Föreliggande arbete är en etnografisk studie av barn, barndom och arbete i Sverige. Studien var förlagd till två samhällen, ett på landsbygden och ett nära en stor svensk stad. I studien undersöks hur barndom konstrueras i dagens Sverige. I studien används ett barnperspektiv och fokus är på barnens definitioner av arbete. I studien undersöks hur barnen förstår de olika aktiviteter i vilka de deltar i sitt vardagsliv, vilka aktiviteter barnen menar är arbete och varför. I studien undersöks vilka motiv barnen har för att delta i de olika formerna av arbete. Sammanlagt deltog 100 barn i klass 4-9 i studien. Materialet till studien samlades in mellan 2004-2006. Materialet samlades i under ett fältarbete där metoder som gruppintervjuer, enkäter och tidsdagböcker användes. Material samlades också in med hjälp av deltagande observation, genom att barnen tog bilder med engångskameror samt skrev essäer och ritade teckningar. Dessa metoder användes för att öka barnens möjligheter att delta och påverka forskningsprocessen samt för att lyfta fram barnens perspektiv vad gäller arbete. Studien visar att arbete är ett mångtydigt begrepp. Barnen vidgar den traditionella betydelsen av arbete och använder två olika definitioner av arbete. Den ena är en definition där arbete jämställs med formellt, betalt förvärvsarbete, ett jobb. Den andra definitionen är mer inkluderande. I denna ryms både betalt, obetalt, formellt och informellt arbete. I denna definition inkluderar barnen dessutom utbildande aktiviteter såsom skola och fritidsaktiviteter vilka innehåller element av lärande. Detta arbetsbegrepp inkluderar således även olika former av identitetsarbete. Studien illustrerar att barnen genom sina aktiviteter bidrar till konstruktionen av barndomen samt understryker den roll arbete spelar i denna konstruktion. / This is an ethnographic study of children, childhood and work in Sweden. The study was conducted in two communities, one rural and one urban, and it explores how childhood is constructed in contemporary Sweden. The study uses a child perspective and focuses on the children’s definitions of work. It investigates how children understand the different activities in which they take part in everyday life and which activities they understand as work and why. Furthermore, it investigates children’s incentives for engaging in various forms of work. In total, 100 schoolchildren in grades 4-9 participated in the study. The material used was collected during 2004-2006. During the fieldwork, material was collected through group interviews, questionnaires and time diaries, through participant observation and the use of disposable cameras and children’s essays and drawings. The methods were chosen to increase the children’s possibilities to participate and influence the research process and to highlight the children’s perspective on work. The study shows that work is a multifaceted concept. The children broaden our traditional definition of work, using two concurrent definitions. One definition equates work with formal, paid, gainful employment – a job. The other definition is more inclusive, accommodating paid, unpaid, formal and informal work. Moreover, in the latter definition, children also include educational activities such as school and spare time activities that involve an element of learning. Thus, various forms of identity work are also included in the concept of work. The study illustrates children’s contribution to the social construction of childhood and underlines the role work plays in this construction.

Introduction The health of young people in England is an area of concern, nationally and internationally. This has prompted a range of strategies and policies to try to address how health may be improved. However, there has not necessarily been agreement as to how this should best be done. There appeared a case for consideration of alternative or additional approaches to health promotion. Aim This research aimed to construct an assets based model to shape health promotion practice and policy for young people in England. Methods A narrative synthesis was undertaken and highlighted the lack of information regarding which assets might be important for young people’s health in England. This programme of research was developed from those initial findings. Quantitative and qualitative methods were employed to gain a more comprehensive understanding than could be gained by individual methods. This mixed methods research involved secondary data analysis of the Health Behaviours in School Aged Children (HBSC) dataset using regression analysis to identify the assets associated with life satisfaction for English youth. Focus groups and interviews were employed to capture the views of young people regarding assets, health and health promotion. Findings were discussed with practitioners to gather their ideas as to the potential of an assets approach. The different research methods were drawn together by the underpinning theoretical frameworks provided by Assets models and the New Social Studies of Childhood. Results Two themes emerged from the narrative synthesis providing suggestions for health promotion; the ecological approach acknowledged the range of settings that young people inhabit, whilst the holistic approach recognised the interrelationship between risks and assets. Critical discussion consolidated the research findings to propose a list of health promoting assets for young people in England; constructive relationships, safety, positive attributes, independence and opportunity. These findings were brought together into a descriptive model to guide health promotion policy and practice (Figure 1). Constructive relationships appeared as a core asset, providing a foundation from which young people could develop. Having positive attributes was also fundamental to this process, which emphasises the importance of promoting physical and mental health simultaneously. Safety was the third core asset identified through the research strands. There was variation between young people regarding the definition of, and priority assigned to, the additional assets of independence and opportunity. Figure 1: Assets model to shape health promotion with young people Conclusion This research contributes to previous work in the field of assets models by providing new insight into the relatively little researched area of assets approaches to health promotion with young people in England. The complex interrelationships between mental health and assets have been highlighted; providing challenge to frameworks that focus on the quantitative accumulation of assets. The inclusion of young people’s perspectives provided new depth to previous theoretical models and interpretation of quantitative findings. The variation highlighted within this research raises implications for tackling health inequalities. This assets based model provides a framework to shape professional practice and policy thus providing the potential to improve young people’s health and wellbeing in a sustainable and non-stigmatising way.