Youth Narratives Research Articles

Youth engagement in global conservation governance.

Youth are increasingly recognized for their important role in shaping environmental decisions surrounding conservation. Regrettably, youth who are crucial decision-makers are often excluded from environmental governance spaces due to structural barriers, both economic and political. As highlighted by recent environmental justice literature, this marginalization hinders their active participation in the decision-making process. The recent publication of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Youth Strategy 2022-2030 has brought prominent environmental organizations into the debate. The IUCN World Conservation Congress (WCC) presents a useful example from which to understand how youth access and participate in decision-making at the highest level of governance in a prominent global conservation organization. We used event ethnography and participant observation methods to study the WCC Forum in Marseille, France (2021). We sought to examine the geopolitical intricacies of power and the underlying inequalities at the root of youth engagement, or lack thereof. We considered the IUCN's engagement with youth, outlining the process from previous resolutions and recommendations to the publication of the IUCN Youth Strategy in 2022. The results from the youth narratives we compiled showed that youth are not a monolith, that tokenism should be challenged, and that youth have agency but require support. We argue that when youth are mobilized in metalevel decision-making spaces, their engagement is stratified and unequal. We situated youth engagement in decision-making through the perspective of environmental organizations as a contribution to environmental governance and youth literature.

Youth Is Going to Study in a Metropolis: How Not to Stay Alone

The needs of young people who have moved to study from other cities are often overshadowed by numerous studies of international students, traditionally considered by sociologists and practitioners to be among the most vulnerable groups. In this article, we focus on the migration paths of out-of-town students in megacities and what they face on their way to discovering a new city. The aim is to reconstruct scenarios of social inclusion for nonresident students. How and in what way do young people cope with feelings of isolation and loneliness, and is it really becoming a problem for them? In conceptualizing the scenarios, we rely on the "social drama" approach. By social inclusion scenarios we understand idealized models that summarize similar narratives of student youth about the period of moving to a big city and the way to find their place in it, having their own scenario with a lead, main action and a finale. We interpret social inclusion with reference to the modern debate on citizenship, understood as a wide field of youth involvement, not limited to politicized forms. This article uses the results of a qualitative analysis of 63 interviews with students who moved to study at two universities - the Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg and KFU in Kazan. In each case an average of 31 interviews was conducted with graduate and undergraduate students. We distinguish 6 scenarios associated by the type of plot with film genres. In each of the identified scenarios we record different types of narratives related to experiences of loneliness or isolation in the first months or even years of acquaintance with a new city.

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black African youth and homelessness in Toronto

This qualitative narrative study investigates how social services among African immigrant youth in Toronto can be reimagined and provided in intersectional ways that are just and responsive to their specific and unique needs. The study interviewed 6 African Youths living in Toronto. The study employed an eclectic theory to argue for reimagining of policy that drive homelessness in Canada. The themes that came out of this study are: Homelessness is not African, The walls are squeezing me: Intersectional homelessness. African values and spiritualities are my survival tactic and policy resolution. The study calls all social work researchers and practitioners to work with African communities in providing social services that are attuned to African lived realities, values, and histories rather than relying on market-branded solutions for the “African problem,” such as cultural competency frameworks that continue to mark and market African bodies for profit. The study employs an African-centered perspective to bring forth new approaches to African bodies in diaspora. The study looks at homelessness as a neoliberal concept intended to designate some bodies as improper and out of place while equally producing profit for the capital. Based on African immigrant youth narratives, homelessness is a foreign term in African cosmogonies since African people live with nature.

Essential(ly forgotten) workers: Latine youth farmworkers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Essential workers across multiple industries faced a disproportionate burden of morbidity and mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic. The effects were especially severe for agricultural and food processing workers, many of whom are members of the structurally vulnerable Latine community. Under current U.S. federal laws, children under 12 years old can legally work in agriculture, one of the most hazardous U.S. industries. Many of these working youth are Latine and experience health and educational inequities. Using a community-based participatory research approach and a qualitative design, we conducted semi-structured in-depth interviews in North Carolina in 2022, with service providers in health, education, and advocacy fields (n = 10) and Latine youth farmworkers aged 10-17 (n = 24). We used participatory qualitative analysis methods and a reflexive thematic analysis to understand and describe the work experiences of these youth during the first 2 years of the pandemic. Amidst precarious economic and school situations exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, many youths described an increased need to work to support their families. While aware and sometimes fearful of the added occupational health risks of COVID-19, youth and their families felt they had few other options. Service providers and youth described minimal employer-provided safety protocols or equipment, yet some workers organized their own attempts at safety protocols. Youth narratives imply limited knowledge of basic workplace safety requirements. Study findings emphasize the urgent need to address structural vulnerabilities shaping workplace policies and norms to protect Latine youth farmworkers to support their healthy development.

Class, migration and masculinity among Syrian and Turkish youths in working-class neighborhoods of Istanbul

ABSTRACT This article describes the masculinity narratives of working-class Syrian and Turkish youths in Istanbul on their lived experiences of socio-economic inequalities, everyday violence, and discrimination. Based on qualitative fieldwork conducted in 2020 and 2021 with male youths in two districts, it emphasizes the common experiences of Syrian and Turkish male youths shaped by their working-class predicaments, but also demonstrates that certain forms of masculinity performances emerge as strategies to tackle the difficulties in their lives. Turkish youths’ masculinity narratives display nationalism and anti-migrant discourses, whereas Syrian youths seek to affirm their dignity against racism through performances of masculinity.

Creativity and the Loudness of the Silent Narratives of Youth in Care: A Fieldwork-Inspired Perspective

This article explores creative approaches within social work research, focusing on youth in care. This perspective-driven piece merges literature review and my viewpoints on creative methods, while also critiquing my fieldwork to highlight my application of these approaches. This article also adopts the wormhole throat metaphor to illustrate creativity as a shortcut in social work research, tying together universes—early observations and fuller understandings of youth in care. Concluding, this article advocates for the practical use of creativity in research and argues how researchers’ poststructuralist perspectives, in conjunction with creative approaches, can strengthen consciousness regarding the fragmented and often contradictory experiences of youth in care, leading to the emergence of more empowering narratives.

The Dropout From Youth Sport Crisis: Not as Simple as It Appears

Given the documented benefits associated with organized sport and thus the assumption that youth who leave sport are losing out on developmental benefits, dropout has been predominantly framed as a crisis to be solved. Throughout this paper we aimed to challenge the overarching narrative of youth dropout from organized sport as a negative outcome only by highlighting the complexity of youth sport experiences and participation patterns. First, we highlight the lack of conceptual clarity regarding the term “dropout” and question its relevance for describing youth’s sport experiences. Next, we discuss how declines in organized sport participation may reflect developmentally appropriate transitions in sport and broader physical activity for youth and across the life span. Finally, we suggest that, at times, disengagement may be a positive and protective outcome for youth when the sport environment is harmful. Recommendations for future research and practice are provided to advance the understanding of youth sport experiences and participation patterns.

O QUARTO QUARTO DE HORA

The short story “The Fourth Quarter an Hour” is a youth narrative that highlights the conflicts of a basic education student in Angola, who suffers from the disputes of his education and how he deals with the corrupt practices of the school universe, and the desire for a school test, translating the conflict over the pressure experienced by young people of school age.

Are Differences Evident in the Ways Boys and Girls Appraise and Interpret Their Traumatic Experiences? A Qualitative Analysis of Youth Trauma Narratives.

The purpose of this study was to explore potential similarities and differences in the ways boys and girls appraise and interpret their traumatic experiences, and better understand how gender roles, performance, and socialization processes may impact trauma experiences, appraisals, and narratives within the context of trauma-focused treatment. We used thematic analysis to analyze the trauma narratives of youth (N = 16) ages 8-16 who had experienced multiple types (M = 5.38) of child maltreatment and who were receiving Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to address clinically elevated posttraumatic stress symptoms. Four themes emerged: variations in the content of negative cognitions, differences in relational emotion, adoption of socially prescribed gender roles, and symptom differences. Although many similarities existed in youth's trauma narratives, differences emerged that point to the importance of social context and the ways gender role expectations and socialization processes influence youth's appraisal of and responses to traumatic events. Findings indicate the importance of considering distress tolerance, relational emotion, gender identity development, and role socialization within the treatment milieu.

Second-generation Mozambican migrant youth narratives of being born in Limbo in South Africa

Second-generation Mozambican migrant youth narratives of being born in Limbo in South Africa

‘My multiple cultural backgrounds are pulling me in all directions with my identity’: Asian and Latino Canadian youth experiences of cultural identity

ABSTRACT Identity, diversity, and inclusion are constantly being reshaped in the face of global migration and resettlement. New research is needed that examines youth identities. In this article, we analyse Asian and Latino youth’s understandings and experiences of how their cultural identity has been influenced by exclusion, inequitable access and racism on the part of their host society. We report on a qualitative study; focus groups (2) and individual interviews were conducted with 15 youth participants. Analysis process included code-driven guided by grounded theory. Youth narratives resisted oversimplified representations by inserting their gendered, minority, and youth identity within mainstream multicultural narratives to make visible immigrant youth experiences. Interwoven in youth’s narratives were experiences of racial discrimination, gender inequality, and indeterminate belonging. Cultural identity is a complex and changing concept. We analyse how youth living in multicultural view their need to negotiate their identities to adapt to their challenging multicultural context where they live.

From slash youth to flow workers: exploring the work issues behind the slash youth phenomenon in Mainland China

ABSTRACT In 2016, the slash youth phenomenon gained attention in mainland China. It was seen as an ideal work plan to adapt to contemporary conditions, and was even endorsed by Chinese state media. However, this paper challenges these narratives and examines the practicality of slash youth as a work plan. Through in-depth research and interviews with 20 slash workers, it explores the work problems faced by young people in mainland China and highlights the discrepancies between practice and narrative. In reality, most slash youth work as flow workers, a new type of labor subject shaped by the specific contextual conditions of mainland China. This type of work typically fails to provide a decent income or opportunities for personal growth, contradicting the promises of slash youth narratives. The transition from slash workers to flow workers reveals the limited employment options available and underscores the need for systemic changes in the nature of work. An integrated work culture and system that adapts to new forms of work is needed to avoid dire consequences.

Dynamics of belonging amid geographical immobility: a longitudinal analysis of youth trajectories in rural Australia

ABSTRACT Our analysis of young people who have stayed in rural communities contributes to a ‘relational turn' in youth studies that rejects substantialist approaches to make visible the range of relationships beyond simply educational qualifications and employment that inform youth life projects. This relational turn recognises that ‘youth' is a product of classificatory struggles that become routinised into taken for granted concepts. Our analysis challenges the tendency to see geographical mobility as a normative component of contemporary youth transitions; and rejects the assumption that geographical immobility for rural youth is necessarily associated with disadvantage. Drawing on Yuval Davis' concept of belonging we use longitudinal survey and interview data from rural Australians that left school in 2006 and who stayed in rural locations. Drawing on this data we employ a biographical approach that focuses on their everyday practices and narratives of life projects to explore the dynamics of belonging to place and community over time. Our qualitative analysis of youth narratives supports a relational analysis of belonging to reveal significant similarities between the life projects of rural ‘stayers’ and those who moved to urban areas emphasising belonging through relationships to place, work, family and friends and the personal recognition these elements bring.

Qualitative insights on sexual health counselling from refugee youth in Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement, Uganda: Advancing contextual considerations for brief sexuality-related communication in a humanitarian setting.

Characteristics of enabling healthcare environments to support brief sexuality-related communication (BSC) are understudied in humanitarian settings. We implemented a qualitative study with refugee youth aged 16-24 living in Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement to understand the feasibility of implementing BSC in a humanitarian context. We examined feelings toward doctor's visits in general, including types of conversations youth engage in with healthcare providers, as well as comfort, safety, and willingness to talk with healthcare providers about sexual health. We implemented four focus groups with refugee youth in Bidi Bidi, two with young women and two with young men, and applied thematic analysis informed by a social contextual theoretical framework that explores enabling environments for sexual health promotion. Participants (n = 40; mean age: 20 years, standard deviation: 2.2; women: n = 20; men: n = 20) reported relational, symbolic, and material dimensions of context considered important when discussing sexual health. Relational contexts included a) trusting relationship with local healthcare practitioners, including practices that foster comfort and confidentiality, and b) family, friends, and mentors as additional sources of health information. Symbolic contexts refer to values, norms, and beliefs that reflect what is perceived as valuable and worthy, and in turn, what is devalued and stigmatized. Specific to sexual health, participants discussed stigma toward STIs and HIV, devaluation of women in healthcare settings, and generalized fear of doctors and disease as barriers to engaging in dialogue about sexual health with healthcare providers. Material contexts include agency linked with resource access and experiences. Youth narratives revealed that positive experiences accessing medication to manage pain and infections increased their willingness to engage in healthcare discussions, whereby clinic layouts and dynamics that compromised confidentiality and privacy reduced the likelihood of sexual health dialogue. Language barriers and healthcare provider time constraints were additional factors that reduced healthcare engagement. Taken together, findings can inform BSC implementation strategies that consider the inner and outer settings that shape sexual health dialogue and sexual health and wellbeing among refugee youth living in humanitarian settings.

Beyond Master Narratives: A Reassessment of the Apprentice Riot of 1592

ABSTRACT: The relationship between London apprentices and playhouses in the Tudor period has tended to be viewed through the filter of guiding master narratives of class solidarity, local rivalry, subversive playhouses, unruly youths, or hegemonic control. In the case of William Webbe’s report of a riot by apprentice feltmakers on June 11, 1592, scholars have offered many interpretations in service of one or another of these narratives. This essay offers a reassessment of the events of that day based on the history of feltmakers’ apprentices and the geography of the Blackfriars in London, Bermondsey Street, the Bankside, and Newington Butts. By rewriting the events of that day based on such details, we find that the apprentices were a politically savvy group cannily using the theaters and geography of early modern London to assert their own self-advocacy.

A retrospective analysis of the gender trajectories of youth who have discontinued a transition

Background: Detransition is frequently covered in the media as a return to a cis identity after transition. Detransition is often studied in isolation and fails to examine it in context of various stages leading to detransition. Aim: To present the perspectives and reflections of youth who have detransitioned on their journey from early transition to discontinuation, focusing on three key dimensions: gender modalities, sexual modalities, and dysphoria experiences, and their evolution during this journey. Method: We drew from 20 in-depth interviews with young people aged 16 to 25 who have discontinued a transition and examined various stages of the gender journey from early transition to detransition. Youth narratives were analyzed thematically and longitudinally. Results: We developed three main themes related to the gender journey: nonlinear gender modalities, navigating sexual modalities along with gender modalities, and coping with dysphoria and body discomfort. We found a great diversity of experiences with regard to these within each participant and across the sample. Discussion: Transition and detransition trajectories are nonlinear and heterogeneous, without any identified commonalities that enable the prediction of outcomes after transitions. However, transnormativity may influence how people who detransition are expected to conform to a certain narrative despite the diversity of experiences present in this community.

Love, Simon and failure: Challenging normative discourses and femmephobia in gay youth representations

Contemporary and mainstream representations of gender and sexual minorities within pop culture provide an opportunity for marginalized narratives and stories to reach audiences otherwise excluded. As gay adolescent youth narratives become normalized within mainstream representations, ideas of coming out, the invisibilization of gay femininities, and the privileging of gender normativity within gay young adulthood percolate in film and media. This article presents an interpretive analysis of the regulation of femininity—femmephobia—within Love, Simon through depictions of Simon (the main gay adolescent character) and Ethan (Simon’s feminine gay peer). Using femme theory and “fag discourses,” this article problematizes femmephobic depictions of gay adolescence. Moreover, this article argues that Ethan's position as a “femme failure,” and thus an exemplar of femme resistance, offers opportunities for challenging femmephobic gender relations amongst gay adolescence in media and pop culture.

Epistemic justice and injustice among youth with mental health concerns

AbstractThis paper applied a critical narrative analysis to narratives of youth self‐identifying as having mental health concerns. Instances of epistemic justice and injustice were identified related to youth's interactions with clinical and educational institutions as well as with parents and peers. Youth experienced instances of institutional ignorance related to their experiences, as well as implicit and explicit silencing of their experiences. Youth also experienced validation from practitioners and teachers who validated their needs and knowledge of their own experiences. Implications for practice and research are discussed around promoting epistemically just practice with youth and in the mental health system.

“It’s a Feeling That Makes You do Anything”: Youth’ Narratives of Love and Experiences of Victimization in Their Romantic Relationships

Youth narratives of love are shaped by romantic experiences through observation of others’ romantic relationships, and by media commonly conveying romantic beliefs. Since past reports have linked romantic beliefs to dating violence (DV), studies need to explore narratives of love by youth who report DV victimization experiences to identify specific targets to address in DV prevention programs. This qualitative study explored the narratives of love by heterosexual youth and documented specific features according to their DV victimization experiences. Directed content analysis guided the analyses of semi-structured interviews of 82 participants aged 15 to 24 years ( M = 19.4; SD = 2.1). Most participants were cisgender females (75.6%) born in Canada to Canadian-born parents (54.6%). Four polarized narratives of love emerged: (1) Growing love versus love at first sight, (2) Completive versus fusional love, (3) Lucid versus triumphant love, and (4) Ongoing versus eternal love. Both participants who reported experiencing DV victimization, and those who did not, expressed non-romantic and romantic beliefs, although they used different wording to convey similar beliefs in their narratives. These findings underscore the importance of challenging the dominant romantic beliefs that may place youth at risk of experiencing DV and therefore contribute to DV prevention.

Crisis as Opportunity, Risk, or Turmoil: Qualitative Study of Youth Narratives About the COVID-19 Pandemic

PurposeThe present study employed a narrative approach in order to explore how young people constructed meanings regarding their sense of self in the context of COVID-19 experiences. Adolescents have been identified as a particularly vulnerable group, as the developmental challenges they face are superimposed and amplified by the accidental crisis caused by the pandemic. MethodsAn in-depth narrative analysis was conducted on written accounts of 13 females aged 17–23 years from Serbia. We selected these narratives from a larger sample of 70 responses (M = 20.1; SD = 2.9; 85.7% female) collected via an online form. We used reflexive thematic analysis as a tool for the selection process of the narratives subjected to in-depth narrative analysis. ResultsYoung people told stories that differ significantly in coherence, affective tone, personal agency, and depth of self-exploration. Narrative analysis of the selected accounts identified three distinct types of stories: (1) crisis as an opportunity for personal growth, (2) crisis as a risk for the sense of self, and (3) crisis as inner turmoil. DiscussionNarrative analysis enabled us to recognize three distinct processes of youth meaning-making related to the sense of self in times of crisis, all reflecting a significant impact on their core developmental task. Personal narratives served different functions; for some, the pandemic was framed as a challenge one could grow from, while others were left devastated or overwhelmed. Narrative coherence reflected youths' capacities for integrating experiences not necessarily connected to their psychological well-being.