The Significance of Time, Place and Traumatic Experience on at-Risk Youths\u2019 View of their Well-Being: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

This preliminary study explores the perspectives of at-risk youths from different cultural backgrounds on their well-being. We propose that youths’ “well-being awareness” – i.e. what sources of well-being adolescents spontaneously become aware of when they are asked about – is strongly related to their socio-cultural context, their life experiences, and the time when they reflect about it. This study focused on the meaning of well-being sources, which were constructed by youths from different cultural backgrounds who faced different traumatic life experiences. We developed and applied a theoretical framework to understand youths’ well-being awareness. Focus group discussions were analyzed of 48 male youths aged 12–18 years. They either faced the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004 (11 boys from South India), or severe intra-familial conflicts (17 European boys), or were unaccompanied minor refugees (20 boys of Asian and African origin). Youths were asked what makes them happy and sad and about their coping strategies, only followed by questions for clarification. First, the data were analyzed inductively based on grounded theory. Second, the gained well-being descriptions were deductively allocated to the most basic elements of human well-being according to White (2008): material, subjective and relational dimension. Through this allocation process the influence of the socio-cultural context (place), life-experience, and time on the meaning of well-being of each youth group became clear. Well-being should be viewed as a process: on the one hand youths conceptions of well-being are deeply rooted in their culture of origin, on the other hand the importance of well-being and its indicators change depending on youths’ traumatic experience and the time of asking about it.