Why we should think some more. A response to ‘When you’re boxing you don’t think so much’: pugilism,transitional masculinities and criminal desistance among young Danish gang members

This paper forms part of a discussion with scholars working in the field of criminology and youth crime, in particular those who are interested in sport, gender, and desistance from violence. Furthermore, this paper challenges previous work into the sport of boxing and desistance from violence, and therefore argues for a more nuanced approach, by incorporating more feminist epistemologies, and inclusive masculinities into this complex phenomenon. Drawing upon contemporary research, this paper discusses prior literature on sport and desistance from violence, and further develops the concept of sport as a tool for reduction in violent youth crime.     

‘When you have no law you are nothing’: Cane toads,social consequences and management issues

In this article we demonstrate that Yanyuwa people have detailed biological knowledge of their northern Australian environment, which is culturally defined and embedded within their relationships to country, resources and each other. Through a case study of the impact of Bufo marinus (cane toads) on Yanyuwa culture and everyday life, we argue that Aboriginal management strategies and Aboriginal peoples’ intimate knowledge of species and environment need to be understood as both legitimate and fundamental when engaging in management initiatives in Australia. We demonstrate that for Yanyuwa people emotional engagement with their environment is underpinned by a morality of social and environmental relations and that ‘memory’ is pivotal to this engagement. We conclude by briefly delineating how the adoption of a ‘moral ecology’ perspective goes some way to addressing issues pertinent to discursive encounters at cultural management frontiers.     

‘Becoming’ a possible threat: masculinity,culture and questioning among unaccompanied young men in Sweden

A debate on masculinity and immigration rose across Europe in 2015 after an incident with sexual harassments taking place in Cologne, Germany. The incident refuelled a debate positioning unaccompanied young men as a possible threat. This article is based on a research project where we during this time ethnographically followed 20 young men, having arrived in Sweden as ‘unaccompanied’ minors. The aim is to examine how the young men themselves talk about, reflect on and negotiate masculinity and gender during this period. The article concludes that masculinity cannot be approached as something stable easily being inherited or transferred from one’s origins. One difference for ‘unaccompanied’ young men is how conflicts or tensions emerging in relation to issues of gender and masculinity tend to be interpreted differently, and publicly, putting the young men in a ‘gendered situation of questioning’.     

‘If drugs does that to you,then I don't want it.’ Resiliency among non-marijuana using adolescents

The current study utilizes an asset-based approach to examine inner-city African-American and Latino adolescent non-marijuana use. Interview findings suggest that the common theme in adolescent narratives is why they avoid marijuana use. Specifically, adolescents formulate several reasons situated in their perceptions of self, peers, and parents to avoid marijuana use. Drawing on resiliency theory and to broaden our scope of inquiry, we utilize these findings to further delve into the relationship between perceptions of self, peer communication, parental monitoring, and marijuana use avoidance utilizing survey data analysis. Findings can be used to leverage prevention programs with this population.     

‘Steroids,it’s so much an identity thing!’ perceptions of steroid use,risk and masculine body image

This paper explores how taste and distaste, body image and masculinity play into young people’s perceptions of risk related to steroid use. Data are drawn from a qualitative study on risk-taking among 52 Danish youths enrolled in high school or vocational training. A number of ‘risky’ practices such as drug use, fights, speeding, etc. were discussed. In contrast to these practices, which were primarily described in relation to ‘physical risks’, steroid use was understood as part of an ‘identity’ or ‘lifestyle’ in a way these other risks were not. Few interviewees had used steroids, and the large majority distanced themselves from the practice. Reasons for not wanting to use steroids were related to (1) perceiving the drug to be part of a broader lifestyle and identity that they are not interested in committing to or embodying and (2) finding the body image, physicality and associations with steroid use ‘fake’, ‘gross’ and distasteful. We draw on recent developments in feminist sociological theory related to the gendered body as both a performance and process to understand steroid use as a practice through which the body and self is produced. More than a one-dimensional ‘risky’ practice, we argue that gendered and embodied identities are crucial to understanding the dynamics of steroid use.     

Body-States,Body Image and Dissociation: When Not-Me is ‘Not Body’

The relationship between dissociation, eating disorders and disordered eating is key as it relates to dissociative disruptions to body image. It undermines normal integration of appearance-relevant information and cuts off access to subjective experience and feeling states necessary to form an internal representation of one’s self and body. This vulnerability contributes to body image distortions and the uncritical internalization of society’s notion of the thin ideal—which is an unrealistic standard, that leads, in turn, to body dissatisfaction. Patients with eating disorders live under the assumption that if they feel their sensations and feelings these will overwhelm them ‘forever’. The fear of being consumed by these terrible feelings, leads them to believe that ‘not feeling’-or even not existing-is the only answer. Being able to tolerate one’s subjective, affective experience is part of being able to internally represent one’s states, including body-states and to develop a stable experience of body image.     

‘The outraged young’: young Europeans,civic engagement and the new media in a time of crisis

Public involvement in traditional political institutions has declined significantly over the past few decades, leading to what some have seen as a crisis in citizenship. This trend is most striking amongst young people, who have become increasingly alienated from mainstream electoral politics in Europe. Nevertheless, there is overwhelming evidence to show that younger citizens are not apathetic about ‘politics’ – they have their own views and engage in democracy in a wide variety of ways that seem relevant to their everyday lives. In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, young Europeans have borne the brunt of austerity in public spending: from spiralling youth unemployment, to cuts in youth services, to increased university tuition fees. In this context, the rise and proliferation of youth protest in Europe is hardly surprising. Indeed, youth activism has become a major feature of the European political landscape: from mass demonstrations of the ‘outraged young’ against political corruption and youth unemployment, to the Occupy movement against the excesses of global capitalism, to the emergence of new political parties. This article examines the role that the new media has played in the development of these protest movements across the continent. It argues that ‘digitally networked action’ has enabled a ‘quickening’ of youth participation – an intensification of political participation amongst young, highly educated citizens in search of a mouthpiece for their ‘indignation’.     

‘Oh they drink here harder I think’: young people and alcohol consumption at three New Zealand secondary school formals

The New Zealand media sensationalises the issue of teenage drinking. It also frames school formals (balls or proms) and associated after parties as problematic sites, since young people may drink to excess at such events. This article explores the alcohol consumption patterns of a group of year 13 students on the night of their school formal. Adults' permissive attitudes towards their own and young people's alcohol consumption on the night are discussed to highlight how drinking is almost necessary for socialisation in a New Zealand context. The majority of student participants reported that they drank in moderation on the night and some were intolerant of intoxicated peers. This poses a challenge to New Zealand media depictions of the school formal and after party as ‘drunken affairs’. Some international students did drink to excess at unofficial after parties organised by students and/or parents in two of three participating schools. Rather than this reflecting negatively on the students concerned, such behaviour can be read as a reflection on New Zealand's binge drinking culture. This article concludes with suggestions for how schools can create safer after parties which may reduce the chances of young people engaging in ‘risky’ drinking behaviours at such events.     

‘When he gets among his Countrymen,they tell him that he is free’: Slave Trade Abolition,Indentured Africans and a Royal Commission

The 1807 Act to abolish the British slave trade determined that those Africans seized by the British navy from illegally operating slave ships would be enlisted into the armed forces or indentured for a maximum of 14 years. In 1821, a Royal Commission was sent to the West Indies to investigate the ‘state’ and ‘condition’ of those Africans who had been indentured under the Act. This article focuses on the work of the Commission – as it became riven by a personal and political dispute – in Tortola. It pays particular attention to the testimonies of the indentured Africans documented in the records. Their dissident narratives further disrupted the inquiry as they refused to answer to either redemptive abolitionism or instrumental political economy – the overlapping discourses framing the ways in which alternatives to enslaved labour were conceptualised during the 1820s.     

‘If you're a male primary teacher,there's a big “why are you doing that? What is wrong with you?”’ Gendered expectations of male primary teachers: The ‘double bind’

The underrepresentation of men in non-traditional fields of work is often attributed to essentialist gendered beliefs that associate such roles exclusively with women. This phenomenon is not limited to any specific country but is observed worldwide. Moreover, male teacher drop-out rates remain a consistent issue. This article examines the detrimental impact of gendered expectations of masculinity on male primary teachers through interviews conducted with both male and female teachers in the UK. It argues that men in this occupation face a ‘double bind,’ being judged for conforming to hegemonic masculine norms while also facing judgement for deviating from them. All male teachers interviewed expressed feeling the pressure of gendered expectations, which primarily stem from one central misconception fuelled by traditional conceptions of gender; that the occupation is unsuitable for men. As a result, men who enter the profession encounter challenges not only related to their gender but also their sexuality and their sense of professional identity as teachers. Addressing the damaging role of gender beliefs is crucial in promoting the numerical representation of men in the teaching profession.     

Documenting the lived experiences of young adult cochlear implant users: ‘feeling’ sound,fluidity and blurring boundaries

This article draws on qualitative research that explored the lived experiences of 16 young adult cochlear implant users. The original study focused on the emerging generation of young adult implant users and presented their stories as a means of furthering research into the experiences of living with, and using, implant technology as part of everyday life. This article will explore the process of being ‘switched on’, the adaptation to the new version of sound, and the users’ perceptions of the positive and negative aspects of living with their technology. The findings indicate that activating the implant technology can produce a range of sounds that are both heard and felt by the user. Furthermore, the process of learning to live with the technology highlights the fluidity of the cochlear implant experience and the blurring of boundaries between the (deaf) body and its technology.     

‘Our young people are worse’: family backgrounds,educational progression and placement options in public care systems

Introducing continental European approaches to UK child welfare practice raises a problem of comparison: to what extent are the problems and issues similar to or different from one country compared to another. Social pedagogues trained in continental Europe and working in English residential care services often encountered the phrase ‘our young people are worse’ from their English colleagues, with the implication that the social pedagogic approach was not suitable for the client group. This paper examines two propositions: (1) that in the context of introducing the continental European approach of social pedagogy into children's residential care services in England, young people are ‘different’ in England compared to other European countries and (2) that the placement options and practices for young people living away from their birth parents in continental European countries differ from those in England. Using data from a five nation study of young people from public care backgrounds, the paper argues that while family backgrounds are remarkably similar there are marked differences in the child welfare systems that might account for the perception that young people in care are ‘worse’ in England.     

‘I study long,long time in my language,so I never forget it’: reading and first language maintenance

This article will examine first-language (L1) maintenance among adult learners attending English classes at a tertiary institution in New Zealand. The sample consisted of refugee background students enrolled in a Training Opportunities Program aimed at developing literacy and numeracy skills as well as preparation for civic involvement. The data emanated from a qualitative study which not only yielded information on students’ reading habits in English but also in other languages, including their L1. Findings from the current study address L1 fluency in L2 settings, particularly as related to the availability of L1 reading material, home environment, and digital media.     

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.     

‘Being young and LGBT,what could be worse?’ Analysis of youth LGBT activism in Indonesia: challenges and ways forward

Young Indonesian LGBT people are currently mobilising against a wave of conservatism and violence in an increasingly anti-LGBT context. Young LGBT people are showing remarkable courage and strategic thinking and mobilising in a range of ways. These include grassroot peer support, advocacy, and partnerships with government, adult-led non-government organisations and the private sector. However, these youth also face multiple challenges. This article highlights findings from a 2016 study of mobilisation by youth LGBT activists, using in-depth feminist qualitative research methods. The aim of the research was to highlight the resilience of young LGBT people in Indonesia, the barriers they face, and to consider what feminists and development policymakers and practitioners can do to support them.     

“I’m not homeless,I’m houseless”: identifying as homeless and associations with service utilization among Los Angeles homeless young people

Little is known about homeless young people’s identification of being homeless and how that identity may or may not be associated with service utilization. This study of 444 homeless young people attending Los Angeles area drop-in centers explores the associations of demographic characteristics, homelessness characteristics, negative lifetime experiences, mental health symptoms, technology use, and past month service utilization with identifying as homeless. Fifty-two percent of the sample identified as being homeless. Being Black, a current traveler, and history of injection drug use were all significantly associated with a decreased likelihood in identifying as homeless. However, having fair/poor health, accessing shelter services, and reporting one’s own substance use as a reason for homelessness were all significantly associated with identifying as homeless. There are important service implications for reaching young people who are in need of services but may not identify with the target population label of homeless.     

‘(What's so funny ‘bout) peace,love & understanding’: rock culture and the rebuilding of civic identity in the post-conflict Balkans

The article examines current rock culture in the Balkans as a potential vehicle for rebuilding the broken sociocultural bonds between the different post-Yugoslav societies and for creating a constructive cultural space for articulating new forms of civic and post-nationalist identities. The argument offered is that, after the sociocultural exile during the war years, rock culture in the post-conflict Balkans has considerable potential to establish itself as a popular-cultural force of ‘utopian transcendence’ of the current ethno-nationalist sociopolitical moment, and as a catalyst of the new post-Yugoslav spirit of openness, tolerance and peaceful coexistence.     

‘Mobile mindsets’: EGM venue usage,gambling participation,and problem gambling among three itinerant groups on the Sunshine Coast of Australia

Mobile populations form an increasingly important part of many communities, yet tend to be neglected by problem gambling prevalence research. We explore relationships between problem gambling and the ways in which mobile subgroups use gambling venues. Adopting a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques, we conduct an exploratory examination of three subgroups – construction workers, ‘grey nomads’, and ‘southerner’ tourists on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia. The groups displayed substantial differences in venue visitation, gambling behaviour and problem gambling risk. The group with the least discretionary mobility, the construction workers, were most heavily dependent on gambling venues for economic and social relationships. This translated into higher levels of problem gambling risk, which was further mediated by the inter-personal connectedness of individuals. These results suggest that mobility per se does not directly result in higher risk of problem gambling but combines with social isolation to place individuals at risk.     

‘Idealists Headed to Israel,Pragmatics Chose Europe’: Identity Dilemmas and Social Incorporation among Former Soviet Jews who Migrated to Germany

Since German reunification in 1989, about 185,000 former Soviet Jews have been granted refugee status in Germany. Drawing on my observations and in-depth interviews with recent immigrants in five German cities, this qualitative study explores the identity dilemmas faced by Russian Jews who moved to the lands of the historic nemesis loaded with the memories of the Holocaust. The findings suggest that for most informants migrating to Germany (rather than Israel or North America) was a pragmatic decision based on the anticipated benefits from the German welfare system, security and comfort of living in Europe. All but a few informants were secular and had limited interest in the Jewish life, keeping in touch with the Jewish communities only inasmuch as it proved useful for their resettlement. Most middle-aged informants were traumatised by their occupational downgrading and/or chronic unemployment, but many also believed that the welfare aid they receive from the German state is morally justified as a continuing retribution for the wartime crimes. Older immigrants did not even try to narrow a cultural gap with German society, kept to their co-ethnic social circle, and were permanently intimidated by the shadow of anti-Semitism. Conversely, many younger informants opined that past grievances were no longer relevant, tried to adopt some cultural features of the mainstream, and saw themselves as citizens of unified Europe, rather than Germany as such.