This research uses a novel policy writing method to explore young people’s subjective understandings of the problems of poverty. Working with five groups of young people, aged 11 – 21, from some of the most financially deprived areas of England, it sought to draw out and explore their “policy imaginary”, or the way they viewed the problems of poverty through a lens of ideal policy responses. It unpacks these young people’s policy imaginaries, and the life-narratives they discussed alongside these imaginaries, within a discourse of individualisation. Across four articles, it demonstrates and explores the complexities and ambiguities of these young people’s thinkings. This thesis begins by suggesting that many of the problems of poverty they identify as important to their lives are structural, and that they understanding the role of collective and political agency, rather than their own individual agency, in ending poverty. It then more specifically explores their understandings of their neighbourhoods and houses, which suggests that individualised factors often identified in other research, such as social contagion and epidemic neighbourhood effects, are not what they identify as most important in their local areas. It concludes by identifying a policy gap emerging along similar theoretical lines. Here, this research suggests that much of the policy directed towards these young people focuses on individualised problems, and their individual agency as a route of out poverty, but that this sort of policy response is not what these young people felt was needed. However, this is not to suggest that these young people downplayed or dismissed their own agency in charting their life-pathways. Indeed, as much previous literature has found, these young people spoke fluently about the agency and opportunities they have in their lives, often seeming ‘hyper-agentic’. However, this thesis suggests that exploring these young people’s policy imaginary appears to create a medium through which they can talk both about their agency and the constraints and limitations low-incomes generate. It allowed them to bridge their highly agentic biographies to their socially structured histories, as they saw them.

This thesis draws on the voices of the young people who will be affected by the government’s proposal to increase the age of participation in education and training to 18 by 2015, voices which are otherwise overlooked in policy formulation and much research. The young people most affected are those who currently do not participate in education or training after the age of 16. The thesis takes a phenomenological approach, building understanding from the young people’s perspectives of their life-worlds and their reasons for not participating and exploring their response to their particular circumstances as perceived by them. The thesis explores their understanding through focus groups held in one local authority in South East England, comprising urban and rural settings. The thesis highlights factors that impede young people’s participation from their own perspectives, which fall into three categories: physical factors; social factors; and emotional factors. Nationally, the government has confirmed its commitment to raising the participation age by 2015, yet many of the government’s policies are exacerbating the challenges that young people face. This study concludes that the barriers highlighted by young people in relation to physical factors; social factors; and emotional factors are neglected in the current policy drive to full participation to age 18 and this needs urgent attention if the policy is to succeed. The thesis proposes a model which is offered for future policy and practice development to give greater weight to the perspectives of young people in relation to participation as expressed in this research. There is a risk if their concerns are not addressed that young people who have experienced a failure by the system and associated damaged self esteem, are now further pathologised, and potentially criminalised, for failing to fulfil their duty to participate. Yet, a more holistic approach that addresses the broader issues highlighted by this research, could realise pathways into further education and training that redress some of the previous negative experience and restore their confidence for the future.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-28T20:56:40Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Julia Shellard Correa.pdf: 499931 bytes, checksum: f5fc5dff7735fd82ab03acc1d811af07 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-24 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This research aimed to investigate how young people understand their experience of participation in community activities. More specifically, to understand how this activity was shaping up in the life Young. The concept of participation was based on Paulo Freire s work. He understand that man is an incomplete being in search of his humanization, which occurs due to the relationships within others and his social and cultural reality. Participation is the presence and involvement of youth in this search for humanize. The method consisted of two individual reflexive interviews, with young people of a community in the north of São Paulo. These young people were nominated by the community leadership as participants in local activities. From groups of interviewees' statements, a discussion relating them to the theory that underlies this study was made. There were different understandings of participation in interviews, as help and collaboration, ranging between the extremes of 'false' and 'true' participation, as defined by Paulo Freire. Regarding their history of participation, reference were made to the use and occupation of community spaces, highlighting the experience of being seen as responsible for cultural and historical reality transformation in their community, during childhood and adolescence. From these reports, it was concluded that participate in community activities is part of a history and a community participation experiences / Esta pesquisa teve como objetivo investigar como jovens compreendem sua experiência de participação em atividades comunitárias. O objetivo específico foi entender como essa atividade foi se configurando ao longo da vida do jovem. A concepção de participação foi fundamentada na teoria freiriana, que compreende o homem como um ser inacabado na busca de sua humanização, a qual se dá nas relações estabelecidas com os outros e com a realidade social e cultural em que vive. Nesse sentido, a participação é a presença e envolvimento do jovem nesta busca por humanizar-se. Foram realizadas entrevistas reflexivas individuais, com dois jovens de uma comunidade da Zona Norte de São Paulo. Estes jovens foram indicados pela liderança comunitária como participantes das atividades locais. A partir de agrupamentos das falas dos entrevistados foi feita a análise dos dados, relacionando o conteúdo das entrevistas com a teoria que fundamenta este estudo. Houve diferentes compreensões de participação na fala dos entrevistados, como ajuda e colaboração, variando entre os extremos da falsa e verdadeira participação, conforme estabelecido por Paulo Freire. A respeito de seus históricos de participação, fizeram referência ao uso e ocupação de espaços comunitários, e destacaram experiências de serem vistos na infância e adolescência como responsáveis pela transformação da realidade histórica e cultural da própria comunidade. A partir desses relatos, concluiu-se que participar de atividades comunitárias é parte de uma história e de experiências de participação na e com a comunidade