The construction and production of youth ‘at risk’

Regulation and risk: early childhood education and care services as sites where the ‘laugh of Foucault’ resounds

“…They're trying to encourage more people into childcare but they're not improving childcare. (Christina) Wishart, Taylor, and Shultz's (2006) contrasting of risk management policies premised on social control with those based on a social justice model provides further elucidation of increased regulatory control as a 'blame game' tactic. Whilst social control-based risk management policies propagate risk discourses that accentuate individual pathologies, social justice models draw attention to contextual factors that create risk (Wishart, Taylor, and Shultz 2006).…”

“…(Christina) Wishart, Taylor, and Shultz's (2006) contrasting of risk management policies premised on social control with those based on a social justice model provides further elucidation of increased regulatory control as a 'blame game' tactic. Whilst social control-based risk management policies propagate risk discourses that accentuate individual pathologies, social justice models draw attention to contextual factors that create risk (Wishart, Taylor, and Shultz 2006). Applying Wishart, Taylor, and Shultz's ideas to the ECEC context, social control-driven policies can infer that without regulation, children are at risk because given the information asymmetry (Gormley 1999) many parents face-where there is a gap in knowledge about quality ECEC between service providers and parents-early childhood teachers cannot necessarily be trusted to provide highquality care.…”

From individual to relational strategies: Transforming a manual-based psycho-educational course at school

“…In line with Walkerdine (1990), we could say that the course provides a context in which specific kinds of thoughts and positions are produced for women. Moreover, young women are constructed as 'youth at risk' (Wishart et al, 2006). Girls understand DISA as implying that they are expected to have problems, as Kvist Lindholm (work in progress) finds in her interview study.…”

“…Policy-makers and Government authorities in industrialized countries invest in policy initiatives and courses aimed at promoting children's mental health (Coppock, 2011;Hoffman, 2009;Wishart et al, 2006;Dahlstedt et al 2011). Although a clear majority of young people report good mental health, efforts to promote children's mental health and emotional wellbeing have largely been developed as universal and preventive interventions in the schools (Coppock, 2011).…”

The will to (de)liberate: shaping governable citizens through cognitive behavioural programmes in school

“…The social problems of the young are in turn linked to what is claimed to be a general increase in the level of "mental ill-health" among children and youth, and in particularly among what are referred to as youth at risk (cf. Riele 2006;Wishart et al 2006). This image of worsening mental health among youth constitutes part of a general trend in society, whereby individuals are being increasingly intensely encouraged to work on themselves, to find their "real selves" and to become more aware of themselves, their limitations and abilities, to improve their self-confidence and to learn to manage their emotions.…”