Young and Lonely: The Social Conditions of Loneliness Tbc

Young and Lonely The Social Conditions of Loneliness gathers evidence of young people’s experience of loneliness and connection from a youth co-produced research project and locates these within longstanding cultural and historical discussions of loneliness and solitude, friendship and belonging. The study explores loneliness and the experiences of connection/disconnection and inclusion/exclusion with a particular focus on the experience of loneliness in young lives and on how it is navigated when it is first encountered. It proposes that loneliness should not be considered only or even primarily as another psychological disorder or contagion, whilst recognising that severe loneliness may be an aspect of and connected to severe forms of psychological and emotional distress. The ways that young people encounter loneliness have resonance across the age spectrum and for questions of social organisation more generally. In three subsections, The social conditions of loneliness, The experience of loneliness, and Building friendship and connection, which focuses on the innovative critical and creative co-research used methods (which built on youth work practice) which enabled the conditions in which from the transient to the more enduring loneliness is experienced to be explored are explored. An accompanying attention to the range of methods of finding friendship and connection allows the complexity of young people’s experience to be foregrounded. The creative research methods used in the ‘Loneliness Connects Us’ collaborative research give a sense of some of the ways this sensitive topic might be approached and enhance understanding of friendship and solidarity. Front cover Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Notes on the authors Acknowledgements Preface 1. Animate, attune, amplify 2. Finding oneself a loneliness agenda 3. I’m new here: creating a new research project and a young person led research agenda Part I: The social conditions of loneliness 4. Loneliness and poverty 5. Being an outsider 6. The education system, aspiration and loneliness Part II: The experience of loneliness 7. Transitions 8. Loss, grief and loneliness 9. Being left out 10. Online spaces and connection Part III: Building friendship and connection 11. Asking for help and offering connection 12. Youth work as method 13. Creativity and solidarity as method: the example of Missing and other stories 14. New ways for thinking and feeling loneliness References Index Back cover "Anchored in accounts of young people’s personal experiences of loneliness, this book addresses important questions about tackling today’s epidemic of loneliness among young people. It explores experiences of loneliness in early life, how it is navigated when first encountered and considers how social conditions of poverty, precarity, inequality and competitive pressures to succeed can dramatically influence these feelings. Presenting diverse and nuanced social accounts of loneliness, the authors explore ways to harness the creative and positive potential of loneliness and provide evidence-based recommendations for policy makers, practitioners and young people to help tackle the crisis." --From publisher's description

Anchored in accounts of young people's personal experiences of loneliness, this book addresses important questions about tackling today's epidemic of loneliness among young people. It explores experiences of loneliness in early life, how it is navigated when first encountered and considers how social conditions of poverty, precarity, inequality and competitive pressures to succeed can dramatically influence these feelings. Presenting diverse and nuanced social accounts of loneliness, the authors explore ways to harness the creative and positive potential of loneliness and provide evidence-based recommendations for policy makers, practitioners and young people to help tackle the crisis.

This text addresses important questions about tackling today's epidemic of loneliness among young people, exploring experiences of loneliness in early life and considering how social conditions of austerity, precarity, inequality and competitive pressures to succeed can dramatically influence these feelings