Abstract
Christian Sandbjerg Hansen, PhD, post.doc., Aarhus University: Wild Girls, Girl
Gangs, and Moral Panic: Fights about Classification and the Meaning of
Public Representation of Social Problems. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift,
2016, Vol 53, 2, 5-16. Wild girls and girl gangs are relatively new concepts, appearing
in Danish newspapers from ca. 2000. The number of articles per year in leading
Danish newspapers from then to now vary from 0 to 32. Attitudes and ways of understanding
these phenomena have changed: in 2003 – 2008, a “social worker’s view”
was applied: the acts of the girls mirror their psycho-social context. From 2009, a
principle attitude was “Enough is enough”. From 2014, a discussion was raised about
the soft and inefficient educational institutions and demands for a juvenile court of
law. These phenomena are discussed, involving Cohen, Durkheim, and Bourdieu.
Kirsten Elisa Petersen, PhD, Associate Professor, Aarhus University: To be Seen as
a Trouble Maker – Young Male Gang Members’ Own Stories About Their
School Years. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2016, Vol 53, 2, 17-29. The article
focuses on young, male gang members – a group of youngsters often creating fear
and concern in society. A list of their behavior, conflicts, the number of wounded or
demised seems at present unending, and this causes concern for the police, the politicians,
and people generally in Denmark. The article builds on a recently published
research project about young males in gangs and their own perspectives on growing
up and their everyday life. It is discussed how fear and concern about their behavior
changes when insight and knowledge is developed in collaboration with the youngsters
and not apart from them.
Laila Colding Lagermann, PhD, Research Assistant, Aarhus University: Marginalized
Youngsters and the Significant Adult: A Story about a Feeling of Impotence.
Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2016, Vol 53, 2, 30-42. What are the
possibilities for schools to make marginalized pupils transgress? Two boys from ethnical
minorities are presented: what are their chances, and what are the limitations
to the prospects of them remaining in their roles as trouble makers? A discussion of
the significant adult is presented. The boys themselves underline the importance of
a relational flow between themselves and their teachers.
Jens Christian Nielsen, PhD, Associate Professor, Aarhus University: Community
is the Key to Understanding the Ways that Youth Deal with Risks in Adolescence.
Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2016, Vol 53, 2, 43-50. Smoking, drinking
and drug abuse, etc., are much discussed phenomena when describing youth. What
are the reasons for their behavior, and what are the best ways to react? In general, it
may be said that there is more to gain than to lose: smoking e.g. may be dangerous,
but it provides access to an otherwise closed community. The shortcomings of traditional
adult reactions are discussed. It is more fruitful to focus on the development of
inclusive and capacious environments in schools, etc.
Niels Kryger, Associate Professor, Aarhus University: The youth struggle to gain
freedom. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2016, Vol 53, 2, 51-59. The article focuses
on some of the contradictory conditions and opportunities young people have
to relate to and to position themselves in relation to the freedom and self-creation
performance that characterizes today’s Danish society. The expectation is that the
young people adopt the ‘freedom’, and that they depict themselves participating actively
in their own self-creation by realizing the inherent potentials and by exhibiting
(displaying) an independent, and preferable unique, identity.
Jonas Lieberkind, PhD, Associate Professor, Aarhus University: Youth between
Politics and Education. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2016, Vol 53, 2, 60-73.
The purpose of the article is to identify an urgent challenge in the educational psychological
field between politics and education. An international survey depicts Danish
youth as adherent to classic values e.g. freedom of speech and respect of authorities.
However, when asked about participation or expected participation in protests
or activities in support of human rights, Danish 14-year-olds are very withdrawn. An
interesting observation is that they show a remarkably good understanding of steering
strategically between expectations from parents and their own opinions.
Christian Sandbjerg Hansen, PhD, post.doc., Aarhus University: Wild Girls, Girl
Gangs, and Moral Panic: Fights about Classification and the Meaning of
Public Representation of Social Problems. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift,
2016, Vol 53, 2, 74-84. Wild girls and girl gangs are relatively new concepts, appearing
in Danish newspapers from ca. 2000. The number of articles per year in leading
Danish newspapers from then to now vary from 0 to 32. Attitudes and ways of understanding
these phenomena have changed: in 2003 – 2008, a “social worker’s view”
was applied: the acts of the girls mirror their psycho-social context. From 2009, a
principle attitude was “Enough is enough”. From 2014, a discussion was raised about
the soft and inefficient educational institutions and demands for a juvenile court of
law. These phenomena are discussed, involving Cohen, Durkheim, and Bourdieu.
Inge Henningsen, Senior Researcher, University of Copenhagen: The requirements
for admission are lopsided. Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2016, Vol 53, 2,
85-89. New admission requirements for entry to secondary education essentially
leads to the fact that the grade that the 15-year-old young students obtain in Danish
and mathematics will determine their further education and thus the rest of their
working lives. Based on statistical analysis, the article discusses implications of the
changing conditions of admission and points out that the legislation does not seem to
decide whether and how a young person may qualify if they have left the 9th grade
with poor grades.
Jens Christian Nielsen, PhD, Associate Professor, Aarhus University, Jesper Stilling
Olesen, PhD, Associate Professor, Aarhus University and Lotte Stausgaard Skrubbeltrang,
Teaching Assistant Professor, Aalborg University: The Formation of Talents
and Non-talents – The Efforts of Youngsters to become Sports Talents.
Pædagogisk Psykologisk Tidsskrift, 2016, Vol 53, 2, 90-103. The coupling between
elitist sports and school is supposed to create better cohesion for young sports talents.
This is confirmed by the respondents in a survey. It is, however, important that
the staff establishes a common perspective on student development and wellbeing,
and a space in which experiences may be shared and solutions found. PTA meetings
may be good examples. A discussion of good listening involves Davies and Deluze.