The Complexities of ‘Home’: Young People ‘on the Move’ and State Responses

Abstract

Home' invokes ambiguous meanings for policy, practice and academia. This article explores the complexities of 'home' in relation to the experiences of two groups of young people in transitory circumstances (UK children who go missing from the family home or alternative care; and young people who have been separated from their home and families as refugees). We consider how the meaning given to 'home', despite its inherent ambiguity, functions as a central concept around which the vulnerability and credibility of children and young people are constructed. By problematising the universalised concept of home and the notion of 'family' that it implies, this article contributes to criminology and refugee studies by exploring State responses to 'youth journeys' (within and to the UK) through an idealised lens of 'home'. This normative view, we suggest, forms the basis for determining State responses, with significant consequences for these young people.

“The home isn't like a safe space for them”—Ideals of home and family relationships in children's talk about family adversity and help‐seeking

“…By making sense of the home and family relationships in this way, contrasting ideas of a good home and good parenthood also emerge; for example, that parents should put their children first instead of giving in to their fear and dependence (the mother), or that parents should encourage their children instead of punishing them (the stepfather). Here, the pupils draw on discursive ideals about home as a safe space (Malloch & Rigby, 2020) as well as ideals of involved parenting as being child‐centred and emotionally engaged (Forsberg, 2009; Luttrell, 2013). However, other aspects of these parental ideals, especially those focusing on parental responsibility and supervision, are challenged by the pupils for example through their emphasis on the need for the mother to become an unconditional ally to her children and for the stepfather to provide them with support and encouragement rather than exercising discipline.…”

“…The pupils' evaluation of the story and their suggestions for help‐seeking strategies relate to discursive ideals of home and family (Malloch & Rigby, 2020; Luttrell, 2013) as they are manifested in the pupil's overarching understanding of a good home as a safe and happy place and of good parenthood as being empowering and supportive towards their children, but they also imply an optimistic view about the possibility for positive change in a home situation and in family relationships that are characterized by violence and family adversity.…”

“…Home as a concept is multidimensional; it may refer to places, spaces, feelings, practices or states of being in the world, and it may be connected to other concepts such as house, family, self or haven (Mallet, 2004). In relation to children, ideas of home are often interrelated with ideas of family, and a dominant ideal is that a child's home ought to be a place of safety and adult supervision (Malloch & Rigby, 2020). However, the idea of home as a safe space has also been problematized, given that for many people, home may instead be a place of fear and violence (Mallet, 2004; Malloch & Rigby, 2020).…”

“…In relation to children, ideas of home are often interrelated with ideas of family, and a dominant ideal is that a child's home ought to be a place of safety and adult supervision (Malloch & Rigby, 2020). However, the idea of home as a safe space has also been problematized, given that for many people, home may instead be a place of fear and violence (Mallet, 2004; Malloch & Rigby, 2020).…”

Trafficked children: towards a social work human rights response

“…The UK has well-established child protection and safeguarding processes which, while not always working well, are recognised as a relative success story (Rogowski 2014;Pritchard and Williams 2010). While 'child protection' has often focused on particular issues or on specific groups of children (FRA 2019), recent practice and policy developments in the UK has broadened understanding and definitions of child abuse to include abuse outside the 'family' home (Malloch and Rigby 2020). Concerns around child trafficking broaden definitions and understanding of exploitation and abuse, with the additional challenges for policy makers and child protection practitioners (Lonne et al 2008), but continuing with the identification of exploited children outside the existing child protection system is difficult to justify and arguably does not adequately provide an integrated child protection system which places the child at the centre and ensures that all essential services work together to protect the child (FRA 2019;UNICEF 2015).…”