Perceptions of Risk of Harm and Social Capital in Young People's Lives Jennifer Pringle

290 Pages·2015·1.59 MB·English

Perceptions of Risk of Harm and Social Capital in
Young People’s Lives

Jennifer Pringle

Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
School of Applied Social Science
University of Stirling
2015
Acknowledgements

This PhD was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council, and would not
have been possible otherwise. I am extremely grateful for the funding that I have
received from the ESRC. My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisors, Professor
Kirstein Rummery, Professor Brigid Daniel and Sarah Wilson who have provided their
academic input and support, without which, I could not have completed this thesis. I’m
very grateful for their patience, encouragement and support in helping me to put the
pieces of this monumental jigsaw together.
I would also like to thank my family and friends for their support. I’m very grateful for
their words of encouragement. Particular thanks go to James and Dani for supporting
me through this journey, thank you for believing in me. Dani, thank you for being
honest and sharing the emotional journey that a PhD brings. Thank you to my
‘poppets’, Nike and Vivian for your support and prayers. I would also like to thank Billie
for her honesty and authenticity on completing a PhD, for making the isolating
moments just a little bit easier.
Particular thanks go to the Head Teacher for his abundant assistance with organising
focus groups with the school pupils and staff, and more importantly for his warming
welcome and patience. Recruiting participants to take part in this study would not
have been possible without the goodwill and assistance of numerous staff within the
school and youth club, who were generous with their time and attention.
This thesis would not have been possible without the young people and adults who
generously shared their experiences, thoughts, and concerns with me. I consider
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myself privileged to have had this experience and hope that I have done justice to the
insights you shared with me.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge my wonderful husband Colin, who has been a
constant source of strength and has given me a kick up the backside (with permission)
when I needed it most. I am indebted to him for his untiring support, reassurance and
lack of complaint throughout my PhD, even although he had grounds for complaint on
numerous occasions. His advice to “just keep going” kept me moving forward during
the occasions where I felt discouraged and overwhelmed. Thank you for helping me to
see clearly when I could not motivate myself to take the next step. Your love, support
and patience has been instrumental to me, I could not have finished this race without
you. Thank you.

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Abstract

Contemporary young people would appear to have access to more information than
their predecessors in relation to keeping safe by avoiding or reducing risks. However
concerns about young people’s perceived increasing risky behaviours have contributed
to a growing focus on understanding young people and risk of harm across private and
public spheres. This study examines the views, experiences and behaviours of young
people and adults in relation to risk of harm to young people and the role of social
capital in reducing perceived risk. Using qualitative data with young people and adults
in a Scottish community this study develops an understanding of perceptions of the
main risks of harm to young people and whether social capital helps to reduce these
risks. Social constructions of ‘appropriate’ behaviours for young people to engage in
and subsequent constraints imposed by adult-led structures and safety concerns,
formed a significant focus of youth theorising in this area.
To a certain extent, the findings from this study challenge the conventional
construction of young people as risky individuals, by identifying young people’s
negotiation and avoidance strategies for keeping safe. However, young people’s
experiences and behaviours in public and private spaces remain significantly
structured by age and gender. Young people and adults perceive risks associated with
alcohol and public spaces to be high and prominent. The continuing notion of risk
appears to be evident in young people’s choices about who to socialise with and
where, their safety concerns and ultimately how particular social networks can be
accessed in order to capitalise on protective measures. Young people’s safety concerns
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are overwhelmingly related to the ‘other’ in public spaces, reinforcing dominant social
constructions of private spaces as safer than public spaces.
Strong community ties are highlighted as paradoxical: whilst providing trusting social
networks which contribute to loyal and safe peers, the intimacy of such networks is
perceived by adults as a barrier to young people’s bridging capital and social mobility.
These findings pose difficulties to applying late modernist risk theories which minimise
the role of wider social processes in shaping young people’s perceptions.
Understanding young people and risk is best served by adopting the sociology of youth
and social constructionist perspectives which assert the impact of gender, and in
particular the power of age constructions which continue to operate within young
people’s lives. Ultimately, perceptions on risk of harm to young people remain infused
with gendered and age expectations and constructions.

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................. i
Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iii
Chapter One ....................................................................................................................... 1
Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
Aims of the Study ................................................................................................................ 1
Thesis structure ................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter Two ....................................................................................................................... 5
Risk, Young People and Social Capital ..................................................................................... 5
A Literature Review ............................................................................................................. 5
Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 5
Risk Society, Risk Perception ............................................................................................... 6
The Social Construction of Risk ......................................................................................... 20
Deconstructing Risk without Devaluing Harm ................................................................... 27
Comparing approaches to Risk .......................................................................................... 30
Young People and Risk ...................................................................................................... 32
Social Capital ..................................................................................................................... 44
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 61
Research Questions: ......................................................................................................... 63
Chapter Three ................................................................................................................... 63
Researching Young People’s and Adult’s Perceptions of Risk ............................................... 63
Methodology ..................................................................................................................... 63
Reviewing the literature: developing the research questions ........................................... 64
Research Questions and Methods..................................................................................... 66
Why Qualitative? ............................................................................................................... 67
Access ................................................................................................................................ 69
Access to Schools .............................................................................................................. 70
Consent ............................................................................................................................. 71
Sampling ............................................................................................................................ 77
Methodology ......................................................................................................................... 81
A: Focus Groups with young people and adults ................................................................ 81
Reflections on Holding Focus Groups in a School .............................................................. 85
B. Semi-structured Interviews ........................................................................................... 86
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Young People and research ............................................................................................... 89
Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 91
Managing Qualitative Data and NVivo .............................................................................. 91
Coding ............................................................................................................................... 92
The Analysis Process.......................................................................................................... 95
Role of researcher ............................................................................................................. 97
Sensitive Data and the Impact on the Researcher ........................................................... 101
Chapter Four ................................................................................................................... 103
Alcohol and Drugs Posing Risks to Young People ................................................................ 103
Drugs ............................................................................................................................... 119
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 127
Chapter Five ................................................................................................................... 129
Unknown People and Places as Risky: Maintaining Bonding Social Capital ......................... 129
Bonding Social Capital and Bridging Social Capital .......................................................... 145
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 149
Chapter Six ..................................................................................................................... 150
Adults Protecting Young People – Negotiating Personal and Professional Identities .......... 150
The Family ....................................................................................................................... 150
School Staff ..................................................................................................................... 154
Positive Support Networks: Social Capital in the Community ......................................... 170
Chapter Seven ................................................................................................................ 179
Young People’s Protective Friendships: Negotiation and Avoidance Strategies to Reduce Risk
of Harm ............................................................................................................................... 179
Following the Moral Standard ......................................................................................... 179
Rational Thinking and ‘Cleverness’ .................................................................................. 184
Relationships with Other Young People .......................................................................... 186
Protection against the Risk of Alcohol Misuse ................................................................ 193
Protection against Risk of Harm in Public Spaces ............................................................ 195
Summary ......................................................................................................................... 200
Chapter Eight .................................................................................................................. 202
Discussion and Conclusions ................................................................................................. 202
Introduction .................................................................................................................... 202
Young People’s Drinking – Deviating from Socially Constructed Norms ......................... 203
Public spaces as Risky ...................................................................................................... 213
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Social Capital ................................................................................................................... 223
Contribution of thesis and ideas for future research ...................................................... 238
Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 242
APPENDIX 1 .................................................................................................................... 267
Parental Consent Form........................................................................................................ 267
APPENDIX 2 .................................................................................................................... 270
Interview Guide for Youth Worker ...................................................................................... 270
APPENDIX 3 .................................................................................................................... 272
Focus Group Questions Guide for Young People................................................................. 272
APPENDIX 4 .................................................................................................................... 275
Focus Group Questions Guide for Adults ............................................................................ 275
APPENDIX 5 .................................................................................................................... 278
Interview Questions Guide for Adults ................................................................................. 278
APPENDIX 6 .................................................................................................................... 280
Focus Group Questions Guide for Young Women ............................................................... 280

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Chapter One
Introduction

Introduction
This thesis is based on a qualitative study, which examined the views, experiences and
behaviours of young people and adults in relation to the main risks of harm to young
people and the role of social capital in reducing perceived risks, in one Scottish
community. This chapter introduces the main aims, context and rationale for the
study. An overview of subsequent chapters is also given to assist the reader in
navigating the thesis structure.
Aims of the Study
The aim of this study was to understand how young people and adults view the main
risks of harm to young people in their community, and safety measures to reduce risk
of harm to young people. This aim was addressed by exploring the following key
research questions:
1. What are young people’s and adults’ perceptions of the main
risks?
2. What informs perceptions of risk to young people?
3. From adults’ and young people’s perspectives, what role does
social capital play in reducing perceived risks of harm to young
people?
4. What are the theoretical implications of the study findings?
In the UK, there is a lack of research which explores young people’s views on the main
risks of harm to them, according to their definitions rather than adults’ definitions.
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This is a surprising omission given the contemporary concern about this issue within
media and policy discourses focusing on young people. This study sought to address
this gap by considering the issue of risk in one Scottish community from the
perspective of young people themselves, and adults, using focus groups and semi-
structured qualitative interviews. By exploring young people’s and adults’ accounts of
these issues, this thesis contributes to a greater understanding of the complex and
diverse responses which young people make when faced by the often contradictory
discourses around risk, space and responsibility. Research in this area has the potential
to inform safety initiatives, and contribute to understanding young people’s
behaviours and concerns in relation to their safety in private and public spaces; and
adults’ behaviours in relation to their efforts to protect young people from harm.
By considering young people’s and adult’s views on this issue, this thesis also
contributes to attempts to theorise the social position of contemporary young people
from sociology of youth perspective. From a theoretical perspective it will be argued
that the concepts of power, social control, resistance and gender found within
sociology of youth theoretical frameworks have the potential to assist in
understanding and contextualising the responses of young people in the current study.
Thesis structure
Following on from this introductory Chapter, Chapter Two reviews sociological, health
and criminological literature relevant to young people and risk of harm. In doing so,
gaps within the literature are highlighted as the basis for the current study. The
chapter explores theoretical frameworks and concepts which have the potential to
assist understanding of existing literature and the research findings presented in
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