ABSTRACT. Mead
(1934) states the way we see ourselves and construct our identity is
influenced
by our interactions with those around us. These
people
will form our internal dialogue or our
dialogical self (Hermans, Kempen, & Van Loon
1992). The
theory
of
the dialogical self was used to explore the
identities of one group of young people described by the media as
‘Scotland’s
Shame’ (The Herald, 2007). The Scottish Government have defined
unemployed
young people as a ‘problem’ and stated that tackling this problem is a
national
priority. They have labelled this group as NEET (Not in Education,
Employment
or Training - The NEET Strategy 2006). This
paper
presents the results of one analysis
conducted on part of a
wider data set. Eight boys aged
16-18 and their youth support worker took part in discussion groups
while
waiting to sit a health & safety test at a local college. A dialogical analysis illustrates the
way in which this group of young people seeks positive recognition and
their
reactions when this is denied. This research has highlighted the
importance of
recognition and the need to further explore this notion for this group
of young
people.
Keywords:
dialogical self, Not in
Education, Employment or
Training (NEET), recognition
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