DEVANY, Christopher (2021). Disengaged youth? Exploring the lives of ‘hidden NEETs’ outside the benefits system. Doctoral, Sheffield Hallam University.
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Devany_2021_PhD_DisengagedYouthExploring.pdf - Accepted Version
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Devany_2021_PhD_DisengagedYouthExploring.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives.
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Abstract
This thesis focuses on the lived experiences of young men who are not in education,
employment or training (NEET) and do not access support from the welfare benefits
system. They have been called ‘hidden' NEETs as they are statistically absent from
labour market datasets and seldom access support from charities and other
organisations. The broad aims of this thesis are to understand how they become
disengaged and how they search for meaning outside work.
The thesis diverges from the traditional approaches of youth studies through an
enhanced theorisation of ‘hidden NEEThood’ by incorporating a set of relational
theories. Bourdieu is used to understand how the dispositions and resources available
to the participants shape their disengagement from education, employment, training
and the welfare benefits system. The thesis also incorporates Goffman’s theory of
stigma as well as theories of ‘masculinity’ and ‘intersectionality’ to explore the roles of
gender and ethnicity.
In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with twenty-four young men living in
Sheffield who were currently ‘hidden NEET’ or had recent experience of this status.
The research presents several key findings. The literature review utilises Bourdieu's
theory of ‘hysteresis’ to detail how long-term economic and policy processes have
gradually created the conditions for ‘hidden NEEThood’. The empirical chapters also
detail the overlooked proximity between homelessness and unemployment when
‘welfare conditionality’ and precarious labour markets intersect, in doing so, showing
how very small amounts of social capital can result in significant differences to the
lived experience of ‘hidden NEEThood’. Despite this, the thesis reveals how
unemployment is not necessarily a state of marginalisation or disengagement as, for
some, it can be a place of succour, particularly given experiences of 'poor work' in
contemporary labour markets. A novel framework combines the concept of ontological
security alongside the work of Bourdieu to explore the conditions and circumstances
required for such young working-class men to feel ‘secure’ and find meaning in their
lives. Finally, the thesis argues that NEEThood is not simply caused by poor
employment prospects but is an outcome of wider socio-economic disadvantages.
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