban Youth ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Virtual Spaces ◽  
Khat Chewing ◽  
Continuity And Change ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

AbstractThe global COVID-19 pandemic has created, exposed and exacerbated inequalities and differences around access to—and experiences and representations of—the physical and virtual spaces of young people’s leisure cultures and practices. Drawing on longstanding themes of continuity and change in youth leisure scholarship, this paper contributes to our understandings of ‘liminal leisure’ as experienced by some young people in the UK before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. To do this, we place primary pre-pandemic research on disadvantaged young people’s leisure spaces and practices in dialogue with secondary data on lockdown and post-lockdown leisure. Subsequently, we argue that existing and emergent forms of youth ‘leisure liminality’ are best understood through the lens of intersectional disadvantages. Specifically, pre-existing intersectional disadvantages are being compounded by disruptions to youth leisure, as the upheaval of the pandemic continues to be differentially experienced. To understand this process, we deploy the concept of liminal leisure spaces used by Swaine et al Leisure Studies 37:4,440-451, (2018) in their ethnography of Khat-chewing among young British Somali urban youth ‘on the margins’. Similarly, our focus is on young people’s management and negotiation of substance use ‘risks’, harms and pleasures when in ‘private-in-public’ leisure spaces. We note that the UK government responses to the pandemic, such as national and regional lockdowns, meant that the leisure liminality of disadvantaged young people pre-pandemic became the experience of young people more generally, with for example the closure of night-time economies (NTEs). Yet despite some temporary convergence, intersectionally disadvantaged young people ‘at leisure’ have been subject to a particularly problematic confluence of criminalisation, exclusion and stigmatisation in COVID-19 times, which will most likely continue into the post-pandemic future.

scholarly journals Children and Young People's Improving Access to Psychological Therapies: inspiring innovation or more of the same?

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sami Timimi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Young People ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
Psychological Therapies ◽  
Common Mental Health Problems ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

SummaryIn 2007 the UK Government announced a substantial expansion of funding for psychological therapies for those presenting with common mental health problems. This ‘Improving Access to Psychological Therapies’ (IAPT) project was widely welcomed, however, evidence backed, economic, and conceptual critiques were voiced from the start and the project remains controversial. In 2011, the UK government announced it was extending the IAPT project to encompass services for children and young people with the aim of ‘transforming’ the way mental health services are delivered to them. Here I critically reflect on the problems associated first with IAPT and then with CYP-IAPT and ponder whether CYP-IAPT is significantly different to the problematic adult IAPT project or more of the same.

scholarly journals Religion, Identity and Radicalisation

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Imran Awan
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Current Rise ◽  
Key Stakeholders ◽  
British Muslims ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

The current rise in the numbers of young British Muslims travelling from the UK to Syria has raised a number of questions about the UK Government’s counter-terrorism strategy and policy. Within the current discourse on radicalisation and Syria, listening to the voices of young British Muslims is crucial, if the UK Government, the police and other key stakeholders are serious about preventing the escalation of young people going out to fight in Syria. This article makes an important contribution to helping us better understand young British Muslims’ perceptions of the crisis in Syria and offers policy makers some thoughts on how best to engage young people in the debate on Syria without demonising them or stereotyping them as ‘suspects’.

scholarly journals Alcohol misuse among young people

2006 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Skuse
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Medical Association ◽  
Alcohol Misuse ◽  
Antisocial Behaviour ◽  
British Medical Association ◽  
The Other ◽  
Health Consequences ◽  
Considerable Controversy ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

Recently, the UK government expressed concern about the rising tide of antisocial behaviour among young people who, in certain areas of the country, were habitually engaging in acts of minor delinquency – often fuelled by drink. On the other hand, legislation was introduced to make it legal for premises that sell alcohol to remain open longer, up to 24 hours a day. This latter arrangement has courted considerable controversy. For example, the British Medical Association commented that any extension to licensing hours requires a programme of research, after its introduction, to look at its health consequences - both acute and chronic.

scholarly journals The Coronavirus Pandemic, Exams Crisis and Classics in Scottish Schools

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (42) ◽  
pp. 55-59
Author(s):  
Alex Imrie
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Education System ◽  
System A ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Secretary Of State ◽  
Prior Achievement ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
The Uk

On 19th March 2020, the Deputy First Minister of Scotland and Cabinet Secretary for Education John Swinney reported to the Scottish Parliament that, in light of the global coronavirus pandemic, schools across Scotland would close from 20th March, mirroring the policy of the UK government announced by the Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson the previous day. As part of this closure, Swinney announced that there would be no examinations set for the 2019-20 session, and that the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) would instead enact a certification model employing coursework, teacher estimates of grades and evidence of prior achievement. In outlining the Scottish Government's plan to Holyrood, the Deputy First Minister declared: ‘It is a measure of the gravity of the challenge we now face that the exams will not go ahead this year. With the support of the wider education system, a credible certification model can be put in place that can command confidence in the absence of the exam diet – to ensure that young people in our schools and colleges who through no fault of their own are unable to sit exams, are not disadvantaged.’ (Scottish Government, 2020).

China will largely abide by Hong Kong handover terms

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Young People ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The City

Significance This case adds to a growing list of incidents, including the abduction of five Hong Kong booksellers by mainland agents in 2015, that feed fears in Hong Kong that Beijing is undermining the autonomy the city was promised when the UK government handed it over to China in 1997. Impacts The United Kingdom is unlikely to escalate disputes over Beijing's adherence to the handover treaty since doing so might backfire. Evidence of China interfering with business in Hong Kong would be far more economically damaging than targeted political repression. Even limited encroachments by Beijing will increase pessimism about the city's long-term future and make young people keener to emigrate.

‘Binge’ drinking devils and moral marginality: young people’s calculated hedonism in the Canterbury night-time economy

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert McPherson
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Young People ◽  
Binge Drinking ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
Media Representations ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Media Construction ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Uk

Robert McPherson presents data from an ethnographic study focused upon young people within the Canterbury night-time economy. He gained access and subsequent immersion into groups of different groups of marginalised young people’s leisure practices. He critically examines the media construction as of ‘binge’ alcohol consumption, and how negative media representations produced what he describes as a discriminatory moral marginality impacting on young people in the UK. His data suggest that young people intentionally manage their levels of intoxication to counter moral marginality, which incorporate aspects of risk, agency and resistance.

“I don’t really like the pub […]”: reflections on young people and pre-loading alcohol

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 58-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adrian Barton ◽  
Kerryn Husk
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
External Control ◽  
Private Sphere ◽  
Drinking Patterns ◽  
Night Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
The Uk

Purpose – Recent research (Barton and Husk, 2012) suggested that in the UK we are seeing a shift from the traditional “pub-club” drinking pattern to a “home-pub-club” pattern. In the latter model often excessive early evening drinking is occurring in the private sphere in the absence of external control, leading to problems when the drinkers enter the public sphere. Moreover, pre-loading has become a key aspect in the drinking patterns of many of the Night Time Economy (NTE) population with around 60-70 per cent of people drinking some alcohol prior to going out. In the previous work (Barton and Husk, 2012) 50 per cent of people were drinking significant quantities of alcohol prior to entering the NTE. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – However, whilst these statistics give a general overview of patterns of drinking, they fail to provide the depth required to uncover potential mechanisms. It is generally assumed that the driving force behind this cultural shift in alcohol use is price. However, the feeling is that this is too simplistic. To explore this, the authors conducted a set of in-depth qualitative interviews with young people to ascertain why pre-loading is such an entrenched aspect of their drinking culture (n=20). Findings – This paper provides the preliminary findings of that research. It shows, amongst other things, that beyond the price factor many young people seemingly need alcohol to cope with the NTE; that they prefer the safety and control of the environment that drinking in the private sphere provides; and that some of them (despite drinking alcohol) simply do not like pubs. Originality/value – The paper adds to the discourse on pre-loading by suggesting richly described underlying mechanisms of action.

From famine to feast as dual diagnosis features in new UK government policy and strategy

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 120-122
Author(s):  
Ian Hamilton
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Dual Diagnosis ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Rapid Review ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Substance Use Problems ◽  
Policy And Strategy ◽  
Uk Government ◽  
The Uk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to outline the latest policy announcements by the UK Government and how they relate to people who have co-occurring mental health and substance use problems. Design/methodology/approach A rapid review was undertaken of policy, strategy and guidance. Findings All three publications are united by their ambition to improve the care and treatment for people who have developed problems with substances and their mental health. The challenge will be to realise these ambitions in an environment where financial and human resources are contracting. Originality/value It is important for clinicians, commissioners of treatment and researchers to be kept informed of policy development and how these initiatives will affect people with mental health and substance use problems.

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