The terrifying abyss of insignificance

Billingham, Luke; Irwin-Rogers, Keir

doi:10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1178

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Lewis (2017) reported that a central theme among young offenders is that they had an abiding sense of having failed when it comes to mattering to others and their need to matter was magnified by family being absent from the young offenders' lives. These studies have informed a recent analysis of violence proneness among London youth (Billingham & Irwin-Rogers, 2021).…”

Section: Mattering At the Societal Levelmentioning

confidence: 98%

An Introduction, Review, and Conceptual Analysis of Mattering as an Essential Construct and an Essential Way of Life

Flett

2021

Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment

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While the importance of having self-esteem is widely recognized and has been studied extensively, another core component of the self-concept has been relatively neglected—a sense of mattering to other people. In the current article, it is argued that mattering is an entirely unique and complex psychological construct with great public appeal and applied significance. The various ways of assessing mattering are reviewed and evidence is summarized, indicating that mattering is a vital construct in that deficits in mattering are linked with consequential outcomes at the individual level (i.e., depression and suicidal tendencies), the relationship level (i.e., relationship discord and dissolution), and the societal level (i.e., delinquency and violence). Contemporary research is described which shows that mattering typically predicts unique variance in key outcomes beyond other predictor variables. Mattering is discussed as double-edged in that mattering is highly protective but feelings of not mattering are deleterious, especially among people who have been marginalized and mistreated. The article concludes with an extended discussion of key directions for future research and an overview of the articles in this special issue. It is argued that a complete view of the self and personal identity will only emerge after we significantly expand the scope of inquiry on the psychology of mattering.

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Section: Mattering At the Societal Levelmentioning

confidence: 98%

An Introduction, Review, and Conceptual Analysis of Mattering as an Essential Construct and an Essential Way of Life

Flett

2021

Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment

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“…The labour market is developing in a way in which it is increasingly unable, or perhaps unwilling, to provide meaningful employment for criminalised youths. Precariat work prevents the formation of an occupational identity, acts as an unsuitable “hook for change” (Patulny et al , 2020) and signals to employees that they are insignificant and disposable, rather than bolstering their sense of “mattering” (Billingham and Irwin-Rogers, 2021). Although the evidence presented in this paper demonstrate the value of WISEs in cultivating this sense of “mattering”, ultimately, their advances are jeopardised by the structure of the existing labour market, the nature of contemporary work and the ongoing stigma of criminalisation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, theories have begun to adopt a more integrative perspective looking at desistance as a combination of both individual and structural factors (Giordano et al , 2002; Barry, 2013; Copp et al , 2019). For these theories, the process of desistance is linked not only to the development of conventional social bonds, legitimate opportunities and individual motivation, but also to “changing perceptions of self” within a broader social context (Barry, 2013, p.160) – a process Billingham and Irwin-Rogers (2021) refer to as “mattering”. However, criminal justice interventions with an education and/or employment focus are usually short term, are often seen as part of a “punishment” because of their relationship to youth justice and have an overarching aim of reducing reoffending (Carr, 2019; House of Commons Justice Committee, 2017).…”

Section: Criminalised (Young) Precariatmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Problematically, in addition to limiting legitimate opportunities for civic engagement, these kinds of barriers help breed resentment and a sense of disconnect amongst many young people today. While the world of work was once something that contributed to an individuals’ identity, sense of significance and belonging, today work, or rather precarious work, is yet another thing “which undermines, rather than builds up, a young person’s sense of mattering” (Billingham and Irwin-Rogers, 2021, p.17).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Condemned to precarity? Criminalised youths, social enterprise and the sub-precariat

Soppitt

Oswald

Walker

2021

SEJ

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Purpose The paper aims to consider whether social enterprise, who are growing in number and seemingly a politically popular alternative to mainstream employment are a potential conduit for social change. Discussions relating to the value of (stable) employment in reducing and preventing (re)offending are not new. For many ex-offenders, a multitude of barriers stand between them and access to the labour market. As a potential conduit for social change, social enterprises are a growing and seemingly politically popular alternative to mainstream employment. Design/methodology/approach Focusing on the qualitative lived experiences of young people (aged between 16 and 18) with criminal convictions enrolled in one such enterprise, this paper examines the extent to which work-integrated social enterprise can assist in overcoming existing barriers to the labour market. Findings The paper highlights the value of social enterprise(s) in addressing the complex needs and precarities of criminalised youths, promoting social inclusion and assisting with progression into future employment. The paper also discusses the limitations of social enterprise(s) in overcoming external structural barriers to meaningful employment for those with an offending history and the implications for young people who aspire to more than precariat work. Originality/value Justice-orientated social enterprises are allowing young people with criminal records the opportunity to build social capita and access precarious work, previously unattainable for many. By focusing on the concept of “precarity”, this paper builds upon existing research on the collateral consequences of criminal convictions offering insights into the various challenges facing criminalised youths attempting to build a positive pro-social work identity within contemporary labour markets

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“…Being locked down and studying off-campus had exposed students to different social circumstances from when they were studying on campus [29], because they had limited access to their social environment and developed higher reliance on social media [30], [31]. Furthermore, because as mentioned in the sociometer theory [24], individuals assess themselves based on the social feedback they retrieve, the lockdown situation drove our population to rely heavily on the feedback from social media to evaluate themselves [32], [33].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What makes locked-down students happy: The sense of mattering and subjective well-being

Wang

Prihadi

2022

IJERE

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<span>Subjective well-being (SWB) of university students who had to study off-campus due to the pandemic was investigated in this current study. Studies had reported that one of the most robust factors of SWB is the sense of mattering. While the sense of mattering is built upon social feedback, being locked down limited their source of social feedback to they can only develop their interpersonal mattering through their significant others whom they shared the dwelling place and their societal mattering through the ‘society’ they found in the social media. We purposively selected 82 participants to respond to our scales of mattering types and SWB. Among our inclusion criteria was to have a limited number of living partners (0-3) to make sure that their mattering was predominantly built from the social media feedback. The result of the multiple regression analysis suggested that despite their interpersonal mattering having a weaker contribution to their SWB, it was still a significant predictor of SWB when controlling for societal mattering. Thus, both types of mattering are still considered salient and robust predictors of SWB. Further limitations and suggestions are discussed.</span>

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The terrifying abyss of insignificance

Cited by 10 publications

References 47 publications

An Introduction, Review, and Conceptual Analysis of Mattering as an Essential Construct and an Essential Way of Life

An Introduction, Review, and Conceptual Analysis of Mattering as an Essential Construct and an Essential Way of Life

Condemned to precarity? Criminalised youths, social enterprise and the sub-precariat

What makes locked-down students happy: The sense of mattering and subjective well-being

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