Search results

The research aimed to identify ‘(1) current volatile solvent use practices, (2) health beliefs and perceived effects of volatile solvent use, (3) social dynamics of volatile solvent use, (4) significance of reputation, and (5) barriers to volatile solvent use intervention’ in a sample of Irish adolescents (Carroll et al, 1998, p1; Anderson & Loomis, 2003). Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 20 adolescents who reported inhaling volatile solvents, during the course of doctoral research (n=1,400) investigating substance misuse among adolescents aged 12 to 18 years in Ireland. Their average age was 13.2 years, and they used a range of substances. Solvent users were found to be most commonly congregated in small peer and sibling groups and one young male also reported using alone. These young people indicated their average age of initiation of inhalant use as 10.3 years and most did not use inhalants after the age of 13 years. This coincided with first‐time alcohol use, at an average age of 12.5 years and experimental use of cannabis in some. All reported some awareness of short‐term medical risks involved in solvent use, and most commented on negative effects, such as headaches, dizziness and vomiting. Teachers, probation and juvenile liaison officers, health promotion and drug education workers, youth workers, social workers, and parents should ‘familiarise themselves with the real world experiences of adolescent volatile solvent users’; in order to develop appropriate and timely drug education interventions (Carroll et al, 1998 p6).

Increasingly, punitive policies on ‘poblematic’ pupils are implemented in poor‐performing UK urban state schools. While some are permanently excluded and referred to local authority educational alternatives, others are unofficially ‘excluded’ and referred to other forms of off‐site educational centres, where pupils receive a significantly reduced timetable, undertake unchallenging courses and are unlikely to return to school. Based on an ethnographic research project with 20 excluded young people in one south London borough, this paper will discuss what happens to these young people after their ‘exclusion’ from school. I will suggest that this form of unofficial ‘exclusion’ has significant life implications for these young people, contributing not only to their social exclusion, but also to their increased exposure to crime and victimisation. Moreover, their life options are truncated despite the efforts that they may make otherwise.

Newly created spaces are subject to surveillance and control due to the fact that ensuring that urban spaces are viewed as safe is one of the key priorities for regeneration agencies (Raco, 2003). One such space is the Millennium Quarter in Manchester, which comprises a number of public and private spaces, all of which are policed. This paper draws on data from interviews with various patrollers including a police officer, a private security guard and street wardens. All of these individuals expressed the view that the presence of youths was problematic. An important question here is: why are youths seen as problematic or threatening in such spaces? This question will be answered using the Millennium Quarter and its dominant users (teenagers) as an example.

There is a mental health crisis, particularly among young people. Despite many young people living in urban settings, reviews about the association between exposure to green or natural environments and mental health tend to focus on either children or adults. The aim of this review is to examine the scope of the global literature for this age group, to inform a systematic review on the role of exposure to green space in preventing anxiety and depression amongst young people aged 14–24 years.

Seven databases were searched for quantitative and qualitative sources published from January 2000 to June 2020. This identified 201 sources and their characteristics are described here. Gaps in the literature are also highlighted.

The number of relevant studies published per year has increased over time. Most studies are set in North America (28%) or Europe (39%). The most common study designs were observational (34%) or experimental (28%). A wide range of exposures and interventions are described.

This review included literature from predominantly high-income countries and has shown the under-representation of low-middle income countries and lack of ethnic diversity in study populations. It has also highlighted the lack of clinical measures of anxiety and depression as outcomes.

This inter-disciplinary review has contributed to the field by describing the geographic distribution of the literature and the broad range of exposures to green spaces being reported. Unlike previous scoping reviews, this review focused specifically on young people and on measures of anxiety and depression and their pre-cursers.

“If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound with mine, then come, let's work together”. These words of Lill Watson, an indigenous activist, frame the context for this article. The purpose of this research was to examine the historical evolution of “grassroots movement leadership” model and its incarnation in the present time. A corollary purpose focused on how this model can transform urban schools by focusing on “movement” efforts of one large urban school district that espouses the values of this form of leadership. As part of a larger reform effort, the district engaged students, parents, teachers, school leaders and communities in becoming equal partners in urban school reform in an effort to co‐create schools and communities that might lead all of us toward liberation and learning.

Theory and practice come together through the lens of three researchers who operate from a similar philosophical stance for educational transformation, best described in the words of grassroots leader Ella Baker, who said, “We are the people we have been waiting for”. Qualitative research procedures (i.e. interviews, field notes and observations) were used to generate data on a “movement model” for grassroots leadership. This model is best demonstrated in various youth‐oriented initiatives (i.e. Student Exhibits, Action‐Research Projects, Algebra Project) within a local urban school district. This model, influenced by Civil Rights legend Robert Moses, has implications for educational leadership and urban school reform and simultaneously grounds our scholarship and research in liberation epistemology.

It is argued that children are often the victims of ideas, structures, and actions that come to be seen by the majority of people as wholly natural, preordained, and working for their own good, when in fact they are constructed and transmitted by powerful minority interests to protect the status quo that serves those interest. The words of Ella Baker epitomize the authors' struggles to steer away from models of hierarchal leadership in education and stay connected to the practice of excavating community wisdom through the “Movement Model”.

This study bears a substantive argument for community leadership efforts that focus on “grassroots leadership”. It further fosters new insights and propositions for future research in the form of a “Movement Leadership Model”.

Using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey, this work examines the relationship between housing price and the probability of marriage among the young.

By exploiting land reform as an exogenous change in housing price and employing a differences-in-differences framework, this study investigates the effects of housing price on the marriage probability of young people.

This work confirms that land reform decreased young people's likelihood of marriage. This finding is robust to a series of model specifications. The effects of land reform increased over time because of rising housing unaffordability from progressively inflating housing prices. Moreover, land reform had larger effects on renters and young adults aged below 30 than homeowners and young adults aged above 30.

Overall, this study highlights the negative consequences of an overheated housing market on marriage in developing countries.

Housing prices have increased dramatically in urban China after 2002 upon the implementation of the assignment system of the use right of all kinds of profit-oriented lands by means of public bidding, auction and quotation. High housing prices indicate serious housing unaffordability, especially for young people who typically have low income and wealth. Homeownership that comes with various benefits can theoretically increase the likelihood of marriage, particularly in China where a house is often regarded as a prerequisite for marriage.

Research pertaining to young people, frontline work and faith is fairly limited. This qualitative article proposes that often faith and “on road” youth work are intertwined. This paper aims to explore the experiences of nine frontline practitioners, those who work with young people in a range of settings. The crux of the discussion is focused on how the religious and cultural views of practitioners impact their frontline practice, as it relates to supporting the young person’s needs. The authors suggest that understanding frontline practice as it relates to faith is imperative to our ability to effectively engage with young people “on road”.

This paper took a qualitative approach, where semi-structured interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. This allowed the formation of the following three core themes: incarceration, religiosity and “on road” youth work; the nuances of religion and identity “on road”; and the “pains of ‘on road’ youth work”.

The findings within this paper suggest that faith and “on road” youth work are intertwined. In that frontline practitioners’ personal religious views, and importantly the understanding they have regarding the array of religious identities adopted by young people (YP) is helpful in engaging YP across the board. This paper highlights the complexities between identity, faith, faith-based support and hard-to-reach communities.

This paper explores the complexities between faith on “on road” criminology/“on road” youth work. This area of study is fairly under-researched. This paper seeks to build on existing research surrounding YP, further exploring religiosity from a UK context.

This paper aimed to explore the lived experiences of frontline practitioners in Birmingham UK, many of whom work with YP from Black, Asian or minority backgrounds. Therefore the findings cannot be generalised.

This paper’s intention is not to stereotype YP, but to raise awareness of the subjective experience of faith and religiosity on the frontline.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are few studies that explore the concept of “on road” criminology and “on road” youth work. Therefore, findings from this study are important to develop further understanding.

This case study aims to explore the relationship between identity and locality in two groups of young people from different environments working with a community artist to explore representations and perceptions about their environment, culminating in an exchange visit. The paper seeks to explore the challenges and complexities of partnership working in community regeneration in order to move beyond prevalent idealised views of partnership as a policy tool.

The multi‐method qualitative evaluation included filming, direct observations of project sessions and interviews with key professionals. A systems analysis was then conducted using the Systems‐Centered^® Training framework.

The extent to which multi‐agency partnerships in community regeneration are likely to be effective and sustainable is related to the development of the partnership systems. Shared goals, clear roles and a common understanding of the context of the collaborative work are critical for developing multi‐agency systems.

The paper highlights the complex issues that need to be addressed when working with young people on issues of identity and territory. It also presents a systems viewpoint on partnership that has wider policy and practice implications for multi‐agency partnerships.

Drawing on a systems‐centered perspective, the paper expands the conceptual understanding of multi‐agency partnerships to seeing such partnerships as dynamic living human systems, which can then be understood in terms of the variables that affect their functioning and effectiveness. This provides a tool for analysis and reflection on partnership that is of value to both academics/researchers and managers/practitioners.

To explore the advice given by the British Girl Guides Association, a popular girls' youth organisation, to urban members in the period from 1930 to 1960.

This article is based on an analysis of the Girlguiding publications The Guide and The Guider in 30 years spanning 1930–1960.

The article shows that, although rural spaces maintained symbolic position in the education and training of the British Girl Guides Association throughout the mid-twentieth century, the use of urban spaces were central in ensuring that girls embodied Guiding principles on a day-to-day basis. While rural spaces, and especially the camp, have been conceptualised by scholars as ‘extraordinary’ spaces, this article argues that by encouraging girls to undertake nature study in their urban locality the organisation stressed the ordinariness of Guiding activity. In doing so, they encouraged girls to be an active presence in urban public space throughout the period, despite the fact that, as scholars have identified, the post-war period saw the increased regulation of children's presence in public spaces. Such findings suggest that the organisation allowed girls a modicum of freedom in town Guiding activities, although ultimately these were limited by expectations regarding the behaviour and conduct of members.

The article builds upon existing understandings of the Girl Guide organisation and mid-twentieth century youth movements. A number of scholars have recently argued for a more complex understanding of the relationship between urban and rural, outdoor and indoor spaces, within youth organisations in the 20th century. Yet the place of urban spaces in Girlguiding remains under-explored.

The article describes the nature of gang violence in the London Borough of Southwark and presents an intervention framework developed in discussion with practitioners and underpinned by local intelligence and local cohort studies.