Agency among young people in marginalised positions: towards a better understanding of mental health problems

ABSTRACT

Agency in marginalised youth has been studied from various perspectives, yet the challenges that mental health problems pose for their agency remain poorly understood. Drawing on data from a study on youth transitions fractured by mental health problems, this study sheds light on this important issue. The data consists of 49 life story interviews with young adults. Using Ruth Lister’s four-dimensional taxonomy of agency, the analysis shows how everyday struggles with mental distress are entangled with the practices of the social security system, medical care, education, labour markets, and work life. It also reveals how emerging attempts at strategic agency can fail or flourish depending on the response of the social and structural context. If strategic agency is restricted by institutional practices, it will soon return to day-to-day struggling or become everyday resistance and cynicism towards the system. However, if the strategic agency is supported by institutional practices, a genuine path out of distress emerges. The paper suggests that taking seriously the experiences of mental distress and situating them in a specific socio-political context is essential for understanding youth agency today.