Transitions to Adulthood of ‘At Risk’ Young Men: New Analysis from Two Norwegian Qualitative Longitudinal Studies

Abstract

This paper focuses on two cohorts of Norwegian young men whose behaviour in childhood and adolescence caused serious concern to their parents, teachers, social workers and, in some cases, the police, Despite having been identified as ‘at risk’, they made transitions to positive adult masculine identities in two different historical contexts; the 1980s and 2000s. The paper analyses the difference that historical context makes to these young men’s lives, their gendered identity work and their perspectives on their past, present and future. In particular, it identifies the ways in which supportive intergenerational relationships and significant others serve to produce positive turning points and, over time, help the young men to develop resilience and potentially happy and successful futures.

Access to Public Support Systems Related to Severity of Adversities and Resilience among Adolescents

“…It can be viewed as a positive trend that there is an increase in access to support systems, while the proportion of young people living with severe adversities in Norway is decreasing. Both conditions may contribute towards creating social resilience [ 36 ] for society, support systems and the young people living with severe adversity. Social resilience implies that both adults and children need to be active, aware of, understand, and use available resources in their social context that are relevant to combating mental health problems among young people and violence against children.…”