The Problem of Contemporary Adulthood: Calendars Cartographies and Constructions

Burnett, Judith A.

doi:10.1057/9780230290297_1

Cited by 8 publications

(11 citation statements)

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“…Economic instability and competitive labour markets mean that some young people face trajectories that are non-linear and reversible. These can be characterized by yo-yo transitions and a simultaneous engagement with youth and adult practices, with phases of independence and returns to dependence (Burnett, 2010). Reflecting on the experiences of marginalized young adults, Green (2017, p. 155) argues that 'their lives are increasingly constrained by disadvantage, discrimination and poor educational and occupational opportunities, whilst they are simultaneously presented with a myriad of limitless choices and opportunities many will never be able to access'.…”

Section: Care Leavers' Transitions To Adulthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘It’s Been a Massive Struggle’: Exploring the Experiences of Young People Leaving Care During COVID-19

Roberts

Mannay

Rees

et al. 2021

YOUNG

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This article explores the experiences of young people leaving state care during COVID-19. Twenty-one young people, predominantly from Wales, engaged in semi-structured interviews and/or contributed poems and artwork conveying their experiences of the pandemic. The data generated offered insights into young people’s daily lives, including their routines and relationships, as well as access to resources and services. The study found stark disparity in young people’s experiences, with some reassured by support responses, and others feeling neglected and forgotten. As an already disadvantaged group, the challenges presented by COVID-19 further hinder young people’s transitions to adulthood. The ‘massive struggles’ faced by some young people reflect immediate difficulties which also have the potential for longer-term impacts. The recommendations of the study, informed by care-experienced young people, seek to positively influence policy and practice.

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Section: Care Leavers' Transitions To Adulthoodmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘It’s Been a Massive Struggle’: Exploring the Experiences of Young People Leaving Care During COVID-19

Roberts

Mannay

Rees

et al. 2021

YOUNG

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“…Adults get often accused of lacking what, historically, has been described as the main characteristic of adults: maturity (Erikson 1959;Saraceno 1984;Burnett 2010) and expressions of adults' immaturity are found on an array of different levels and contexts. In numerous cases their 'excessively youthful' lifestyle is mentioned, specifically in relation to their consumerist or affective choices, which are seen as characteristic of younger cohorts instead, and hence not suitable for adults.…”

Section: What Actually Is An Adult?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless sociological analyses have just rarely and marginally taken into account the central phase of the life course, that is adulthood (Pilcher et al 2003). Concerning sociology, the 'discovery of adulthood' appears fairly recent and the position of adulthood in the sociological analysis is complex, since it combines centrality and marginality (Burnett 2010). On the one hand, in sociological analysis the adult is often 'an undefined subject who inhabits a sort of timeless and changeless plateau located between the end of the age of evolution and the beginning of the age of involution' (Saraceno 1984, 518).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does being an adult mean? Comparing young people’s and adults’ representations of adulthood

Pitti

2017

Journal of Youth Studies

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This article aims at exploring the different representations young people and adults attribute to the concept of adulthood on a normative, ideal and descriptive level in order to analyse the effects these ideas have on their reciprocal perception and recognition as adults. In so doing, it draws upon data collected through a grounded theory study, which has been conducted in Italy involving young people and adults in semi-structured qualitative interviews. The main results underline a traditional model of adulthood is commonly diffused at the normative and ideal levels of the interviewees' representations, constituting a powerful paradigm of recognition for both the involved generational groups. The article highlights how an 'evaluative' function is added to the notion of adulthood based upon classic transitional markers, which is used by both young people and adults to accuse each other of being 'not mature enough'. The risk that these difficulties of mutual recognition could foster the consolidation of a scenario in which youth transitions to adulthood are turned into a sort of potentially 'endless wandering' is discussed.

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“…Adulthood forms the "unarticulated background" of much sociological investigation (Blatterer, 2007a: 57), yet a sociology of adulthood has only recently begun to emerge (Blatterer, 2007a;Pilcher et al, 2003;Burnett, 2010). Hence, the need to question, to decentre and critically engage with this categorisation remains imperative (Burnett, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, the need to question, to decentre and critically engage with this categorisation remains imperative (Burnett, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognising Adulthood? Young Adults’ Accomplishment of their Age Identities

King

2012

Sociology

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This paper seeks to extend work in the growing sociology of adulthood. It considers the debate that young people in the UK and other advanced industrial societies now face challenges to their adulthood; in particular, that they experience problems of social recognition. Using membership categorization analysis (MCA) the paper then illustrates how members of a sample of twenty-three young people who had taken a Gap Year, a break in their educational careers taken between leaving school/college and university, use talk about changes in their relationships with their parents during this period of their lives to accomplish an adult identity in their current context. The paper considers the ramifications of these findings and the consequences for studying adulthood more generally.

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The Problem of Contemporary Adulthood: Calendars Cartographies and Constructions

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

‘It’s Been a Massive Struggle’: Exploring the Experiences of Young People Leaving Care During COVID-19

‘It’s Been a Massive Struggle’: Exploring the Experiences of Young People Leaving Care During COVID-19

What does being an adult mean? Comparing young people’s and adults’ representations of adulthood

Recognising Adulthood? Young Adults’ Accomplishment of their Age Identities

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