Participation of youth in group social intervention programmes in Madrid. A qualitative study focused on participants’ experiences

ABSTRACT

In Spain, there are many social intervention programmes aimed at promoting the participation of teenagers and young people considered to be at risk of social exclusion. However, there is no consensus on the term’s definition, meaning and scope. Moreover, young people have a scant presence in research on social work. This research aims to define ‘participation’ by emphasising young people’s perspectives and experiences. Over 120 adolescents from 13 to 23 years old who were part of four different social intervention programmes in the academic year 2018–2019 took part in the research, giving their opinions and points of view. This qualitative study uses Grounded Theory as general guidance for obtaining data and analysis, stressing situated and critical perspectives. The research techniques were adapted to each group: group work processes and group discussions, with the help of art. The results showed guidelines for promoting participation in four areas: the roles of young people in participation; the role of institutions and professionals; the socio-structural context as an impediment or imperative for participation, and the possibilities of participation enabled by democratic group processes.

RESUMEN

En España existen numerosos programas de intervención social dirigidos a promover la participación de adolescentes y jóvenes considerados en riesgo de exclusión social. Sin embargo, no existe consenso sobre la definición, el significado y el alcance del término. Además, las personas jóvenes tienen una escasa presencia en la investigación sobre el trabajo social. Esta investigación pretende definir el término ‘participación’ haciendo hincapié en las perspectivas y experiencias de los jóvenes. En la investigación han participado más de 120 adolescentes de 13 a 23 años que formaron parte de cuatro programas de intervención social diferentes en el curso 2018–2019, aportando sus opiniones y puntos de vista. Este estudio cualitativo utiliza la Teoría Fundamentada como guía general para la obtención de datos y el análisis, desde una perspectiva situada y crítica. Las técnicas de investigación se adaptaron a cada grupo: procesos de trabajo en grupo y grupos de discusión, con la ayuda del arte. Los resultados arrojan pautas para promover la participación en cuatro áreas: los roles de las personas jóvenes en la participación; el papel de las instituciones y los profesionales; el contexto socioestructural como impedimento o imperativo para la participación, y las posibilidades de participación que permiten los procesos grupales democráticos.

KEYWORDS:

• Participation
• young people
• social work
• group intervention
• social intervention

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• participación
• jóvenes
• trabajo social
• intervención grupal
• intervención social

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 This information is the result of an analysis of the information available on the Madrid City Council website https://transparencia.madrid.es/.

2 A literature review was conducted examining 14 peer-reviewed Spanish academic journals. In the period 2010-2019, 21 articles out of 188 mentioned some kind of participation in research, even if only by answering questionnaires. In the period 2000–2009, only three articles out of 141 actually involved teenagers and young people.

3 Most of the entities are anonymised to guarantee the identity of the participants.

4 Madrid Salud is a network of community health centres attached to Madrid City Council.

5 I used the word ‘dis’ because it is slang for ‘disrespectful’, to be loyal to the original phrase: ‘hacer el feo’.

6 This was a problem that was mainly experienced with young men from the shelter because young men who were unaccompanied minors had many administrative difficulties to obtain a work permit. This has changed recently. For more information, see Vinaixa i Miquel (2019).

7 In Spain, it is called Grado Superior Formación Profesional, and it is a two-year diploma.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Ministerio de Educacion, Cultura y Deport [grant number FPU 15].

Notes on contributors

Linda Ducca Cisneros

Linda Ducca Cisneros is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Complutense University of Madrid. She is a member of Grupolab, a research laboratory on Social Work with Groups and the IAWSG.

Andrés Arias Astray

Andrés Arias Astray is a Full Professor of Social Work at the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain) and a member of GrupoLab, where he combines his teaching and research on social group work with critical epistemology.