Browsing by Subject "paikkaan kuuluminen"

In this study I examine 9th graders thoughts, experiences and meanings of home and place attachment. The aim is to clarify how youths determine and experience home and how their place attachment has been constructed. Furthermore, I am seeking possible connections between place attachment and othering. This study has been conducted utilizing phenomenological-hermeneutic approach since the interest is in individual´s experiences and interactions with the surroundings. The data consisted of three individual theme interviews and fourteen questionnaire answers. The data were analysed by theory-driven qualitative content analysis. Three master categories emerged from the analysis regarding the informants´ significations of home: 1) sociality 2) safety and 3) everyday life. Youths defined home as a positive, unique and important social space and a place where everyday life is emphasized. Place attachment was constructed by relationships, time, experiences and memories. Individual features as age and the number of moves had an influence on how the place attachment was formed but yet it is concerned to be particularly individual experience. Othering appeared when youths described their lives after moves. In the new place and environment they felt lost at first and perceived themselves as strangers compared to the majority. Othering emerged both when surroundings did not let them in and when youths defined themselves. Consequently, the place attachment and personal position in the community must be pursued and reconstructed through belonging work and collaboration with the surroundings.