Everyday Experiences of Homeless Young People in Supported Accommodation Programmes in Australia

Abstract

This paper investigates young people's accounts of governance in their everyday lives within a Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) in regional Australia. The SAAP is a joint Commonwealth and State/Territory programme for assisting people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness by providing transitional supported accommodation and support services. The paper provides accounts of how two young people, Monica and Brendan, make sense of their everyday lives in relation to how they make decisions (or have decisions made for them) everyday. The young people here are recognised as active agents who construct and negotiate their social realities. We focus, in particular, on how they describe influences that govern their everyday experiences. These two accounts present contrasting descriptions of social and interactional competence within a service that regulates their everyday lives, highlighting the challenges of policy formation on behalf of young people. Copyright © 2006 National Children's Bureau.

Child Participation in the Early Years: Challenges for Education

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How does homework ‘work’ for young children? Children’s accounts of homework in their everyday lives

“…The focus on young children's lives in home and school contexts gave rise to an Australian study of the lived experiences of 120 young children aged four to eight years, from the standpoint of the children themselves. The study examined children's everyday decision-making in home and school contexts Farrell 2004, 2005;Danby, Farrell, and Leiminer 2006). Somewhat surprisingly, the study revealed that young children focused on homework in their lives, such that it prompted the question: how does homework 'work' for young children in the context of their everyday lives?…”

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