Neo-Liberal Capitalism and the War on Young People: Growing Up with the Illusion of Choice and the Ambivalence of Freedom

2020 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-104
Author(s):  
Halima Krausen

In our plural society, interfaith marriages and multicultural families have become a new normal and are either considered problematic for the religious communities or welcomed as a contribution to a secular and more peaceful world. In the course of my work with European Muslims, I could accompany such families through a few generations. In this article, I am going to outline some typical challenges and crises in such relationships and their effects on young people growing up in mixed families, adding my observations of how they can be dealt with. Ultimately, there is a chance that, through dialogue, it provides a meaningful learning environment that prepares young people for the diverse reality of the world today.


2021 ◽  
pp. 003802612110162
Author(s):  
Nicholas Hookway ◽  
Dan Woodman

Today’s young people (youth and young adults) are routinely understood in generational terms, constructed as narcissistic and selfish in comparison with their predecessors. Despite announcements of a weakening commitment to values of kindness and generosity, there is little empirical research that examines these trends. The Australian Survey of Social Attitudes shows that young people are more likely to be kind but are less likely to think most Australians are kind. This article investigates this tension using focus groups with Australians of different ages (corresponding to major generational groupings) and drawing on the sociology of generations. To differentiate between generation, period and age/life-cycle effects requires longitudinal methods. However, these qualitative data suggest that a ‘generationalist’ discourse of young people as narcissistic is powerful in Australia and that young people are both internalising and challenging this framing. They appear to be responding to common experiences of growing up with the social and economic uncertainties of an ‘until-further-notice’ world and express strong support for values of kindness and openness to difference.


2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 176-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Rogers

This article presents findings from research into how young people growing up in foster care in the UK manage the relationships in their social networks and gain access to social capital. It is a concept that highlights the value of relationships and is relevant to young people in care as they have usually experienced disruptions to their social and family life. Qualitative methods were used and the findings show that despite experiencing disruption to their social networks, the young people demonstrated that they were able to maintain access to their social capital. They achieved this in two ways. Firstly, they preserved their relationships, often through what can be seen as ordinary practices but in the extraordinary context of being in foster care. Secondly, they engaged in creative practices of memorialisation to preserve relationships that had ended or had been significantly impaired due to their experience of separation and movement. The article highlights implications for policy and practice, including the need to recognise the value of young people’s personal possessions. Furthermore, it stresses the need to support them to maintain their relationships across their networks as this facilitates their access to social capital.


2020 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
I. Mallik ◽  
T. Pasvol ◽  
G. Frize ◽  
S. Ayres ◽  
A. Barrera ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Increasing numbers of children with perinatally acquired HIV (PaHIV) are transitioning into adult care. People living with behaviourally acquired HIV are known to be at more risk of psychosis than uninfected peers. Young adults living with PaHIV face numerous risk factors; biological: lifelong exposure to a neurotrophic virus, antiretroviral medication and immune dysfunction during brain development, and environmental; social deprivation, ethnicity-related discrimination, and migration-related issues. To date, there is little published data on the prevalence of psychotic illness in young people growing up with PaHIV. Methods We conducted a retrospective case note review of all individuals with PaHIV aged over 18 years registered for follow up at a dedicated clinic in the UK (n = 184). Results In total, 12/184 (6.5%), median age 23 years (interquartile range 21–26), had experienced at least one psychotic episode. The presentation and course of the psychotic episodes experienced by our cohort varied from short-lived symptoms to long term illness and nine (75%) appear to have developed a severe and enduring mental illness requiring long term care. Conclusion The prevalence of psychosis in our cohort was clearly above the lifetime prevalence of psychosis in UK individuals aged 16–34 years, which has been reported to be 0.5–1.0%. This highlights the importance of clinical vigilance regarding the mental health of young people growing up with PaHIV and the need to integrate direct access to mental health services within the HIV centres providing medical care.


Sociologija ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sladjana Dragisic-Labas ◽  
Milana Ljubicic

In this paper we explore the relationship between financial and residential independence of young people and some aspects of their psychological separation from parents. Namely, the adequate psychological separation of the youth from their parents is affected by the characteristics of family dynamics as a whole, by family narratives, and also by the ecosystem conditions (opportunities) for the financial and housing independence from parents. In order to examine these findings, which have been confirmed almost without exception in the foreign literature, we bring young people who live with their parents into the focus of this study, comparing them with their peers who have become independent in this respect. The analysis included a total of 1627 respondents aged 19-35 years, 909 of whom lived with their parents. We were interested in whether there were any significant differences in terms of statistics between these two diverse housing categories of respondents, considering material possibilities of the physical separation and some aspects of psychological separation from parents. These are: emotional, conflicting, and functional independence, and lack of privacy in the family. We obtained the following findings: there are clear differences in some aspects of psychological separation among those young people who continue living at their parents' home and those who chose (had a possibility of) physical separation. These findings must be interpreted from a broader, ecosystem perspective, in anticipation of the possible implications of the overall (non)independence of young people for their life outcomes.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leanne Calvert

Until the late nineteenth century, apprenticeship was the main way in which young people were trained in crafts and trades. Given that most apprenticeship terms lasted approximately seven years, young people could expect to spend a large part of their youth in service to another. Apprenticeship therefore coincided with an important phase in the life cycle of many young men (and women) during this period. A study of apprenticeship not only tells us how young people learned the skills with which they made their future living, it also casts light on the process of ‘growing up’. However, we still know little about the everyday lives of apprentices, their relationships with their masters, and how young people themselves understood the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Drawing largely on the diary of John Tennent (1772–1813), a grocer’s apprentice who kept a record of his time spent in service, this article aims to broaden our understanding of these themes in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Ireland. It demonstrates that, for young middle-class men like Tennent, apprenticeship played a key role in the transition from boy to manhood.


2020 ◽  
pp. 135910452096450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iona Lewis-Smith ◽  
Laura Pass ◽  
Shirley Reynolds

An important component of some psychological therapies is the use of clients’ values to motivate behaviour change. Values are understood to be developed during childhood and adolescence but there has been limited exploration of how young people experience values and their function across contexts. This study aimed to explore adolescents’ understanding of the concept of ‘values’ and to elicit their experiences of values. Semi-structured, individual interviews were conducted with 11 adolescents aged 12–17 years. Thematic analysis was used to identify themes. Young people were readily able to discuss the meaning of ‘values’ and their own personal values. Three main themes were identified: (1) what values are (in general, and specific to themselves), (2) where values come from (relationships, education, growing up), and (3) why values are important (prioritising/decision making, reflecting on values is helpful). The adolescents in this study demonstrated an in-depth understanding of the meaning, origins and functions of values. The results suggest young people may welcome and benefit from opportunities to discuss their values, including in therapy.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document