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"Well my friends all speak Spanish, it's normal for us because everyone has to do the same thing": constructions of young peoples' accounts of normative activities in families

O'Dell, L., Crafter, S., Cline, T. and Abreu, G. d. (2010) "Well my friends all speak Spanish, it's normal for us because everyone has to do the same thing": constructions of young peoples' accounts of normative activities in families. Invited Presentation presented to: Different Childhoods: Interrogating Theory, Developing Practice, Open University, Milton Keynes, England, 30 June 2010. (Unpublished)

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Invited Presentation)
Abstract: This paper will examine the ways in which young people view activities within culturally diverse family situations. Taken from a wider project examining young peoples’ constructions of normative work roles (e.g. babysitting and shop work) and non-normative work roles (young caring and language brokering), issues around the construction on an adequate/inadequate parent will be discussed. 46 young people (15-18 years) were interviewed using a semi-structured vignette methodology. A key finding from the project was that some young people viewed working activities as normative that might be seen by others as non-normative - “Well my friends all speak Spanish, it’s normal for us because everyone has to do the same thing”. This was a common finding for language brokers where young people who translate for others are often in contact with school friends and family members who are also language brokers. In this study we found no evidence of young carers drawing on a contextual way of normalising their activities through engagement with informal contact with others in a similar position (O’Dell, Crafter, de Abreu and Cline, et al in press). These are not to be read as the only way in which either young carers or language brokers could access support. However for us a key area of interest is in the ways in which the context of young people’s activities can normalise or problematise their activities
Uncontrolled Keywords: Normal childhoods, young caring, language brokering
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women > HQ767 Children. Child development
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Women > HQ793 Youth. Adolescents. Teenagers
B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology > BF712 Developmental psychology
Creators: O'Dell, Lindsay, Crafter, Sarah, Cline, T and Abreu, Guida de
Corporate Creators: Open University
Funders or Sponsors: The Open University
Projects: Young People's Representations of Conflicting Roles in Child Development - RES-000-22-0549-A
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Health & Society > Psychology
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > School of Social Sciences (to 2016)
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Group > Social and Cultural Research in Psychology Group
Faculties > Faculty of Health & Society > Psychology
Research Centres > Centre for Psychology and Social Sciences
Date: 30 June 2010
Date Type: Presentation
Event Title: Different Childhoods: Interrogating Theory, Developing Practice
Event Dates: 30 June 2010
Event Location: Open University, Milton Keynes, England
Event Type: Conference
Language: English
Status: Unpublished
Refereed: Yes
URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/2622

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