Community-based intervention and marginalised youth: inclusion, social mobility and life-course transition

Abstract

ABSTRACT Community-based interventions have long been seen as mechanisms via which to target marginalised youth in relation to personal development. Research surrounding such interventions has often highlighted the promotion of a range of pro-social behaviours and attributes which, in turn, facilitate an increased sense of social inclusion. This paper seeks to build upon and extend this literature by adopting the concept of social capital to infer how participation in sport and performing arts programmes may enable marginalised youth to access wider support networks. Drawing upon qualitative findings from a small-scale study of one community-based intervention located in the UK, the paper explores broader notions of personal development in relation to educational and employment pathways whilst at the same time developing understandings of the processes through which such programmes might support social inclusion and social mobility. The paper concludes that when marginalised young people are presented with the opportunity to generate positive interpersonal relationships built upon trust, recognition and acceptance, there is clear potential for community-based activity interventions to act as a form of education to enhance employability and incubate social mobility through the accrual of social capital.