Publication type
Research Paper
Author
Publication date
July 1, 2001
Summary:
Young people's agency, until recently, has been neglected in the social science literature that explored how odds are stacked in favour of some youth and against others depending on their social background and demographic characteristics. Now the literature is awash with the ‘children as actor’ perspective, but has the pendulum swung too far and is there too much emphasis on individualism and individuation? In this paper, I use data from the British Household Panel Study to explore how youth’s risk of anti-social behaviour or missed schooling is shaped by socio-economic background, family interaction and the young person’s own characteristics and attitudes. I show how structural factors affect the statistical odds of youth’s risky behaviours. I also show, using qualitative data concerning the life changes young people say they would like to make, that high risk youth may lack the capability for change.
Subjects
#504599