Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-5wvtr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T13:02:20.265Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Social Constructions of Children and Youth: Beyond Dependents and Deviants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2020

MARY ELIZABETH COLLINS Open the ORCID record for MARY ELIZABETH COLLINS [Opens in a new window]  and
MICHELLE MEAD
MARY ELIZABETH COLLINS
Affiliation:
Professor and Department Chair, Social Welfare Policy, Boston University School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA02215 email: mcollins@bu.edu
MICHELLE MEAD
Affiliation:
Lecturer, Boston University School of Social Work, 264 Bay State Road, Boston, MA02215 email: mamead@bu.edu
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Schneider and Ingram’s (1993) theory of social construction of target populations has received extensive scholarly attention. It has rarely been applied to populations of children and youth, however. In this article we: (1) describe the original framework; (2) apply each of Schneider and Ingram’s four categories to examples relevant to children and youth; (3) identify adjustments to the model to guide further understanding of young people’s policy treatment; and, (4) discuss how these observations might inform policies targeted toward children and youth. By providing a more focused analysis of this theory’s application to the social construction of children and youth, we aim to contribute to the scholarly understanding of policymaking and inform potential policy design strategies that may result in positive outcomes for children and youth.

Keywords

Social constructionTarget populationsChildren and youth
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 50 , Issue 3 , July 2021 , pp. 493 - 510
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abramovitz, M. (2001), ‘Everyone is still on welfare: the role of redistribution in social policy’, Social Work, 4, 297–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Addo, F.R., Houle, J.N. and Simon, D. (2016), ‘Young, black, and (still) in the red: parental wealth, race, and student loan debt’, Race and Social Problems, 8, 64–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (2018), Position statement on separating children and families at the border, http://centerforchildpolicy.org/immigrantchildren.html [accessed 12.06.2018]Google Scholar
Arkin, D. and Popkin, B. (February 21, 2018), ‘How the internet’s conspiracy theorists turned Parkland students into “crisis actors” ’. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-internet-s-conspiracy-theorists-turned-parkland-students-crisis-actors-n849921.Google Scholar
Augsberger, A., Collins, M.E. and Gecker, W. (2017), ‘Youth civic engagement: do youth councils reduce or reinforce social inequality?’, Journal of Adolescent Research. DOI: 10.1177/0743558416684957.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Augsberger, A., Springwater, J.S., Hilliard-Koshinsky, G., Barber, K. and Martinez, L.S. (2019). ‘Youth participation in policy advocacy: Examination of a multi-state former and current foster care youth coalition’, Children and Youth Services Review, 107, 104491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Béland, D. (2010), ‘Reconsidering policy feedback: How policies affect politics’, Administration and Society, 42, 568–590.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Béland, D. and Schlager, E. (2019), ‘Varieties of policy feedback research: looking backward, moving forward’, Policy Studies Journal, 47, 2, 184–205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bender, K., Brown, S. M., Thompson, S. J., Ferguson, K. M. and Langenderfer, L. (2015), ‘Multiple victimizations before and after leaving home associated with PTSD, depression, and substance use disorder among homeless youth’, Child Maltreatment, 20, 115–124. doi: 10.1177/1077559514562859.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berrick, J., Dickens, J., Pösö, T. and Skivenes, M. (2015), ‘Children’s involvement in care order decision-making: A cross-country analysis’, Child Abuse & Neglect, 49, 128–141.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bourdieu, P. (1996), ‘On the family as a realized category’, Theory, Culture & Society, 13, 19–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, M.L. and Clampet-Lundquist, S. (2019), ‘“It’s hard to be around here”: criminalization of daily routines for youth in Baltimore’, Socius, 5, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brock, C. (2017), ‘Framing child nutrition programs: the impact of party and district characteristics on elite framing’, Social Science Quarterly, 98, 628–643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks-Gunn, J. and Duncan, G.J. (1997), ‘The effects of poverty on children’, The Future of Children, 7, 55–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Checkoway, B. and Aldana, A. (2013), ‘Four forms of youth civic engagement for diverse democracy’, Children and Youth Services Review, 35, 1894–1899.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, M.E. (2018). ‘Comparative analysis of state policy-making in child welfare: Utilizing theory to explain policy choices’, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice, 20, 370–386. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2013.09.005 Google Scholar
Collins, M.E., Cooney, K. and Garlington, S. (2012), ‘Compassion in contemporary social policy: applications of virtue theory’, Journal of Social Policy, 41, 251–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Collins, M.E. and Clay, C.M. (2009). ‘Influencing policy for youth transitioning from care: Defining problems, crafting solutions, and assessing politics’, Children and Youth Services Review, 31, 743–751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cullen, D. (2019), Parkland. New York: HarperLuxe.Google Scholar
Day, A., Riebschleger, J., Dworsky, A., Damashek, A. and Fogarty, K. (2012), ‘Maximizing educational opportunities for youth aging out of foster care by engaging youth voices in a partnership for social change’, Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 1007–1014 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donovan, M. C. (1997), ‘The problem with making AIDS comfortable’, Journal of Homosexuality, 32, 115–144.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duffy, J., Collins, M.E. and Kim, S.H. (2016), ‘Linking family engagement with a rights perspective: Macro factors influencing practice’, European Journal of Social Work, 21, 1, 45–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, K. (2019), ‘Child sexual exploitation: a comparative frame analysis of news-media coverage over time’, Feminist Media Studies, doi: 10.1080/14680777.2019.1690021 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gainsborough, J. F. (2010), Scandalous politics: child welfare policy in the states, Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
Gaventa, J. (1980), Power and powerlessness: quiescence and rebellion in an Appalachian Valley, Urbana: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Hacker, J. S. (2006), The great risk shift, New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hudson, R. B. and Gonyea, J. G. (2012), ‘Baby boomers and the shifting political construction of old age’, The Gerontologist, 52, 2, 272–282.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hynes, B. O. and Hayes, N. (2011), ‘Who benefits from early childcare subsidy design in Ireland?’ Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 19, 3, 277–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Link, M. W. and Oldendick, R. W. (1996), ‘Social construction and white attitudes toward equal opportunity and multiculturalism’, The Journal of Politics, 58, 149–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Massachusetts Department of Children and Families. (2019), ‘Children who are missing or absent’, DCF Policy Manual, Chapter III – Health and Well-being, Revised 1/7/19, Boston, MA: Department of Children and Families.Google Scholar
Massey, D.S. and Tannen, J. (2016), ‘Segregation, race, and the social worlds of rich and poor’, in Kirsch, I. and Braun, H. (eds.), The Dynamics of Opportunity in America: Evidence and Perspectives, Springer Open, 13–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Monahan, K., Steinberg, L. and Piquero, A.R. (2015), ‘Juvenile justice policy and practice: a developmental perspective’, Crime and Justice, 44, 577–619.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Neill, M.K. (2011), Pulling back the curtain: State children’s ombudsmen at work. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. UMI 3467906.Google Scholar
Pierce, J.J., Siddiki, S., Jones, M.D., Schumacher, K., Pattison, A. and Peterson, H. (2014), ‘Social construction and policy design: a review of past applications’, Policy Studies Journal, 42, 1–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pierson, P. (2000), ‘Increasing returns, path dependence, and the study of politics’, The American Political Science Review, 94, 2, 251–267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinckney, H.P. IV, Outley, C., Brown, A. and Theriault, D. (2019), ‘Playing while black’, Leisure Sciences, DOI: 10.1080/01490400.2018.1534627 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Platt, A. (2009), The child savers: the invention of delinquency, New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.Google Scholar
Reynaert, D., Bouverne-de-Bie, M. and Vandevelde, S. (2009), ‘A review of children’s rights literature since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’, Childhood, 1, 518–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rios, V.M. (2007), ‘The hypercriminalization of Black and Latino male youth in the era of mass incarceration’, in Marable, M., Steinberg, I., and Middlemass, K. (eds.), Racializing justice, disenfranchising lives: The racism, criminal justice, and law reader, New York: Palgrave/Macmillan, 17–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosario, M., Schrimshaw, E.W. and Hunter, J. (2011), ‘Risk factors for homeless among lesbian, gay and bisexual youths: a developmental milestone approach’, Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 86–93. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.09.016.Google Scholar
Ryan, J. and Testa, M. (2005), ‘Child maltreatment and juvenile delinquency: investigating the role of placement and placement instability’, Children and Youth Services Review, 27, 227−249.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, A. and Ingram, H. (1993), ‘Social construction of target populations: implications for politics and policy’, The American Political Science Review, 87, 334−347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, A.L. and Ingram, H. (1997), Policy design for democracy, Lawrence: University Press of Kansas.Google Scholar
Schneider, A.L and Ingram, H.M. (eds.) (2005), Deserving and entitled: social constructions and public policy, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Schneider, A.L. and Ingram, H.M. (2019), ‘Social constructions, anticipatory feedback strategies, and deceptive public policy’, Policy Studies Journal, 47, 2, 206–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, A. and Sidney, M. (2009), ‘What is next for policy design and social construction theory?’, Policy Studies Journal, 37, 103–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seita, J.R. (2001), ‘Growing up without family privilege’, Reclaiming Children and Youth, 10, 130–132.Google Scholar
Sinclair, R. (2004), ‘Participation in practice: making it meaningful, effective and sustainable. Children & Society’, 4, 106–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swartz, T.T (2008), Family capital and the invisible transfer of privilege: Intergenerational support and social class in early adulthood. In J.T. Mortimer (Ed.), Social class and transitions to adulthood. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 119, 11–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Titmuss, R. M. (1965, June), ‘The role of redistribution in social policy’, Social Security Bulletin, 39, 14–20.Google Scholar
Tyler, K. A., Hagewen, K. J. and Melander, L. A. (2011), ‘Risk factors for running away among a general population sample of males and females’, Youth & Society, 43, 583–608. DOI: 10.1177/0044118x11400023.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waithaka, E. (2014), ‘Family capital: conceptual model to unpack the intergenerational transfer of advantage in transitions to adulthood’, Journal of Research on Adolescence, 24, 471–484.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weitzer, R. and Tuch, S.A. (2004), ‘Race and perceptions of policy misconduct’, Social Problems, 51, 3, 305–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, H. and Huntington, A. (2005), `Deviant mothers: the construction of teenage motherhood in contemporary discourse’, Journal of Social Policy, 35, 59–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wong, N. T., Zimmerman, M. A. and Parker, E. A. (2010), ‘A typology of youth participation and empowerment for child and adolescent health promotion’, American Journal of Community Psychology, 46, 100–114. doi: 10.1007/s10464-010-9330-0.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wong, A. (February 24, 2018), ‘The Parkland students aren’t going away’, The Atlantic, https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/02/the-parkland-students-arent-going-away/554159/ Google Scholar
Youniss, J. and Levine, P. (2009), ‘A “younger Americans act”: an old idea for a new era’, in Youniss, J. and Levine, P. (eds.), Engaging children and youth in civic life, Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press, 13–28.Google Scholar