Being trusted: The perspectives of trusted adults about engaging with young people

Trusted adults outside the home often play an important role in young people's lives, providing motivational, emotional and practical support as young people navigate the social and economic transitions of young adulthood. Their support is developmentally appropriate as they often treat young people as adults, as they are guiding them towards that status. Yet knowledge of trusted adult relationships is largely drawn from the perspectives of young people. How do trusted adults themselves experience the relationship?Drawing on a broader study of young people's social and economic engagement during adolescence to adulthood, this paper explores the perspectives of 23 trusted adults, including those in family/friend, paid professional and community roles. It looks at how trusted adults' accounts of the relationship compare with young people's accounts. It examines some subtleties trusted adults experience in the relationship, related to their perception of their role and the roles of others, the impermanence of the relationship and personal–professional boundaries. It draws policy and practice implications regarding how to support both trusted adults and young people in the relationships they share.     

大都市单身青年“婚恋焦虑”现象调查及成因分析

当代青年出生和成长于社会改革发展时代,社会物质的极大丰富对青年一代的精神生活产生了极大冲击,种种压力和诱惑导致很多年轻人的价值观产生变化,从而衍生出多元化的婚恋观,单身青年在适婚青年中的比例日益上升。在北京、上海等现代化大都市,单身青年普遍存在着"婚恋焦虑"现象,并且呈现出低龄化趋势。总的来看,"婚恋焦虑"现象的出现背后存在着人口结构、经济条件、社会观念、交际方式、家庭压力等多重因素影响。在新的时代背景下,青年人要学会辨别是非,以一颗真诚的心来面对婚恋问题。     

Staying inside: social withdrawal of the young,Finnish ‘Hikikomori’

This article explores socially withdrawn young Finnish people on an Internet forum who identify with the Japanese hikikomori phenomenon. We aim to overcome the dualism between sociology and psychology found in earlier research by referring to Pierre Bourdieu, who provides insights into how individual choices are constructed in accordance with wider social settings. We focus on the individual level and everyday choices, but we suggest that psychological factors (anxiety, depression) can be seen as properties of social relations rather than as individual states of mind, as young adults have unequal access to valued resources. We scrutinise young people’s specific reasoning related to the social and psychological factors and contingent life events that influence their choice to withdraw. An experience of inadequacy, a feeling of failure and a lack of self-efficacy are common experiences in the data. This indicates that young adults who identify with the hikikomori phenomenon find external society demanding and consider themselves lacking resources such as education, social networks or the personality type that they see as valued in society and as essential to ‘survival’. They also feel that they cannot control their life events, which may mean that they receive little help in their everyday lives.     

THE CONCEPT OF NEIGHBORHOOD IN HEALTH AND MORTALITY RESEARCH

Neo-liberal economic principles are viewed positively by many people in government, the media, and academia, as they are thought to increase rates of economic growth and thereby produce outcomes beneficial to society as a whole. This project endeavors to test the second part of that notion, hypothesizing that excessive reliance on open markets is positively associated with social “costs,” which may be interpreted as a quantitatively diminished standard of living. Specifically, by limiting our focus to the relatively small sample of advanced capitalist democracies, it is expected that among these wealthy countries those with relatively low levels of adherence to market principles perform better on a number of important social indicators than those which favor minimal governmental activism. Regression analysis is employed to test the relationship between laissez-faire economic policy and 6 social maladies in 18 countries. Results show that a neo-liberal economic orientation does indeed lead to suboptimal social outcomes among advanced capitalist democracies.     

INDIVIDUALISM, FAMILY VALUES, AND THE PROFESSIONAL MIDDLE CLASS:

This study examines in-depth interview data on how advanced law and MBA students defined long-term meaning in life in the context of their life plans for work, family, leisure, and community. Findings reveal that while many hope to derive meaning from all of these life domains, most place special emphasis upon the family. These findings have special importance for theoretical debates about the new individualism, family values, and civil society for the advancing generation of post-baby-boomers in the middle class. Analysis of interview data elaborates on why family is meaningful for these respondents, while raising key issues surrounding the relationship between individualism and family life. Findings also point to limited visions of community and public life among young professionals, suggesting a focus on privatism.     

DEPRESSION AND THE SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF THE FULL-TIME HOUSEWIFE ROLE*

This article examines the determinants of depression among a sample of 528 married, white housewives residing in the southeastern U.S. The multiple regression analysis reveals that low total family income, dissatisfaction with family life and the housewife role, and few extra-familial social contacts are significantly associated with depression. A major finding is that the impact of social contacts in reducing depression is conditioned by the housewife's age and by children's residence in the home. Younger women and those with no children living at home benefit more from extra-familial social contacts than do older women and those who have children at home. The article concludes with a discussion of the impact of the social changes of the 1970s and early 1980s on the determinants of housewives' psychological well-being.     

青年压力来源与社会支持系统优化策略

现代社会给青年提供了前所未有的发展机遇,也使青年承受着超出以往任何时代的生存压力．2011年,对山东城市在业青年进行的社会心态调查显示：当前青年的压力主要来自经济压力、工作压力、子女教育压力三个方面。研究表明：传统的家庭支持系统是青年应对经济压力和人生重大选择的主要支持力量,非正式社会支持系统和家庭共同构成青年情感支持的主要力量,正式的社会支持系统对青年的支持作用尚未得到充分发挥。建立相对完备的社会支持系统,需要从社会保障、组织覆盖、舆论影响、心理疏导等方面提升优化。     

COMMON LAW, STATUTE LAW, AND THE THEORY OF LEGISLATIVE CHOICE: AN INQUIRY INTO THE GOAL OF THE SHERMAN ACT

Although the Sherman Antitrust Act is more than a century old, debate continues over its goals. In contrast to what many have argued, I contend that the Act's main goal is to maximize economic efficiency, rather than the welfare of consumers. The Sherman Act is a modest extension of the common law, which the "Law and Economics" literature indicates moves towards economic efficiency. Further, unlike the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, Sherman Act decisions are made by courts, not a regulatory agency. Thus, the theory of legislature choice also implies that the goal of the Act is to maximize economic efficiency.     

Young people,social change and the negotiation of moral authority

This paper presents some of the main findings of the study ‘Youth values: identity, diversity and social change’, focusing on the ways in which young people aged between 11 and 16 negotiate moral authority. It begins by discussing young people's perceptions of social change, identifying narratives of both progress and decline. The structure of young people's values are then briefly described, including differences relating to gender, location, social class and age. The factors that contribute to the legitimacy of moral authority in young people's eyes are explored through young people's accounts of school discipline, bullying, parenting and media violence. The paper draws on a range of data sources including questionnaires, focus group discussions, individual interviews and research assignments in which young people undertook their own interviews with adults. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Youth transitions and interdependent adult–child relations in rural Bolivia

There are few studies which document youth transitions from school to work in rural areas of the majority world. This paper, based on ethnographic fieldwork in a rural community in Bolivia, considers how young people make decisions about different types of school-to-work transitions which include migrating to continue their formal education, working in the community, or seeking migrant work in the regional town or in neighbouring Argentina. The paper explores how young people negotiate structural constraints over their choice of transition, including the rural location, economic resources, parental attitudes and family background, gender, birth order, social networks and role models. Importantly the paper highlights that underlying young people's choice of transition are interdependent household relations. In the majority world, in this case in Bolivia, rural young people may achieve economic independence sooner than those in the minority world, but long-term family interdependence tends to be maintained throughout the life-course. This paper suggests that the notion of negotiated interdependence is a more appropriate way to understand youth transitions and relations between young people and adults in rural areas of the majority world.     

RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL RESPONSES TO 9/11: EVIDENCE FROM THE ADD HEALTH STUDY

Despite a great deal of public discourse concerning the effect of the September 11th attacks on Americans' religious and spiritual lives, social scientists know very little about the nature, size, and duration of this effect. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study analyzes the influence of 9/11 on the religious and spiritual lives of American young adults. The results suggest that the 9/11 attacks exerted only modest and short-lived effects on various aspects of young adults' religiosity and spirituality, and these effects were variable across different groups. These findings suggest that no remarkable religious revival occurred among young adults after September 11th, and researchers interested in analyzing religious development across the life course or religious change over time need not worry about sea changes in religiosity and spirituality brought on by 9/11.     

Pathways to Parenthood in Social and Family Contexts: Decade in Review, 2020

Whether, and under what circumstances, people become parents has implications for individual identity, family relationships, the well-being of adults and children, and population growth and age structure. Understanding the factors that influence pathways to parenthood is central to the study of families and can inform policies aimed at changing childbearing behaviors. This review summarizes recent trends in fertility as well as research on the predictors and correlates of childbearing, with a focus on the United States and on research most relevant to family scholars. U.S. fertility has declined in recent years, perhaps reflecting the influence of the Great Recession and increasing economic inequality, and there is growing divergence in behaviors across social class. Scholars of childbearing have developed theories to better understand how childbearing is shaped by life course processes and social contexts, but more work is needed to understand group differentials, refine measurement and theories, and better integrate men and couples. Childbearing research has important implications for social policy, but the application of research to policy is hindered by ideological factors.     

The Role of Mobile Phones in Family Communication

Whilst there is a wealth of research into family communication and family relationships, there is little information about whether (and if so how) mobile phones have impacted on these processes. The authors’ study involved individual semi‐structured interviews with 60 families, including parents/carers and young people aged 11–17, to investigate this further. The interviews explored how mobile phones are used in family communication; participants’ views about the benefits and disadvantages of mobile phone use; and issues around safety, surveillance and privacy. The findings show that young people and parents see mobiles as a key way for families to keep in touch, and to monitor and ensure young people’s safety. However, some participants felt there was a downside to this, in relation to some young people either withdrawing into their own social worlds, or having a false feeling of security as a result of having a mobile. Gender differences in views and usage were also found. The paper concludes with some general comments about the role of mobile phones in family life.     

DURKHEIM'S PREDICTION ABOUT THE DECLINING IMPORTANCE OF THE FAMILY AND INHERITANCE:

In 1912 Emile Durkheim predicted that testators would shift their beneficiaries in their last wills from their families to organizations as societies industrialized, primarily because the family would decline as an economic institution. This article analyzes and expands Durkheim's prediction into a “Durkheimian’ theory of organizational inheritance. The 429 last wills filed in the probate court of Providence, Rhode Island, from 1775–1985 are content analyzed in order to test Durkheim's prediction and to determine if other fundamental changes have occurred in testamentary behaviors. Contrary to Durkheim's prediction, families and kin remain as the beneficiaries in more than 90 percent of the sole beneficiary wills and in more than 80 percent of the combined beneficiary wills. Spouses, children, and grandchildren remain as the most frequent beneficiaries. Although many other types of beneficiaries besides family members and voluntary associations were named by testators in 1985, these other types accounted for a relatively small percentage of the beneficiaries. Other factors are suggested that could bring about widespread organizational inheritance during the next twenty years. The family was in the past better suited to ensure the continuity of economic life as well, because it was a small group in direct touch with things and people and also itself endowed with a genuine continuity. To-day this continuity no longer exists. The family is all the time in process of breaking up; it lasts only for a period and it may die out here and there. It no longer has sufficient power to link the generations one to another, in the economic sense. But only a secondary, fairly small medium can be a substitute. This can and should have greater scope than the family because the economic interests themselves have grown. It is not possible for any central organ to be everywhere present and everywhere active at the same moment. All these points, then persuade us in favour of the professional groups. -Emile Durkheim     

Youth and social movements on the move: political engagement among young Spanish migrants in London

Since the beginning of the economic crisis in Spain young people have migrated abroad looking for job opportunities. In the meantime, after the 15-M movement in 2011, Spanish society created various social movements hoping to make change happen, as well as the pro-independence movement in Catalonia that gathered strength as a response to the Spanish economic and political crisis. This paper analyses how Spanish young people in London, as transmigrants rooted in two different countries, engage with the politics of their home country through two transnational social movements in London: ANC England and the Maroon Wave London. The article describes both local movements (comparing their goals, structure and activities), showing the reasons that young Spanish migrants get involved and their experiences within them. It also rethinks the nature and modalities of young diasporic identities and political engagement in the global age through the experiences of the young people interviewed.     

“A problem of resources”: defining rural youth encounters in education, work & housing

Using empirical evidence from a study of rural youth living in a remote region in the West of Ireland, this paper applies a structurationist approach to focus on and explore how young people's scope for action and choice is shaped and mediated. In particular, it applies Giddens's concept of authoritative resources (‘organization of life chances’), social practices and relations to understand the encounters, events and experiences within education, work and housing. The paper concerns how the types of practices and relations encountered within these three arenas tend to problematise the choices and opportunities available for young people. In the late-modern age, these three spheres of life can generate considerable pressures, which, depending on circumstances, are differentially mediated by young people. In conclusion, it calls for policy to engage in more ‘enabling’ terms with rural youth experiencing the negative effects of rural economic restructuring.     

A survey of disabled children and young people’s views about their quality of life

This study aimed to explore disabled children and young people’s perspectives about their quality of life, in terms of physical, mental and social well-being. Ninety-one disabled children, recruited through voluntary organisations in Scotland, completed KIDSCREEN-27, a validated measure of health-related quality of life for children. Findings were compared with those from a European study of predominantly non-disabled children. The children gave largely positive reports about school, family relationships and their physical health. However, one in three reported often feeling ‘sad’ and many were excluded from social activities with their peers. Expectations of achieving academic qualifications, and moving into further or higher education, were generally low. The children’s perceived quality of life was lower than their European counterparts, less so in relation to school but particularly for friendships and peer support. The findings are discussed in the light of the social relational understanding of disability. Policy and practice implications are identified.     

How to integrate digital media into a drop-in for homeless young people for deepening relationships between youth and adults

This paper reports on a curriculum called New Tech for Youth Sessions, designed for homeless young people, aged 13-25. Motivated by the ordinariness of digital media and its importance in communicating with society's institutions, the primary goal of the curriculum was to develop students' life skills for information technology and digital media. A crucial secondary goal was to position students to recognize their self-worth, through meeting challenges, positive communication with adults, and reciprocal peer support. The paper describes how these goals were addressed by incorporating a community technology center into a multi-purpose drop-in for homeless young people and by a curriculum that guides students through an integrated series of activities related to finding employment. The paper discusses the principles underlying the curriculum, the class processes, and the social structure that supports the learning environment. A far-reaching result, based on offering 13 classes to over 75 youth over 16 months, is the hypothesis that instruction in digital media can create visceral, life-affirming experiences of challenges overcome, which can help strengthen relationships between the youth and the drop-in staff. The paper concludes with a discussion of lessons learned for incorporating digital media into drop-ins for enabling access and for improving life skills.     

Teen empowerment: youth, police, and neighbors in partnership

The Center for Teen Empowerment has used a particular model of building relationships to empower youth and adults as agents of positive social and institutional change. The Teen Empowerment Model is the product of over twenty-five years of thoughtful experience in changing the values, beliefs, and behaviors of youth and adults; making institutions more effective; and developing mechanisms for people of all ages to work together productively toward achieving their goals. The comprehensive methodology for working with groups is described in this chapter, using as an example work that the center has done bringing youth and police together.