Browsing by Author "Ahonen-Walker, Mari"

The aim of the study. Young people who are not in education or employment are a constant subject of public debate. However, the debate does not capture the diversity of their lives and lifestyles but sees them as one homogeneous group, which needs to be guided quickly towards employment. I am interested in this diversity, in the everyday life, capabilities and agency of these youths’. My research questions are: 1) how do youths’ construct their authentic life stories, 2) how their agencies are constructed in their life stories, and 3) how different capabilities enable and restrict youths’ spheres of life. Methods. The study takes place in the youth workshops, in three different locations across two municipalities. I acquainted myself with the youth and their surroundings by spending 12 days in the field in the spring of 2017. I interviewed 15 people, aged 18–24. The data came from four sources: youths’ authentic life stories, individually tailored questions inspired by their stories, thematic interviews and background information forms. The analysis of the data was done by coding and categorisation, Halliday’s types of processes and Jyrkämä’s modalities of agency. I also did a reading of the data in light of Nussbaum’s capability theory. Results and Conclusions. The youths’ authentic life stories were rarely concerned with educa-tion, work or transitions or worries related to them. Their authentic life stories adhered to dis-cussing other people, socio-economic circumstances, resources, identity work and different cri-ses. Through analysis using Halliday’s types of processes, I identified five different ways to narrate in the authentic life stories. Using Jyrkämä’s modalities of agency, the youth produced mostly narratives which expressed affection or ability. Most seldom they used narratives which expressed know-how, aspirations or obligation. I compressed Nussbaum’s ten capabilities into three aspects: the structure of life, one’s inner world, and communities and societal integration. There are many issues which challenge youths’ wellbeing. There are a lot of mental health issues as well as cumulated and inherited disadvantage. When considering One’s inner world, feelings and aspiration were rarely volunteered. Youths’ daily activities took place in close social net-works and I interpreted that their societal integration is frail in many ways. Youths’ authentic life stories lack the aspect of the future, which I interpreted as learned cautiousness. A recommenda-tion for the future would be to increase the availability of psycho-social support alongside career guidance and skills development.