’Min plan’ En poststrukturalistisk funderet empirisk undersøgelse af Københavns Ungecenters implementering af uddannelsespålægget anno 2014 samt dennes betydning for de unges positioneringsmuligheder og (selv)oplevelser

摘要

Since the financial crisis the number of unemployed young people without an education has increased, which has resulted in various policies aiming to solve this problem, due to the effects on the national economy. The latest version of the recent social security reforms forces unemployed and uneducated young people between 18-29 years into the education system. Statistics and evaluations show that an education gives people a better chance of getting a job and keeps the period(s) of unemployment shorter. In addition, statistics also show that many young people begin an education or get employment, yet 70% of them are back on social security within three years. This is a subject of great interest and debate, with many different kinds of surveys and research attempting to find a solution. Every year new restrictions have been implemented in the social security reform, but the number of unemployed young people without an education continues to rise year after year. Our scientific interests, purpose and intention of this thesis is from a psychological perspective. It is our goal to examine and produce knowledge about how the recent social security reforms in 2014 have made education the primary employment activity for unemployed young people. We examine how this is implemented in the Copenhagen Youth Center course 'Min plan' and what influence it has on the participant’s opportunities for positioning as well as their (self¬)experience. The thesis has its scientific point of view from the poststructuralist method as to investigate the discourses concerning the young and unemployed, and the different dynamics that exist, both contextually and relationally between the young ones and the consultants during the course ‘Min plan’. We furthermore apply the use of the landscape and (be-)longing theory by Davies to examine what influence being part of the job center has on the young people and how this, along with their opportunities to take positions, affects their (self-)experience. Our methodology is primarily inspired by Staunæs and Søndergaard and their use of the interactionist method as a way of collecting and analyzing empirical data. For the purpose of this thesis we took part in the course ‘Min plan’ for two weeks. During this time we observed the teachings, individual conversations between the consultants and the young people, and observed staff meetings. We interviewed some of the young people, the staff and the head of the job center. The thesis concludes that ‘Min Plan’ is a way of how the Copenhagen Youth Center implements the recent social security reforms in 2014 and its main focus on education. This happens through teaching lessons with education as primary focus and through individual conversations between the consultants and the young people, where the young people's individual challenges are the focus. The consultants implements the recent social security reforms by following the rules and restrictions that are politically stated, while attempting to put the matter of education in the back so they can focus on the young people's needs and challenges. The consultant tries in that way to offer the young people opportunities to exercise some kind of freedom by letting their manner of participation be their choice. Many of the young people enter the program feeling as if they have failed and refer to the perceived typical opinion of the society that views them as ‘social losers’ who are unintelligent and lazy. They feel excluded from society and that naturally has an influence on their (self-) experience. It can be concluded that the consultant's way of implementing the recent social security reforms has had a positive influence on the many of the young people and on their (self-)experience. This is shown by the fact that many of the young people have a renewed faith in themselves and they now feel like they have a direction in their life. This lies in the consultants supporting approach and that the frame they sets for ‘Min plan’ includes a community where the young people can meet, share their thoughts and spar the other young people who also face challenges in relation to the system of education.