Rachel Thomson – författare

- Scolag Legal Journal

'This resource will be very helpful to all those already working with children and young people and essential for those who are currently learning about how to work with children and young people'- Gill Frances, Director Children's Development National Children's Bureau

Are the recent policy initiatives aimed at improving life chances for young people working? Have they affected those most in need? How can young people be given more of a voice in policy making?

The new edition of this bestselling text offers a comprehensive introduction to the policy developments affecting young people in today's society, covering the areas of education and training, work, youth justice, residential care and child protection. It brings together a wide-ranging series of readings written by leading experts, to encourage those working with young people, or training to do so, to critically reflect on both the theoretical and practical dimensions of their work.

The themes and issues addressed in this book include: citizenship, participation and empowerment; social difference and social identity; images of youth; young people and the politics of service provision; and working with young people in different contexts.

This new edition has been revised in order to bring it up-to-date on contemporary policy, law and practice changes and developments. Written in a lively and engaging manner, this accessible text will be invaluable reading for students taking courses in youth and social work, social policy, youth and criminal justice and the sociology of youth.

Youth in Society is a set book for the Open University courses K201, Working With Young People and K268, Social Work with Young People.

The authors showcase a range of methods that explore temporality and the dynamic relations between past, present and future. Through case studies, they review six methodological traditions: memory-work, oral/life history, qualitative longitudinal research, ethnography, intergenerational and follow-up studies. It illustrates how these research approaches are translated into research projects and considers the practical as well as the theoretical and ethical challenges they pose. Research methods are also the product of times and places, and this book keeps to the fore the cultural and historical context in which these methods developed, the theoretical traditions on which they draw, and the empirical questions they address.

Researching Social Change is an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students across the social sciences who are interested in understanding and researching social change.

Inventing Adulthoods offers a ground-breaking new perspective on young peoples' experiences of growing up at the turn of the 21st century, arguing that a biographical approach is vital to understanding the holistic and dynamic character of their lives. Based on a study of a diverse group of young people over a 10 year period, the book explores high profile policy issues: education, employment, drugs, cultures of violence and well-being. It also considers the significance of those things that mean most to young people themselves: mobility, home, belonging, intimacy and social life.

The book is written in a lively and engaging style and, through case studies and interviews, examines:

"the impact that social factors such as gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability and family have on life opportunities; and

"connections between young people's lives, social policy frameworks and practice applications.

Inventing Adulthoods is an invaluable resource to anyone interested in the lives of young people. Thought-provoking yet accessible, this book is ideal for students in youth studies and education, as it is for youth workers, social workers and other practitioners.

Inventing Adulthoods is the set book for the Open University course Youth: Perspectives and Practice (KE308).

Sheila Henderson is a Visiting Fellow at London South Bank University. Janet Holland is Professor of Social Research and Co-director of the Families and Social Capital ESRC Research Group at London South Bank University. Sheena McGrellis is a Senior Research Fellow in the Families Group, but is based at University of Ulster. Sue Sharpe is a Visiting Fellow at London South Bank University. Rachel Thomson is Professor of Social Research in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University.

- Scolag Legal Journal

′This resource will be very helpful to all those already working with children and young people and essential for those who are currently learning about how to work with children and young people′- Gill Frances, Director Children′s Development National Children′s Bureau

Are the recent policy initiatives aimed at improving life chances for young people working? Have they affected those most in need? How can young people be given more of a voice in policy making?

The new edition of this bestselling text offers a comprehensive introduction to the policy developments affecting young people in today′s society, covering the areas of education and training, work, youth justice, residential care and child protection. It brings together a wide-ranging series of readings written by leading experts, to encourage those working with young people, or training to do so, to critically reflect on both the theoretical and practical dimensions of their work.

The themes and issues addressed in this book include: citizenship, participation and empowerment; social difference and social identity; images of youth; young people and the politics of service provision; and working with young people in different contexts.

This new edition has been revised in order to bring it up-to-date on contemporary policy, law and practice changes and developments. Written in a lively and engaging manner, this accessible text will be invaluable reading for students taking courses in youth and social work, social policy, youth and criminal justice and the sociology of youth.

Youth in Society is a set book for the Open University courses K201, Working With Young People and K268, Social Work with Young People.

The authors showcase a range of methods that explore temporality and the dynamic relations between past, present and future. Through case studies, they review six methodological traditions: memory-work, oral/life history, qualitative longitudinal research, ethnography, intergenerational and follow-up studies. It illustrates how these research approaches are translated into research projects and considers the practical as well as the theoretical and ethical challenges they pose. Research methods are also the product of times and places, and this book keeps to the fore the cultural and historical context in which these methods developed, the theoretical traditions on which they draw, and the empirical questions they address.

Researching Social Change is an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students across the social sciences who are interested in understanding and researching social change.

The process of becoming an adult in contemporary times is fragmented and unequal, shaped by chance, choice and timing. "Unfolding lives" presents a unique approach to understanding the changing face of youth transitions, addressing the question of how gender identities are constituted in late modern culture.

The book follows individual lives over time, enabling the reader to witness gender identities in the making and breathing new life into static analytic models. At the heart of the book are vivid in-depth accounts of four young lives, emblematic of broader biographical trends. They reveal how inequalities and privileges are made in new and unexpected ways, through practices such as falling in love, coming out, acting out and religious conversion. A focus on temporal processes and changing meanings captures what it feels like to be young and shows the creative ways that young people navigate the conflicting and changing demands of personal relationships, schooling, work and play. "Unfolding lives" is also a demonstration of a method-in-practice, describing how longitudinal material can be analysed and animated to realise the relationship between personal and social change.

Written in an accessible style that breaks the conventional academic mould, "Unfolding lives" is a compelling and provocative read. The book will be an essential text for students and academics involved in youth and gender studies as well as those interested in new directions in qualitative research methods and writing.

The process of becoming an adult in contemporary times is fragmented and unequal, shaped by chance, choice and timing. "Unfolding lives" presents a unique approach to understanding the changing face of youth transitions, addressing the question of how gender identities are constituted in late modern culture.

The book follows individual lives over time, enabling the reader to witness gender identities in the making and breathing new life into static analytic models. At the heart of the book are vivid in-depth accounts of four young lives, emblematic of broader biographical trends. They reveal how inequalities and privileges are made in new and unexpected ways, through practices such as falling in love, coming out, acting out and religious conversion. A focus on temporal processes and changing meanings captures what it feels like to be young and shows the creative ways that young people navigate the conflicting and changing demands of personal relationships, schooling, work and play. "Unfolding lives" is also a demonstration of a method-in-practice, describing how longitudinal material can be analysed and animated to realise the relationship between personal and social change.

Written in an accessible style that breaks the conventional academic mould, "Unfolding lives" is a compelling and provocative read. The book will be an essential text for students and academics involved in youth and gender studies as well as those interested in new directions in qualitative research methods and writing.

The authors showcase a range of methods that explore temporality and the dynamic relations between past, present and future. Through case studies, they review six methodological traditions: memory-work, oral/life history, qualitative longitudinal research, ethnography, intergenerational and follow-up studies. It illustrates how these research approaches are translated into research projects and considers the practical as well as the theoretical and ethical challenges they pose. Research methods are also the product of times and places, and this book keeps to the fore the cultural and historical context in which these methods developed, the theoretical traditions on which they draw, and the empirical questions they address.

Researching Social Change is an invaluable resource for researchers and graduate students across the social sciences who are interested in understanding and researching social change.

Inventing Adulthoods offers a ground-breaking new perspective on young peoples' experiences of growing up at the turn of the 21st century, arguing that a biographical approach is vital to understanding the holistic and dynamic character of their lives. Based on a study of a diverse group of young people over a 10 year period, the book explores high profile policy issues: education, employment, drugs, cultures of violence and well-being. It also considers the significance of those things that mean most to young people themselves: mobility, home, belonging, intimacy and social life.

The book is written in a lively and engaging style and, through case studies and interviews, examines:

"the impact that social factors such as gender, class, sexuality, religion, disability and family have on life opportunities; and

"connections between young people's lives, social policy frameworks and practice applications.

Inventing Adulthoods is an invaluable resource to anyone interested in the lives of young people. Thought-provoking yet accessible, this book is ideal for students in youth studies and education, as it is for youth workers, social workers and other practitioners.

Inventing Adulthoods is the set book for the Open University course Youth: Perspectives and Practice (KE308).

Sheila Henderson is a Visiting Fellow at London South Bank University. Janet Holland is Professor of Social Research and Co-director of the Families and Social Capital ESRC Research Group at London South Bank University. Sheena McGrellis is a Senior Research Fellow in the Families Group, but is based at University of Ulster. Sue Sharpe is a Visiting Fellow at London South Bank University. Rachel Thomson is Professor of Social Research in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University.