tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480707493879954634.post7595285587347653109..comments2024-01-12T10:53:29.657+00:00Comments on CRFR Blog: Almost an adult? Transitions into adulthood changing for young people todayCRFRhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17617974844554783979noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480707493879954634.post-86536698235739624672012-07-04T08:55:44.695+01:002012-07-04T08:55:44.695+01:00Many thanks to Eric for his comments.
The full r...Many thanks to Eric for his comments. <br /><br />The full report also makes some of the points that Eric raised. We have now published the full report on the 'About Families' website at: www.aboutfamilies.org.uk.<br /><br />In relation to Eric's comments, here are relevant sections from the full report:<br /><br />Different approaches to researching young people are taken in the UK and North America. Research in the UK tends to focus on ‘transitions to adulthood’ or ‘youth transitions’ and considers how structural issues impact on the lives of individuals. Research in the USA and Canada tends to use the concept of ‘emerging adulthood’ which focuses on characteristics of the individual. The concept of emerging adulthood has been criticized for not acknowledging structural elements: for example, issues of social disadvantage are ignored because emerging adults’ life transitions are explained through their individual choices.<br /><br />Extended adolescence can feature a range of characteristics which overlap with, and influence, each other. These include uncertainty over employment, prolonged education, living in and returning to the parental home, non-marital relationships, having children later and lifestyle. Moving to independence can be particularly complicated for young people in rural areas, leaving care, with disabilities, from ethnic minority backgrounds, and for gay and lesbian young people.<br /><br />It would be useful to conduct further research into how public policies and extended adolescence interact. While some recent research tracks the impact of the economic recession on extended adolescence, there is little research on how public policies shape the lives of adolescents on the one hand (e.g., welfare policies) and how, on the other hand, public policies need to respond to cultural changes (e.g. delayed family formation, prolonged education) of youth transition in order to provide relevant support to young adults and their parents.CRFRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17617974844554783979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2480707493879954634.post-44477930449150666522012-07-04T08:47:36.735+01:002012-07-04T08:47:36.735+01:00There's been a lot of criticism of Arnett, inc...There's been a lot of criticism of Arnett, including what people see as his focus on middle class young people and dismissal of some working class experiences. He generalises about experiences and assumes a whole lot of equality. A useful reference if people are interested in exploring more is Cote J. & Bynner J.M. 2008, “Changes in the transition to adulthood in the UK and Canada: the role of structure and agency in emerging adulthood.” Journal of Youth Studies, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 251-268 . They pay particular attention to the exclusion processes in workplace and education settings that prevent access to the ‘developmental processes’ that Arnett associates with ‘emerging adulthood’. They argue against the concept of "emerging adulthood" and assert instead that changing economic conditions have led to a lowering of the social status of young people that contributes to increasingly precarious trajectories and the decline of social markers of adulthood. They make a very convincing case that, even for the midldle classs students whom he researches, Arnett mistakes what are really coping mechanisms of some young people for freely chosen options to delay their entry into adulthood. They also correctly make the general point that sociologists need to extend our understanding of social heterogeneity. <br /> <br />Related to these themes also, I'm currently interested in Goodwin and O'Connor's (2005, ‘Exploring Complex Transitions: Looking Back at the “Golden Age” of From School to Work’, Sociology, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 201–220) assertions that transitions for young people in the 1960s were as linear and uncomplicated as present-day convention would have us believe. From examination of data from a 'lost' 1960s research project exploring shool-work transitions and follow-up work they have undertaken with some of the original participants, they conclude that earlier research has understated the complexities of young people's experiences, mainly because 1960s sociologists were more interested instead to explore structural issues, such as class and gender.Eric Carlinnoreply@blogger.com