Using interviews to understand parent and family perspectives of the August 2011 London riots

Abstract

This article presents findings from interviews with London parents and families, to explore their perspective of the August 2011 London riots in the UK. This article is based on a doctorate thesis where the researcher adopted a critical position on constructions of parent‐blaming within political rhetoric. A separate paper (forthcoming) presents clinical implications developed from the research findings. The research was influenced by systemic and narrative therapy approaches. Nine parents and three young people, from five families across three London boroughs, were interviewed together to explore how they constructed the riots. A Foucauldian‐informed thematic analysis identified themes of inequality and exclusion, rioting as a criminal threat, youth as problematic, parenting and morality, and reclaiming normality. These themes highlighted discourses of crime, punishment, parenting and youth, the relevance of socio‐political factors, parent‐blaming and community resources within parent and family constructions of the 2011 London riots. Practitioner points Support inclusion of the perspective of parents and families in academic literature, clinical discussion and debates on the 2011 London riots Highlight discourses of crime, punishment, parenting and youth from parent and family constructions of the 2011 London riots

Clinical implications from research exploring parent and family perspectives of the August 2011 London riots

“…A research journal, peer discussions and supervision supported consideration of reflexivity, for example, managing the impact of adopting a social constructionist epistemology and a systemic and narrative therapy underpinning, as well as the requirements for a PhD thesis (Coopoosamy, ) on the research. Additionally, the researcher was able to attend to the impact of relevant areas of race, ethnicity, class and education (Burnham et al ., ) on the research presented, as well as the influence of their understanding of family, preferred psychological models and a personal interest in the topic of the riots.…”

“…The following article presents research from a PhD thesis (Coopoosamy, ) exploring how London parents and families constructed the 2011 London riots. Within the available debates and discourses on the 2011 London riots, parents and families could be considered to have a ‘marginalised voice’ (Burr, , p. 78), therefore their perspective was presented in detail within another article.…”