Young people’s search for agency: Making sense of their experiences and taking control

Abstract

This article draws on the findings of the qualitative phase of a New Zealand longitudinal study on vulnerable young people’s transitions to adulthood. The young people were aged between 12 and 17 years at the time of the first interview. The paper focuses on one key finding, how youth enact agency through their relationships with significant others: families, social workers, teachers and care workers. These youth had experienced sustained exposure to harm including abuse, violence, addictions, disengagement from school and mental health issues. The qualitative interviews focused on young people’s experiences with services (child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and education support services) their key transitions, and the strategies they used to locate support and resources. The thematic analysis of the interviews indicated that a search for agency was a central motif in young people’s experiences. This was reflected in three thematic clusters: making sense of the world, having a voice and acting on the world.

Keywords

Agency relationships social work interventions transitions young people’s perspectives

Introduction

This article reports on a study of vulnerable young people. It explores the strategies these young people adopted to make sense of their experiences and take control over their circumstances. The article aims to contribute to the growing literature on the ways in which youth in challenging socio-economic circumstances negotiate these circumstances and exercise agency (Aaltonen, 2013; Bottrell, 2009; Evans, 2002, 2007; Kumpulainen et al., 2014; Tomanovic, 2012). This recent literature interrogates historical accounts of the interaction between structure and agency (Evans, 2002, 2007; Giddens, 1984). Research is focused on an analysis of lived experiences and context in order to understand the factors that mediate the impacts of structures on individual circumstances. The study explores young people’s transitions to adulthood by documenting their ‘subjective understanding of significant changes in their life course’ (Aaltonen, 2013: 376). Of particular interest is a focus on the relationship between agency and structure, the extent to which youth can exercise agency in the context of their particular circumstances and the social structures that shape their experiences.

Agency, transitions and vulnerable youth

The recent research on young people’s transitions highlights their complexity and challenges the linearity of transitions calling for a multi-layered approach that takes account of the particular social and economic positioning of youth (Aaltonen, 2013; Wyn and Woodman, 2006). This research generates a nuanced understanding that explores the relationship between individual choice, social structures and resources. Here a social biographical approach seeks to understand the factors that influence young people’s lives outside of the ‘transitional points conventionally understood as passages to adulthood’ (Aaltonen, 2013: 377). It explores the way that critical moments in the life course shape future experiences. Attention is paid to the diverse domains in young people’s lives including education, employment, family, peers, their neighbourhoods and their life projects. Young people’s own accounts of their life histories emphasise the significance of critical moments; the events that may have important consequences for the ‘lives and identities of young people’ (Aaltonen, 2013: 377). The idea of critical moments provides a useful theoretical frame for understanding the transition experiences of young people whose life chances are constrained by social and economic circumstances. Investigation of young people’s situations exposes the complex interface between intra and interpersonal factors and structural conditions. Of importance for vulnerable youth is the role of key adults and support systems in their transition experiences (Kearns, 2014: 504). Vulnerable youth often report that events appear to be beyond their control and they cope with this by making the most of the least ‘bad option’ (Aaltonen, 2013: 377). For example, for the youth in the study reported on here, a critical moment was being removed from their family and placed in foster care. This decision was made by others and youth made sense of this by interpreting it as the least ‘bad option’.

The education experiences of vulnerable youth illustrate how young people mediate least ‘bad options’ and how critical moments operate to expand or restrict life choices. These youth experience regular exclusion from schools. When youth are disengaged from the education system and also have long histories in the care system they do not experience the conventional transition points (for example, moving through and graduating from the compulsory education system into either employment or further study and receiving family resources and support for moving into independent living) of their peers who follow ‘normative’ developmental pathways. Youth who are disengaged from ‘mainstream’ environments and who occupy marginal positions experience a type of ‘bounded agency’ and consequently seek out opportunities to exercise agency in different places from their more fortunate peers (Aaltonen, 2013; Allard, 2007; Evans, 2007; Tomanovic, 2012). Expulsion from school can restrict opportunities but they can open up other possibilities such as being able to attend an alternative education programme where support from tutors enables youth to re-engage with education.

The concept of ‘bounded agency’ defines agency as ‘socially situated’ (Evans, 2007: 93) and as a complex relationship between structure, social conditions, institutions and the actions of individuals (Evans, 2002, 2007). Agency emerges from processes of reflection, compromise and negotiation (Tomanovic, 2012: 606) as individuals cope with and shape their environments (Ferguson and Walker, 2014; McLean et al., 2013). For youth who face adversity and live in impoverished environments, the concept of ‘bounded agency’ focuses attention on how these young people seek to have voice and some control over their circumstances within limited options and resources.

As with youth in the foster care system who age out of care into independence, and are expected to be equipped with the resources for independence (Cunningham and Diversi, 2013), the compressed and accelerated transitions of the youth in this study meant that they were ‘catapulted’ into adult worlds at a young age (Kearns, 2014: 503). These youth had experienced social and emotional disruption, unpredictable family support, pressure to make adult decisions and responsibility for caring for siblings and other family members at a young age. Their sustained exposure to harmful environments and their intense engagement with services (child welfare, youth justice, mental health) created a type of ‘bounded agency’ that both restricted and opened up opportunities. The idea of ‘hidden resilience’ (Ungar, 2012) emerged as an important concept that facilitated understanding of how youth made sense of their circumstances and negotiated for resources. As Schwartz et al. (2005) have demonstrated, achieving a strong sense of agency is connected to the development of secure identities in emerging adulthood. Vulnerable youth generally have limited opportunities to break out of the limitations and constructions that define them as problematic, risky and needing to be managed (Bolzan and Gale, 2012: 513). Their circumstances require them to use their strengths and resources to mediate their environments and avoid trouble. While social workers may at times represent a negative factor in young people’s lives especially when they are required to manage scarce resources, for many youth social workers are a key support in enabling them to develop strategies that harness their strengths and resources in order to mediate current challenges, overcome past experiences and realise different futures (Lister, 2007).

The ideas explored here informed the theoretical foundation of the study. We wanted to hear from young people themselves about their circumstances, how they mediated their harmful environments and their perspective on the critical moments that shaped their experiences and transitions.

The study

The purpose of the research was to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors that influence the developmental pathways of youth with complex needs and to identify those factors that influence their capacity to achieve good outcomes in young adulthood (Munford et al., 2013). The research aimed to develop an understanding of the transitions of vulnerable youth focusing on identity development, education and employment. We were interested in understanding how service engagement contributed to the process of identity development and in particular how youth made sense of their worlds and navigated to meaningful resources and support. Drawing on positive youth development approaches (Sukarieh and Tannock, 2011), the research worked from the premise that youth are the experts of their own experiences, so are the most qualified to answer questions that concern their lives. Accordingly, the focus of the research was upon collecting data (surveys and qualitative interviews) directly from youth.

Methods

The participants

At the time of the first interview, all youth were aged between 12 and 17 years and came from six geographical locations in New Zealand (n = 593). Youth had one or more of the following characteristics: they had prematurely stopped attending mainstream schools (prior to age 16; the mandated age at which youth can leave school), they were involved in one or more of the major service systems (child welfare, youth justice, mental health or attending an alternative education programme), or they were living independently or were homeless. The youth completed three annual surveys which covered patterns of service use, their risks and the role of material, social and emotional resources in achieving outcomes (for more detail on the survey questions contact the authors). A sub-sample (n = 108) of youth (64 males and 44 females) participated in three further annual qualitative interviews. As with the wider study, the greater numbers of males reflects the presence of youth justice service involvement among youth in the study. Youth were chosen because they had experiences across a range of services and while some had experienced positive transitions, many were facing major challenges including lack of resources sufficient to cover their basic needs, offending, disengagement from education, and mental health issues, including alcohol and substance abuse. The findings reported on in this article draw on the first qualitative interview at which point youth were aged between 17 and 20 years.

Ethical protocols and recruitment

The research was approved by the University Ethics Committee. In this research ethics processes, including obtaining informed consent, were complex and dynamic. In keeping with sound ethical practice (Neale and Hanna, 2012; Shaw, 2008), ethical matters were applied at each stage of the research: research design, recruitment, data collection and analysis, and dissemination and were reviewed at the beginning of each phase of the research. While the ethical protocols for the research clearly met the requirements of the University Ethics Committee, ethical concerns were more complex than complying with the ethics codes (Shaw, 2008). Given the social positioning of the young people and their sustained exposure to harmful environments, there was a moral obligation to pay close attention to an ‘ethic of care’ (Kearns, 2014; Munford et al., 2008). Interviewers met regularly to discuss research processes, to reflect on interviews and address any emergent ethical issues (Sanders et al., 2014; Urry et al., 2014).

Gaining access (Abrams, 2010) to young people and obtaining their direct consent required careful attention. Recruitment began with meetings with providers to secure support for the research. Several meetings were held with agencies in the research planning stages, and the researchers maintained contact with these agencies throughout the project. While the researchers kept services informed of the overall progress of the research, information about particular young people remained confidential. The researchers met with young people independently of agency staff, explained the research to them and gave them opportunities to ask questions. The researchers obtained direct consent from youth and this process was carefully monitored by the researchers to ensure that the rights of young people were protected. Recognising that young people have the competence to make well informed decisions regarding participation in research, parental consent was not required, rather young people themselves consented to their involvement in the research. The youth had many opportunities to engage with the interviewers and ask questions about the research. Interviews were set up via texting, phone calls, email and Facebook messaging and these encounters with the researchers gave young people opportunities to clarify their questions about the research.

Each interview began with a discussion about the research and secured informed consent. Interviewers outlined the researcher’s role and put in place processes for managing any potential experiences of distress or risk that could arise in the interview. Other researchers have cautioned that young people from adverse backgrounds should be carefully chosen for continuing in longitudinal research, as the interview may be a site for triggering memories and emotions in relation to past difficulties (Urry et al., 2014; Ward and Henderson, 2003). Participants came from adverse environments, and we were alert to the potential for the interview to trigger emotions and memories. However, as with other researchers (Kearns, 2014) we embraced the principle that young people had a right to be heard and to make their own decisions about participation in the research. We wanted to avoid stereotypical views of young people as being ill-equipped and unable to make their own decisions about participation and recognised instead their ‘competence and autonomy’ (Kearns, 2014: 507) in choosing to participate and remain involved in the study. We adopted a commitment to an ‘ethic of care’ in order to give youth an opportunity to ‘give voice’ to their experiences.

Once consent was obtained, an interview time was organised with the young person. Agency staff were not involved in this process. Young people determined the time and location of the interview. Youth were clearly informed of the relationship between the researchers and the agency that the agency was a place to meet with youth who may be interested in participating in the research, but that all the information the young person shared in the interview remained confidential and was not discussed with agency staff. Agency staff did not know which youth agreed to participate in these interviews.

Interviews

The semi-structured interview schedule included a range of questions that captured the life experiences of the young person. The questions focused on: experiences of service use, family, school, community, their resources and networks of support, relationships, experiences of harm, understanding of health and wellbeing, their views on what did or what could assist them in addressing their challenges and achieving their goals, and reflection on transitions and critical moments. The interviews lasted between 40 and 90 minutes and were carried out in a location chosen by the youth. Interviews were recorded and youth could write and draw their answers as well as talk into the audio. Young people could stop the interview if they were finding the process difficult; ethical protocols included processes for linking young people to supportive services. We had clear protocols for managing sensitive issues such as when a young person disclosed that they were unsafe. Participants were given a voucher of their choice to thank them for participating, and food was provided at each interview.

The interviews generated rich accounts and deep understanding about the life experiences of these youth (Bolzan and Gale, 2012; Halvorsen, 2009). We used trained interviewers experienced in researching with youth who were skilled in building trust and rapport with young people (Cunningham and Diversi, 2013; Ferguson and Walker, 2014). Interviewers had responsibility for a group of youth so that they would see the same person each year; this enabled us to build an ongoing narrative with each young person concerning their experiences, their aspirations and their emerging sense of who they were and where they belonged. Because trust and respect was able to be built over successive interviews it became possible to ‘talk with’ and engage in ‘difficult’ conversations (Staller, 2014) with youth. Considerable effort was spent in preparing and debriefing interviewers so that they were able to manage their emotions in the interviews (Tufford and Newman, 2012). The researchers paid attention to how reciprocity may be achieved while realising the limitations of this in research encounters (Kearns, 2014; Shaw, 2008). Young people reported that they felt listened to and trusted the interviewer. Many commented on the respect they were shown and they appreciated the efforts interviewers went to in setting up interviews and conducting them at times and places chosen by the young person. Others spoke of not being heard and feeling powerless in their relationships with other adults. Some talked of the interview as being a time when they would be listened to, not judged and where there would be no consequences for what they said. Jema¹ (aged 19) who had been in foster care since aged six, had moved foster homes regularly and had also had a period in a residential youth justice programme, captured this point: ‘This is, like, the one constant every year, with all the stuff going on I know I will have this, that’s kinda good’. As researchers we can define this as a cathartic moment (Urry et al., 2014) where participants can have space to talk about painful events and memories. For these youth who had experienced being ‘let down’ by many adults interviews represented a time where they felt that their views were valued and respected. Other youth talked about how the research might be able to change things for youth, as Bailey (aged 18) who had been in numerous foster homes and had wanted to return her family but was unable to, said: ‘No-one should have the s … life I had, they should look after kids and they need to listen to us’. Bailey expressed a view articulated by many youth that by being part of the study they might contribute to improvements in life circumstances for other young people.

In their debriefing researchers reflected on young people’s positive orientation to the research and how they experienced the interview as a place where they could assert autonomy and control over the process. Youth reported that they felt safe in the interviews and that they could reflect on their experiences with adults who understood their attempts to mediate their challenging circumstances. Trust was central to this research and while this kind of research has a different purpose than qualitative intervention research and evaluation, the lessons learned have much to offer these approaches; for example, how to establish trust-based relationships that enable the collection of robust and rich data.

Data analysis

The reflexive strategies used in recruitment and data collection to ensure that research processes were rigorous were continued in the data analysis phase. In order to achieve trustworthiness of the data, that is to ensure that the findings reflected the meaning implied by the participants (Lietz et al., 2006: 5), a range of reflexive processes including peer debriefing, shared analysis, and review of disconfirming information were adopted.

In this study, interviews were transcribed verbatim and transcripts were coded using the Nvivo computer programme. Coding and thematic analysis was carried out by a team. In the first level of analysis, data were sorted into codes that represented sensitising concepts (that informed the development of the study) and in the next level of analysis, key themes were identified. Other themes were generated from a deeper interpretive analysis, such as the one which is the focus of this article, young people’s search for agency. Issues of rigor and trustworthiness of the data were achieved via individual researchers coding the data and meeting to discuss the emerging themes and to resolve discrepancies in coding, analysis and interpretation. In the process of data analysis, questions of dissemination of findings also arose. This included identifying strategies for making the findings accessible to a diverse audience: young people, families and services. Dissemination included the generation of web-based and multimedia products, technical reports, information for policy-makers and practitioners, oral presentations and peer-reviewed articles.

Findings

Young people’s search for agency emerged as a key theme in the analysis of the data. Three thematic clusters were identified: ‘making sense of the world’; ‘pushing to have a voice and be heard’ and ‘acting on the world – creating new directions’.

‘Making sense of the world’

‘Making sense of the world’ is a key element in developing a sense of agency. For the youth in this study taking control of their circumstances involved coming to an understanding of their experiences and the decisions that others made about them. Chelsea (aged 20) talked about her experiences in a youth justice facility. While she felt angry about being sent there she also said it gave her an opportunity to reflect on her experiences and the circumstances that led to her placement in this facility:

You know so they helped me a lot to figure out where I was going and

what I was doing.

Other young people wanted to find their own way through their issues and ‘work it out’ themselves. Brittany (aged 20) talked about her engagement with child welfare services and how she was careful about with whom she would share her story; in this way she felt she retained some control over the decisions that were made about her care:

I basically just went through that by myself … I just didn’t want to share

my personal life with them.

Youths’ attempts to make sense of their worlds manifested itself in unexpected ways. For instance, many said they forgave the people who had hurt them or had not acted to protect them from dangerous situations. Often they blamed themselves for the trouble they found themselves in and stated that if they had acted differently things may have been different. Stephen (aged 18) was involved with youth justice services at a young age. In his interview, he talked about his substance abuse and how he had tried to be different than his family, who had a long history of drug and alcohol abuse. He loved learning, so he focused on his education but as he entered his teenage years he began to offend and use drugs and alcohol:

I know I could have walked away from all that but it was too hard, I know I should have tried harder at school, but at home everyone was into it (drugs and alcohol) and then I got into it too.

Stephen blamed himself for not continuing with school and internalised the feedback from teachers that he needed to take responsibility for his own actions. Like many of the youth in the study, Stephen became involved in adult activities at a young age and this resulted in a compressed childhood. Disengagement from school restricted his ability to participate in ‘ordinary’ activities such as sport and cultural activities. He eventually gained a place in a residential substance abuse treatment programme which enabled him to re-engage with his education.

Despite the challenges in their environments youth held hope and optimism and their aspirational talk was populated with agentic themes. Many commented on how they felt proud when they could be ‘staunch’ and ‘tough’, deal with their challenges and work out issues for themselves. Rick (aged 19) who was involved with youth justice and mental health services, talked about how he learned to deal with his anger:

I’m pretty good at doing that now [dealing with people who harassed me], I always manage to do something … there’s no point in having a sulk about it, no-one is going to swoop down and say: ‘if you don’t do something about it, you’re going to be in trouble’.

Amanda’s (aged 18) situation began to make more sense to her when she began to trust her tutors who helped her understand the circumstances that led to her offending. These tutors helped Amanda develop a strong sense of her own capacity to have an influence on her world:

I’ve made myself like, totally different and a different way of thinking,

and actually listening to what people are trying to tell me.

Amanda used her time at an alternative education programme to reflect on her offending and identify strategies that would help her remove herself from a peer group that encouraged this behaviour; central to this change was being listened to and having adults around her who would help her work through her issues and stand by her when she made mistakes. Being able to take control of their circumstances involved youth finding ways to have a voice and be heard.

‘Pushing to have a voice and be heard’

A key foundation in being able to enact agency is ‘having a voice’. For the youth in this study ‘having a voice’ meant being respected, listened to, informed and involved in decision-making. Many talked of feeling ignored and having their opinions discounted. When practitioners did not take the time to listen to young people’s views, it was difficult to establish a meaningful relationship with the young person. Casey (aged 18) had been in care from a young age and had moved between her mother’s care and foster care; she had many insights into her relationships with social workers and foster parents and having her views ignored:

They could have listened, like come to a decision I agree to. Like just

found something instead, of going back to my mum, different options

and maybe I wouldn’t have turned out how I am.

Youth were reasonable in their requests in wanting to be heard. They understood that practitioners were busy and could not always respond immediately, but as Ariana (aged 18) who had been involved with child welfare services from a young age said:

… you have got to listen, you have got to hear where they are coming from.

If I thought I wasn’t being listened to, that was when I would act up. Now if you listen to me, I will you know, meet you halfway. You know if I felt I was heard then there was more of a chance of me behaving myself.

When youth felt ignored they found other ways to communicate their needs and feelings. Justin (aged 17) was moved around foster homes and felt that the adults who were charged with helping him did not understand how confused and alone he felt:

I wasn’t angry at the start you know, I was just confused, like why people weren’t listening to me, so I did something to get their attention, so they would listen to me and then they treated me even worse because of it and that’s when I started getting into trouble with the police.

Michael (aged 18) who had offended from a young age started to feel listened to when he was sentenced to a youth justice facility and had opportunities to reflect on his experiences. He said that he was angry that his parents did not ‘want’ him and that no-one cared about him. In residence, he felt listened to and could ‘let go’ and begin to understand why he felt so angry and out of control. When young people form trusting relationships with practitioners and other adults, when their opinions are valued and when they are involved in decision-making, they become more able to address their challenges; they can use their voice to activate service responses that assist them to make changes. Elsa (aged 17) who had been in foster care from age three was able to name the social workers and foster parents who had listened to her. She said: ‘I had a voice’ and they ‘went the extra mile for me, I felt loved’. Being heard and feeling, she belonged somewhere gave Elsa the confidence and motivation to work hard at school and join in activities with her peers. Amanda (aged 18) had a similar experience. In talking about her tutors at an alternative education programme, she drew attention to the way in which having a voice made a difference:

They show heaps of respect to us, they make us feel good about what we are

doing, they congratulate us on things … and know we need to be noticed.

Anna (aged 17) experienced a critical moment when she finally found a mental health practitioner who could listen to her fears and help her understand her depression and her ‘triggers’:

She knows me well, I know her well so I feel really comfortable with her and she knows like my triggers and stuff…and she taught me things I can do to help me relax and stuff like that, how to deal with a lot of things.

Anna felt she could be honest about her fears and begin to understand her feelings and behaviour. This gave her some control over her circumstances and a feeling that she could ‘act on her world’.

‘Acting on the world – creating new directions’

The youth in this study found ways to influence their environments. While these strategies did not always have positive consequences, being able to ‘act on their worlds’ and negotiate their challenging environments engendered a sense of efficacy and self-worth and in this way contributed to their sense of agency. For example, Jema (aged 19) talked of running away as a strategy for removing herself from difficult situations and relationships. This strategy was problematic in the short term as she often ended up in unsafe situations. There were long term implications for youth who like Jema ran away to cope because over time they were unable to establish relationships with trusting adults. Many of the youth talked about feeling angry at the world because adults had let them down. A critical moment for the youth was when they were able to form a relationship with an adult, often a practitioner, who opened up new opportunities for them to positively ‘act on their world’. For example, Amanda’s (aged 18) alternative education tutors gave her confidence to seek help so she could overcome her learning difficulties. Elsa (aged 17) gained the confidence to stay in education when her foster parent and social worker helped her find a school and supported her to stay there and focus on her learning. She identified this as an important moment when she finally felt that being in care could help her achieve her educational goals. Emma (aged 17) who had disrupted schooling was eventually able to form positive relationships with adults who believed in her and gave her opportunities to dream for a better future:

They (her employers) are a huge part of what’s driven me to keep working…

they are extremely proactive and inspiring people.

Justin (aged 17) moved to a new foster home at 13 and this foster mum became a significant adult who helped him learn how to respond positively to difficult situations:

…you know she listened to me and taught me the way I’m trying to tell people stuff is wrong, and the tone I’m using and my body language, she taught me about all that and nobody else did, so that’s why my message wasn’t getting across.

Addressing intractable issues and changing pathways required support. Residential settings provided opportunities to practice positive coping strategies in a safe and supported environment. Stephen (aged 18) who had a long period in a residential substance abuse programme explained this point:

They change all those old behaviours and habits that you’ve been doing

for years.

Luciana (aged 18) reflected on her time in a residential youth justice facility. She captured the opportunity it gave her to learn a new way to act on her world and create change:

It gave me what I needed, like it was the best thing I’ve done in my life.

…I needed to think about where I would end up if I keep going the way

I am going … So I just needed to let go [of all of that] if I wanted to go any further in

the right direction pretty much, yeah.

However despite finding sanctuary and support in residential environments youth also emphasised that discharge represented another critical moment. It was difficult to sustain the positive behaviours learned in this environment if there were not strong supportive adults to help with this transition. These adults provided both emotional and practical support and helped the young person learn how to create new pathways. The social workers at a youth justice residential programme supported Mariana (aged 18) to make sense of her feelings and provided her with practical strategies for managing her anger. Importantly one of these workers helped Mariana through the critical moment of her transition back into the community and then kept in touch after this point. She became an enduring presence for Mariana. Expulsion from school propelled Emma (aged 17) into a ‘liminal’ space full of uncertainty and anxiety. The critical moment for Emma was forming a positive relationship with her employers. This helped her to see hope for the future. Emma reminds us how significant supportive adults are in influencing whether a critical moment represents a positive or negative turning point:

Yes I am loving every part of my life at the moment … I know now that there’s

so many opportunities … Before I never saw past really 18 … Now I am excited.

Discovering that they could ‘act on their world’ enabled these youth to dream about different futures. The findings indicated a key role for social workers in helping youth make sense of their experiences and begin to take control of their circumstances.

Discussion-what the findings tell us about practice

Engaging, listening and acting

Youth in this study shared their perspectives about the adults in their lives who made a difference, who opened up opportunities and enabled youth to hope for and navigate toward positive futures. Because they were often present at a critical moment, social workers could make a difference and they did this by establishing authentic and genuine relationships with youth. These social workers assisted youth to make sense of their experiences and gain some control over their circumstances. Social workers who made a difference engaged with youth by taking time to listen to them and understand the ways that their experiences influenced their behaviours. These trust-based relationships were the foundation of effective practice (Ruch, 2012). Being able to engage with a social worker who was prepared to ‘go the extra mile’ represented a positive critical moment for these youth. Broken relationships were a feature of the lives of many youth in this study. The strong relationship they could form with a social worker enabled them to experience a respectful and caring relationship; a relationship where adults kept their word. Supportive relationships provided opportunities for youth to be active partners participating in decisions about interventions and having opportunities to enact and ‘try out’ (Kumpulainen et al., 2014: 2) agency in pro-social ways.

By becoming a positive enduring presence, social workers enabled youth to confront the challenges in their environments. These workers provided both emotional and practical support and at times they took on advocacy roles, such as supporting youth to receive resources and entitlements from the welfare system. In the early stages of their engagement with youth, they focused on immediate issues, such as ensuring that youth were safe, and as the relationship developed they moved to focus on long-term goals. Getting youth back into education was a significant intervention that enabled youth to get ‘back on track’ and to begin to experience some of the activities that their more fortunate peers might take for granted (Halvorsen, 2009), such as recreational and cultural activities. This required a sustained focus given the alienation youth experienced when they disengaged from education. Central to achieving this goal was harnessing diverse support networks and resources including significant people who were prepared to provide targeted support that enabled youth to re-engage with education.

Harnessing resources and opportunities

The findings indicated that youth demonstrated ‘hidden resilience’ (Ungar, 2012). They found ways to negotiate for resources and mediate the effects of living in adverse circumstances that while not always positive, nonetheless enabled them to meet some of their needs. The study findings contribute to current debates on agency and extend the thinking on the relationship between intentionality and free will and constraining structural features (Giddens, 1984). Findings indicated that notwithstanding the constraints imposed by societal structures, there are opportunities for youth to negotiate these and open up opportunities. The findings support those of other studies where researchers have highlighted the potential of ‘unconstructive aspects of agency’ that open up possibilities for ‘generative agency’ (Aaltonen, 2013: 386). In this study, youth were disengaged from many ‘mainstream’ experiences, such as education, and experienced a type of ‘bounded agency’ which restricted their opportunities. However, they had developed coping strategies and learned to make the most of their environments. They found ways to have voice despite their limited options and resources. For example, they sought out individuals who would provide them with a sense of belonging; they found ways to make their needs known, such as removing themselves from difficult situations and they found ways to keep themselves safe in harmful environments. Evans (2007: 93) asserts that despite structural constraints ‘actors move in social landscapes [and] spaces open up for action’. Moreover, constraints can be reduced through policies that facilitate the provision of social and material resources and programmes that directly respond to the needs of vulnerable youth. The youth in this study had attempted to enact agency and to take control of their circumstances; however, this was difficult as without the assistance of significant others and policies and practices that facilitated pathways back into mainstream activities such as education, youth found it difficult to act on and create positive change in their environments. Previous experiences shaped their perceptions of what was possible now and in the future (Evans 2007: 92).

Trust-based social work relationships enabled youth to learn positive ways to ‘act on their world’. Like the participants in Neander and Skott’s (2006) study, where social workers became ‘important persons’ to clients and enacted intersubjectivity by learning about clients’ ‘everyday worlds’ and experiences, the social workers in this study also became ‘important persons’. Social workers who formed meaningful relationships with youth took the time to understand their capacities and strengths and the strategies they had used to mediate their circumstances. Through this, they could harness the ‘hidden resilience’ of these youth so that it could be used by services as part of the change process. This meant that interventions were more likely to be relevant, respectful and responsive. Equally important was an understanding of the power of small positive events (Kumpulainen et al., 2014: 14) and the impact these can have for youth, such as finding a tutor to provide one-on-one support. Also of significance was giving youth opportunities to ‘try out’ agency (Kumpulainen et al., 2014: 2–3) within supportive environments. Residential settings often provided youth with a secure space to reflect on their past and to think about future possibilities (Kearns, 2014: 503). Carefully planned and supported transitions from these settings were critical so that gains made here could be sustained in community environments.

Effective social work practice with vulnerable youth calls for creativity in finding the right resources, staying alongside youth as they negotiate their worlds, continuing to support them when they falter and make mistakes, and also celebrating their achievements. These are the actions that will enable youth to participate in their communities and to experience the full benefits of citizenship.

Reflections

Research and practice

This study taught us much about research and social work practice. We began by wanting to understand the experiences of youth who live in harmful environments such as sustained exposure to abuse, violence, addictions, early disengagement from school and mental health issues. In particular, we wanted to understand how services and support networks assisted young people in their transitions and in mitigating the harmful effects of their environments. What emerged from a deeper analysis of the data were insights into the ways in which these youth enacted agency and the role of critical moments in their developmental pathways. The study also generated important information about what constitutes ethical research practice. Ethics were an ongoing issue throughout the research (Shaw, 2008); ethical matters were reflected on in each stage of the research. Attention was paid to the ways in which researchers informed youth about research processes and answered their questions, gained youths’ consent, created safe situations for collecting data, and had well-defined processes for responding to disclosure of information about unsafe situations. Researchers formed trust-based relationships with participants (Cunningham and Diversi, 2013: 589). Many youth reported that they felt appreciated and valued that the information they shared was treated with respect. They stated that they felt they had been heard and could talk about their experiences without being judged.

The care researchers took to establish research relationships mirrors, the way social workers engage with their clients and create effective social work relationships. Researchers were active listeners and were respectful of the information that was shared. The findings indicated that social workers play a key role in supporting vulnerable young people to enact agency in positive ways and that being able to form meaningful relationships with youth is the cornerstone of this practice. Learning how to enact agency positively, required that youth could make sense of their circumstances, could exert some control over these and begin to craft new pathways. To achieve this, youth needed to have voice and to be supported by significant others to learn how to ‘act on their world’. Social workers were one of the significant adults that could assist them with these challenges. Significant adults played a key role by becoming an enduring presence; the trust-worthy adult who took the time to understand their experiences, who stood alongside them and supported them when they felt overwhelmed by their challenges.

The study underlined the multi-layered nature of vulnerable youths’ transitions and the complex relationship between individual experiences and social conditions. The youth who generously shared their experiences have much to teach us. While the findings accentuate their tenacity and resilience in managing harmful environments and seeking out their own resources and supports, the findings also highlight their desire to experience the same opportunities as their peers who do not face the same challenges. To realise this aspiration, they require the support of trusted adults who open up opportunities and possibilities for positive futures.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

We thank all the young people and others who participated in the research. We acknowledge the contribution of the Donald Beasley Institute, Kapiti Youth Support (KYS), Youthline Auckland, and all the researchers and organisations that helped with this research.

Funding

We thank the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment for funding this research.

Note

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