Abstract / Description of output
The aim of this paper is to present phase one findings from a research project that explores how grassroots youth organisations in Scotland can protect young people from vulnerability to poverty by building collective solidarity. The current cost of living crisis is disproportionately impacting the wellbeing of children who were already disadvantaged. The erosion of welfare and public services, and lack of investment in early years and adolescence have exacerbated poverty. In Scotland, one in four children live in poverty. For those with intersectional inequalities due to disability, ethnicity and family type, the figure is higher and the effects worse. Factors such as food insecurity, poor housing and rising costs put a strain on relationships and reduce capacity for agency, profoundly affecting young people’s wellbeing and outcomes. Alongside this, young people in poverty experience fewer opportunities to exercise democratic citizenship. They are frequently excluded due to a lack of knowledge and confidence, fewer opportunities to participate, and little attention to the spaces and modes in which they wish to engage.
For disadvantaged young people, grassroots youth organisations provide a lifeline, offering sustainable services that build collective capabilities including agency, criticality, trust and confidence. Provision includes education, employability, arts, sport, and basic resources such as food and clothes. They also nurture solidarity, critique and resistance amongst young people through collective processes of conscientisation, conciliation and collaboration. They offer an important focus for epistemic justice, where young people can contribute to wider society by securing their rights to democratic dialogue, deliberation and representation in a trusted and sustainable local setting. While youth organisations track individual outcomes such as confidence, participation and voice, they do not measure the collective wellbeing capabilities prioritised by young people, or the intersectional barriers to achieving these. Recent research suggests that grassroots youth work organisations can play a unique role in supporting youth wellbeing at personal, social and structural levels. Understanding the collective capabilities that young people have reason to value and the specific barriers they face at micro, meso and macro levels will support grassroots youth organisations to extend their social justice outcomes and highlight the unique value of their contribution to youth wellbeing.
This paper presents findings from the first phase of a research project in Scotland with young people. Phase one research explores the question: how can grassroots youth work contribute to the collective wellbeing capabilities of young people? This will include the presentation of findings from an initial review of existing literature on the contribution of grassroots youth work to individual and collective youth wellbeing capabilities in Scotland and beyond; and a logic model developed collaboratively with young people aged 10-19 from grassroots youth organisations, to explore how youth work can protect against vulnerabilities. The logic model will be produced collaboratively in a workshop drawing on a range of creative arts practices including mapping, storytelling and drama. This work will focus on intersectional inequalities due to disability, ethnicity and family type, since families facing these inequalities have been highlighted by Scottish Government as most vulnerable to child poverty.
This phase will prepare for phases 2-4, which will test, refine and present the logic model to policy partners. The aim is to highlight the unique existing and potential contribution to youth collective capabilities made by grassroots youth organisations, to increase the profile and resources afforded to this essential work.
Bibliography
Bečević, Z., and M. Dahlstedt. 2022. “On the Margins of Citizenship: Youth Participation and Youth Exclusion in Times of Neoliberal Urbanism.” Journal of Youth Studies 25 (3): 362–379. doi:10.1080/13676261.2021.1886261.
Fyfe, I., H. Biggs, S. Hunter, J. McAteer, D. Milne, with contributions from S. Cooper, C. Martin, M.Meechan, and A. Thomas. 2018. "The Impact of Community-Based Youth Work in Scotland." A study commissioned by the Scottish Youth Work Research Steering Group. Youthlink Scotland.
Ibrahim, S. 2017. “How to Build Collective Capabilities: The 3C-Model for Grassroots-Led Development.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 18 (2): 197–222. doi: 10.1080/19452829.2016.1270918
Ward, S., McBride, M. and Watson, N. 2022. ‘Evaluating youth empowerment in neighbourhood settings: applying the capabilities 3C model to evidence and extend the social justice outcomes of youth work in Scotland’, Journal of Youth Studies.
Ward, S., C. Bynner, and V. Bianchi. 2021. “Building a Capabilities Framework with Children and Young People: An Illustrated Example.” In Educational Equity, Excellence and Systems Change: Harnessing the Power of Collaboration, edited by M. Ainscow, and C. Chapman, 134–156. New York: Routledge.
For disadvantaged young people, grassroots youth organisations provide a lifeline, offering sustainable services that build collective capabilities including agency, criticality, trust and confidence. Provision includes education, employability, arts, sport, and basic resources such as food and clothes. They also nurture solidarity, critique and resistance amongst young people through collective processes of conscientisation, conciliation and collaboration. They offer an important focus for epistemic justice, where young people can contribute to wider society by securing their rights to democratic dialogue, deliberation and representation in a trusted and sustainable local setting. While youth organisations track individual outcomes such as confidence, participation and voice, they do not measure the collective wellbeing capabilities prioritised by young people, or the intersectional barriers to achieving these. Recent research suggests that grassroots youth work organisations can play a unique role in supporting youth wellbeing at personal, social and structural levels. Understanding the collective capabilities that young people have reason to value and the specific barriers they face at micro, meso and macro levels will support grassroots youth organisations to extend their social justice outcomes and highlight the unique value of their contribution to youth wellbeing.
This paper presents findings from the first phase of a research project in Scotland with young people. Phase one research explores the question: how can grassroots youth work contribute to the collective wellbeing capabilities of young people? This will include the presentation of findings from an initial review of existing literature on the contribution of grassroots youth work to individual and collective youth wellbeing capabilities in Scotland and beyond; and a logic model developed collaboratively with young people aged 10-19 from grassroots youth organisations, to explore how youth work can protect against vulnerabilities. The logic model will be produced collaboratively in a workshop drawing on a range of creative arts practices including mapping, storytelling and drama. This work will focus on intersectional inequalities due to disability, ethnicity and family type, since families facing these inequalities have been highlighted by Scottish Government as most vulnerable to child poverty.
This phase will prepare for phases 2-4, which will test, refine and present the logic model to policy partners. The aim is to highlight the unique existing and potential contribution to youth collective capabilities made by grassroots youth organisations, to increase the profile and resources afforded to this essential work.
Bibliography
Bečević, Z., and M. Dahlstedt. 2022. “On the Margins of Citizenship: Youth Participation and Youth Exclusion in Times of Neoliberal Urbanism.” Journal of Youth Studies 25 (3): 362–379. doi:10.1080/13676261.2021.1886261.
Fyfe, I., H. Biggs, S. Hunter, J. McAteer, D. Milne, with contributions from S. Cooper, C. Martin, M.Meechan, and A. Thomas. 2018. "The Impact of Community-Based Youth Work in Scotland." A study commissioned by the Scottish Youth Work Research Steering Group. Youthlink Scotland.
Ibrahim, S. 2017. “How to Build Collective Capabilities: The 3C-Model for Grassroots-Led Development.” Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 18 (2): 197–222. doi: 10.1080/19452829.2016.1270918
Ward, S., McBride, M. and Watson, N. 2022. ‘Evaluating youth empowerment in neighbourhood settings: applying the capabilities 3C model to evidence and extend the social justice outcomes of youth work in Scotland’, Journal of Youth Studies.
Ward, S., C. Bynner, and V. Bianchi. 2021. “Building a Capabilities Framework with Children and Young People: An Illustrated Example.” In Educational Equity, Excellence and Systems Change: Harnessing the Power of Collaboration, edited by M. Ainscow, and C. Chapman, 134–156. New York: Routledge.
Original language | English |
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Publication status | Published - 12 Sept 2023 |
Event | Human Development & Capabilities Association Conference: Vulnerability, human development and cooperative rebuilding in turbulent times - University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria Duration: 11 Sept 2023 → 13 Sept 2023 https://hd-ca.org/conferences/2023-hdca-conference-sofia-bulgaria |
Conference
Conference | Human Development & Capabilities Association Conference |
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Country/Territory | Bulgaria |
City | Sofia |
Period | 11/09/23 → 13/09/23 |
Internet address |
Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)
- youth work
- youth activism
- Capabilities Approach