Exploring racial identities through participatory visual and ethnographic methods: (Re)presenting the identities of ethnic minority youth in Hong Kong

There is increasing research attention to the integration of ethnic minority youth in Hong Kong. Within this attention lies an interest in how these young people make sense of their identities in relation to their schooling experiences. From a qualitative methodological viewpoint, researchers’ positionalities, including their cultural background and scholarly motivations, have implications on the ways in which they (re)present their findings. Using the axes of insider and outsider, we reflect on and compare how we have approached two studies with ethnic minority youth in Hong Kong. We discuss the potential affordances and tensions of cultural insider and outsider roles in our research to highlight the cultural dynamics in our interactions with our participants. As we advance dialogue on how researchers approach their work through their own cultural positionalities, we offer a nuanced account of the complexities surrounding the ‘making’ of ethnic minority young people’s identities in Hong Kong.     

‘Just choose the easy option’: students talk about alcohol use and social influence

Previous research into young people’s drinking behaviour has studied how social practices influence their actions and how they negotiate drinking-related identities. Here, adopting the perspective of discursive psychology we examine how, for young people, social influences are bound up with issues of drinking and of identity. We conducted 19 focus groups with undergraduate students in Australia aged between 18 and 24 years. Thematic analysis of participants’ accounts for why they drink or do not drink was used to identify passages of talk that referred to social influence, paying particular attention to terms such as ‘pressure’ and ‘choice’. These passages were then analysed in fine-grained detail, using discourse analysis, to study how participants accounted for social influence. Participants treated their behaviour as accountable and produced three forms of account that: (1) minimised the choice available to them, (2) explained drinking as culture and (3) described resisting peer pressure. They also negotiated gendered social dynamics related to drinking. These forms of account allowed the participants to avoid individual responsibility for drinking or not drinking. These findings demonstrate that the effects of social influence on young people’s drinking behaviour cannot be assumed, as social influence itself becomes negotiable within local contexts of talk about drinking.     

‘Cruel and unusual punishment’: an inter-jurisdictional study of the criminalisation of young people with complex support needs

Although several criminologists and social scientists have drawn attention to the high rates of mental and cognitive disability amongst populations of young people embroiled in youth justice systems, less attention has been paid to the ways in which young people with disability are disproportionately exposed to processes of criminalisation and how the same processes serve to further disable them. In this paper, we aim to make a contribution towards filling this gap by drawing upon qualitative findings from the Comparative Youth Penality Project – an empirical inter-jurisdictional study of youth justice and penality in England and Wales and in four Australian states. We build on, integrate and extend theoretical perspectives from critical disability studies and from critical criminology to examine the presence of, and responses to, socio-economically disadvantaged young people with multiple disabilities (complex support needs) in youth justice systems in our selected jurisdictions. Four key findings emerge from our research pertaining to: (i) the criminalisation of disability and disadvantage; (ii) the management of children and young people with disabilities by youth justice agencies; (iii) the significance of early and holistic responses for children and young people with complex support needs; and (iv) the inadequate nature of community based support.     

‘Sperm Milkshakes with Poo Sprinkles’: The Challenges of Identifying Family Meals Practices through an Online Survey with Adolescents

This article contributes to a long‐overdue discussion about research with adolescents. While young people are now recognised as competent and reliable participants, there are particular difficulties associated with using adolescents as respondents. Furthermore, it is rare for young people’s reactions to the research process to be heard. This article reports on some of the methodological challenges faced in designing and administering a Web‐based survey to 15‐year‐old school students in Perth, Western Australia, in an attempt to gain insight into meals practices and beliefs among adolescents and their families. Using empirical data, we discuss issues concerning the competence of adolescents to participate in social research. We conclude that using a Web‐based survey actively facilitates high levels of adolescent engagement in the research process, allowing them to be both subject and object of the research.     

Young people and social networking sites: exploring the views and training opportunities of CAMHS social workers in Ireland

ABSTRACT

Social Networking Sites (SNS) (e.g. Facebook, Instagram) have become a fundamental part of the daily lives of many young people. SNS engagement has been associated with a number of risks and benefits, some of which are particularly relevant to young people who access child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). Consequently, understanding how and why young people engage with SNS, and the associated risks and benefits, may become an increasingly important part of CAMHS social work.

This small-scale study (n = 15) utilised an online survey to explore the importance that a sample of Irish CAMHS social workers attribute to maintaining an awareness of how young people use SNS, whether they, in their professional lives, have been offered the opportunity to learn about SNS engagement among young people, and whether they have taken it upon themselves to learn about this topic.

Findings suggest that participants consider an understanding of SNS to be an important part of CAMHS practice. However, participants report that they do not feel sufficiently aware of SNS trends among young people, suggesting that there is scope for SNS-focused training/learning opportunities among this sample of CAMHS social workers. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are outlined.     

Questions of process in participant-generated visual methodologies

There is an increasing literature on visual methodologies in which images are generated by participants as part of the research, as distinct from the analysis of existing images or images taken by the researcher. Although there are growing numbers of publications that present frameworks for analysing images and their meaning, this is an area requiring further deliberation and consolidation. Our contribution is to give serious attention to the processes of image production in participant-generated visual methodologies. We examine methodological and ethical considerations that arise before, during and after image production. Our work is in health research and we focus specifically on two methods: first, a combination of photovoice and photo-elicitation, in particular with young people; and second, drawings as research method. Based on examples using these two methods, we pose questions of process for image production and submit this for interrogation for reasons of methodological, analytical and ethical rigour.     

Informed Consent with Children and Young People in Social Research: Is There Scope for Innovation?

Over 20 years of research has enhanced our understanding about the methodological and ethical benefits and challenges of involving children and young people in research. Concurrently, the increasing bureaucratisation of research ethics governance within UK universities has reified expectations about the methods used to gain informed consent for research participation. This paper explores how social researchers in the UK are navigating this tension and whether there is any scope for innovation through the use of technologies in how children and young people provide informed consent to take part in research. We conclude there is a need for the co‐creation of research information with children and young people and greater transparency by sharing creative solutions.     

“To get the word out”: LGBTQ+ Young adults’ motivations for participating in qualitative research studies

Understanding why socially marginalized individuals, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ+) people, participate in research can improve qualitative research designs, as well as social services and policies. In providing a participant-centered foundation, we interviewed 65 LGBTQ+ young adults and asked “Why are certain LGBTQ+ young adults motivated to engage in qualitative social science studies?” Many LGBTQ+ young people said they were committed to enacting social change and promoting advocacy. Participants also highlighted supporting scientific research and knowledge production. Finally, LGBTQ?+ participants engaged with research to introspectively analyze their identity development processes. These findings can facilitate access to socially vulnerable and underrepresented groups through a methodological focus on participant benefits.     

On being ‘in the field’: practice,progress and problems in research with young people in rural areas

Alongside growing research interest in the lifestyles of young people has come recognition of the need for ethical codes of conduct to protect children and young people from exploitation. While many academic papers provide valuable guidelines for researchers, little consideration has been given to how methodological issues are actually played out in practice. In particular, the practicalities of fulfilling methodological obligations whilst at the same time managing often challenging research situations is elided. In this paper I foreground how methodological considerations impact upon research with both individuals and groups of young people in the countryside.     

Using metaphor and montage to analyse and synthesise diverse qualitative data: exploring the local worlds of ‘early school leavers’

Abstract

Growing interest in mixed method approaches to social research, alongside calls to expand methodological toolboxes to include the use of visual, mobile, sensory and observational methods, are generating diverse forms of research data that represent a range of ways of knowing. We discuss a study that used multiple methods to explore the circumstances of ‘early school leavers’ and show how we utilised the metaphor of pinboard logic and techniques of montage to guide the analysis, synthesis and interpretation of hetergeneous data. Pinboard logic enabled us to frame, assemble and contextualise data for analysis and interpretation, while montage suggests how these various ‘bits’ of data can be linked to develop insights into complex social scenarios. These analytic strategies accommodated the diverse expressive practices that young people used to describe their experiences, and allowed us to explore the varied circumstances associated with young people disengaging from educational opportunities.     

Race scholarship “with,by, and for” children: How critical youth studies can inform research on race

Children's perspectives on race and their own racialized experiences are often overlooked in traditional social scientific race scholarship. From psychological and child development studies of racial identity formation, to social psychological survey research on children's racial attitudes, to sociological research conducted on children in order to quantify racially disproportionate child outcomes, the unique perspectives of young people are often marginalized. I explore some of the key themes in existing sociological and psychological research involving race and young people and demonstrate the important contributions of this expansive body of scholarship but also highlight limitations. I argue that when it comes specifically to the sociological study of young people and race, much can be learned from an emerging field known as “critical youth studies.” Further, I argue that more research on race that, as Kate Telleczek (2014, p. 16) describes, is “with, by, and for” young people, grounded in the epistemological and methodological tenants of critical youth studies, can lead to new sociological understandings of race and childhood, serve to inform public policies and practices intended to improve children's lives, and provide a platform for young people to express their own concerns and ideas about the racialized society in which they live.     

‘Did You See That Guy in the Wheelchair Down the Pub?’ Interactions across Difference in a Public Place

Most research undertaken on interactions between able-bodied people and people with physical disabilities has focused on the way that people with disabilities are de-humanised during the interaction process. Little attention has been given to the possibility that able bodied people are unsure of how to go about interacting with people with disabilities (Soder, 1990). Looking is a complex business. This paper reports a qualitative study of interaction in public places with Elton, a young person coping with cerebral palsy. Participants were observed and filmed in a caféand a public bar. Elton and I were the only participants aware of the camera attached to his head rest. Elton and the other participants used visual symbols to assess approachability, status, ability, attractiveness, and quality of character. The difficulty in each encounter is that it is shaped by people's interpretation of the other, arrived at by their own projections of meaning attached to the 'form' of the body. There were also tensions in the process of looking: in particular, around eye contact, and the desire to avoid appearing to stare.     

“Wish you were here”? Geographies of exclusion: young people,coastal towns and marginality

ABSTRACT

Within youth studies there is a growing body of research that pays attention to the importance of place in shaping young people’s identities, life opportunities and intergenerational relationships [Cuervo, H., and J. Wyn. 2014. “Reflections on the Use of Spatial and Relational Metaphors in Youth Studies.” Journal of Youth Studies 17 (7): 901–915; Farrugia, D. 2014. “Towards a Spatialised Youth Sociology: the Rural and the Urban in Times of Change.” Journal of Youth Studies 17 (3): 293–307; Woodman, D., and J. Wyn. 2015. Youth and Generation: Rethinking Change and Inequality in the Lives of Young People. Sage Publications]. Of critical importance to these discussions is the need to explore notions of ‘belonging’ and social citizenship, interrogating the extent to which differing perceptions and experiences contribute towards variations in the outcomes and life chances of disadvantaged young people. This article draws upon ethnography, participatory arts-based research, and semi-structured interviews (n31) with young people (15–25) who live in a deprived coastal town in the North of England. The research investigated processes of marginalisation and disconnection from the perspectives of young people who were deemed as disengaged, or ‘at risk’ of disengagement, from education, employment or training. The research took place during a time of rapid change and uncertainty as Britain voted to leave the EU. The findings of this study will ‘throw light’ on the how contemporary classed subjectivities are formed, how experiences of inequality and austerity are made sense of, and how, within a turbulent political context, young people negotiate complex transitions to adulthood.     

Unemployed by choice: young creative people and the balancing of responsibilities through strategic self-management

The Danish welfare system inadvertently provides a good opportunity for young creative people to pursue their dreams in creative fields such as art, acting, music while being on unemployment benefits. As Michael, one of the participants, puts it: ‘I consider unemployment benefit entrepreneurial support’. The subversive practice is illegal. This qualitative study investigates how young unemployed people who choose to be unemployed in order to engage in innovative projects in creative fields understand and justify their practice. Analysis of in-depth interviews with six young unemployed persons shows how the understanding and management of responsibility is pivotal in the self-understanding and legitimization of receiving unemployment benefits by choice, not out of need. This creative group reflects the contours of a new type of unemployed that has received very little attention in the research literature. The group challenges the traditional representation of the unemployed and portrays themselves as innovative, competent and able to cope with financial insecurity even though it is psychologically distressing and a risky path to go down. We characterize them as strategic self-managing as they use educational systems and unemployment benefit systems for something entirely different from what they are intended – they use it to create their own artistic life courses. This study tentatively points to a categorization distinguishing between personal, social and societal responsibility by which we can improve our understanding of responsibility in neoliberal contexts.     

‘Man up!’ bullying and resilience within a neoliberal framework

This study investigates perceptions in relation to bullying, with a particular focus on discussions around resilience, drawing on data from focus group interviews with young people (mean age 14 years old), parents and teachers (N?=?40). We view self-conduct and the governance of human behaviour as situated within a neoliberal framework, locating accountability and responsibility within the individual. Our methodological framework consists of a multi-level ‘synthesised’ discourse analysis. Firstly, drawing on discursive psychology, we focus on the interactive accomplishments of talk, such as managing facts, blame and accountability. The second level of discourse analysis focuses on the wider discourses that participants draw on to make sense of themselves, including common sense discourses and ideologies. In their narratives, the participants construct resilience in relation to bullying in terms of individual empowerment, responsibility and ‘manning up’; a skill that can be taught and acquired. Not only that, long-term implications of bullying are negated in favour of a neoliberal approach towards self-responsibility in the here and now. This has implications for strategies in relation to bullying and supporting young people in building resilience. More research is needed to establish key notions in relation to resilience, and the multidimensionality of protective factors in relation to bullying.     

Overcoming the challenges of researching ‘young offenders’: using assisted questionnaires – a research note

This short research note discusses some of the challenges involved when undertaking qualitative research with ‘young offenders’, a neglected area within the methodological literature. By drawing on previous research with ‘young offenders’, the author discusses how the use of traditional face‐to‐face interviews produced a number of research challenges which are specific to the psychosocial, biographical and institutional contexts of this particular population. In attempting to overcome some of these challenges in her current research, the author developed a specific research tool – the assisted questionnaire (AQ) – and the remainder of this article describes how its use with ‘young offenders’ helped to overcome some of the methodological challenges which had earlier been identified.     

'I wanna tell you a story': Exploring the application of vignettes in qualitative research with children and young people

Few methodological papers exist which examine the use of vignettes within qualitative research and more specifically, with children and young people. The paper will briefly discuss the application of vignettes within quantitative and qualitative research traditions derived from the available literature before outlining the major theoretical and methodological issues relating to the use of this technique in social research. Using empirical examples of young people's responses to a selected vignette, we then go on to explore the various benefits of vignettes that can ensue when employing this technique in isolation or as part of a multi-method approach. This discussion concludes with an exploration of how vignettes can be harnessed to engage young people, particularly in the discussion of sensitive topics, whilst enabling them to retain a high level of control over the research process.     

The Researched Opinions on Research: visually impaired people and visual impairment research

In this paper, we describe our research review, commissioned by 'the Gift of Thomas Pocklington', into the opinions of visually impaired people on visual impairment research. We interviewed 37 visually impaired people across Central Region, Scotland. Our findings suggest areas of need for visual impairment research, both concerning what is researched and how it is researched. We make recommendations for future research addressing both resource and methodological issues. We suggest increasing resources for recruiting participants and multimedia dissemination (e.g. audio tape, Braille, Moon). Methods may need to be refined to address difficulties in recruiting participants, and to capture the diversity of strengths and needs of visually impaired people. We make three core recommendations that identify the need for research to: respect people's individuality; be practical and action orientated, and contribute to an empowering and emancipatory research agenda. We conclude by reflecting on our role as community psychologists through examining the ideological position we adopted in this study.     

‘All in all it is just a judgement call’: issues surrounding sexual consent in young people’s heterosexual encounters

In the UK, there has been growing concern about young people’s understanding of sexual consent, with the views of young people themselves often lost in academic and educational policy debates. However, the focus on high rates of sexual violence has meant a lack of attention on the everyday negotiation of consensual heterosexual activity, leading to assumptions being made regarding young people’s lack of understanding of sexual consent. This paper emerges from a wider study of over 500 young people which sought to uncover their understanding of the issues. Drawing on data from workshops and the open text responses to an on-line survey the findings presented in this paper show that the majority of heterosexual young people understood the complexity of sexual consent as an embodied process, which can be difficult to define, talk about or practice uniformly. This complex understanding, in which sexual consent is a continuum rather than a dichotomy, has implications for sexual education initiatives. We argue that it is only by providing a closer understanding of how – within consensual sexual activities – young people understand and enact sexual consent through a range of embodied communication strategies that education surrounding sexual assault will become meaningful.