Voicing Youth at social risk: developing collaborative research practices

Research description

The second term of this IRP aims at developing and implementing collaborative research practices with young people at social risk as well as the everyday contexts in which young people find themselves. Situations and conditions, such as migration, poverty, violence, armed conflict, social exclusion, health insecurity, living in street situations, legal problems, criminality, joblessness and school drop-out have an impact on the lives of young people and children worldwide. It is precisely in urban settings, such as Brussels, that these global and local issues meet. A children’s right perspective drives the development of strong empowering, participatory and socio-political practices that can have effective consequences for youth’s daily life contexts. Collaborative research practices can contribute, support and transform youth-involved practices and contribute to empower concerned young people and their contexts. This requires an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together practice and research, adult and youth perspectives and experiences in a collaborative way. We aim at moving beyond merely “voicing”, and instead (1) treating young people as active and competent agents, (2) recognizing that power imbalances should be tackled in and through research (and practice), (3) “voicing” in research should go beyond offering space for voicing and hearing, towards genuinely listening to what is said is and use this for transformation, with the ultimate aim of empowering youth and their contexts. The research questions that will lead this IRP are (1) How do youth and their daily contexts experience their “at risk” situations?, (2) How can conditions for voicing and genuine participation of youth at social risk be co-created in collaborative research practices? (in scholarly settings, leisure organizations, public space, health care, housing, judicial settings, …) and (3) What transformations are achieved through these collaborative research practices at the individual relational level, societal level and research level?
By focusing on the perspectives of youth embedded in their (often) adult-led context, we acknowledge the importance of the relational dimension of child-oriented practices. Furthermore, we attempt to go beyond voicing, by implementing a methodology for sustainable transformation, in collaboration with practitioners-stakeholders in the field.