Introduction
Rachael Fox & Nina Browne
The four short practice papers in this section all describe and reflect on work with young people in the UK and Australia. They are written by a young person, two community clinical psychologists, a researcher and a practitioner. The first three highlight the challenges and barriers which stem from systems and institutions set up to support young people. In the writers’ experiences young people tend to be positioned as the problem when they in fact hold many of the solutions. The fourth paper touches on different possibilities and ways of working – both in the way it was constructed and in the practices it describes.
Dominant ideologies and narratives position young people as incapable, vulnerable, selfish and self-centred (Lansdown, 2001). When young people don’t comply with systems and institutions and don’t fit these positionings they can find themselves characterised as being a danger to themselves and others (Goldson, 2001). Young people are too easily dismissed as ‘hard to reach’, when we need to take help to where they are at (Durcan, Zlotowitz, & Stubbs, 2017).
A questioning and resisting from young people, the adults who work with them and the systems which should be designed to work for them, is present in these practice papers and is hugely important. As well as describing opportunities for change, the tensions of working in new ways, engage adult powers, but aiming to work collaboratively and respectfully with young people are discussed in the papers. Frustrations felt by both the practitioners and young people are communicated. However, by giving young people a voice and looking to them for the solutions, they can draw on their lived experiences to help change things (Zlotowitz, Barker, Moloney, & Howard, 2016).
We hope you read and find value in the papers for your day to day work and that the ideas are light touch enough to be accessible in a time when we need creativity and innovation. In writing and sharing practice, we support the role of psychologists in influencing macro-level conversations, including joining with young people and their communities to change policy (Browne, Zlotowitz, Alcock, & Barker,2020; Maton, 2016). We would like to encourage other writers to submit short papers such as these. As this tumultuous year ends, we would very much like to hear about how your work has had to adapt and change in the challenging contexts of the Global Pandemic and Black Lives Matter, and other matters which have dominated our lives this year.