I just wanted a change, a positive change

Locating hope for young people engaged with residential alcohol and drug services in Victoria, Australia

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2250264
AutoresGabriel Caluzzi (0000-0003-3203-6123, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research La Trobe University Melbourne Victoria Australia, autor de correspondencia), Sandra J Maclean (0000-0002-8329-0722, Centre for Alcohol Policy Research La Trobe University Melbourne Victoria Australia), Rebecca Gray (0000-0002-5637-623X, Centre for Social Research in Health University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia), Jen Skattebol (0000-0002-4005-4332, Social Policy Research Centre University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia), Joanne Neale (0000-0003-1502-5983, Addictions Department King’s College London London UK), J Bryant (0000-0002-5271-2881, School of Social Science University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia)
Año2023
Volumen45
Número8
Páginas1691-1708
Fecha de publicación2023-11-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociology of Health & Illness (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0141-9889 • E-ISSN: 1467-9566
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-9566.13680
PMID37278252
OpenAlexW4379508330
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11
Referencias citadas44

In this article, we investigate young people's involvement with residential alcohol and other drug (AOD) services as part of their broader engagement with hope. This study draws on qualitative interviews conducted with 20 young people aged 17-23 from Victoria, Australia, who were either in, or had recently left, residential AOD services. Interviews explored their experiences with AOD services and included questions about their hopes for the future. We found hope located in social relationships, productive discourses and AOD settings themselves. Hope also presented differently according to the external resources young people had available to them, giving some young people greater capacity to action their hoped-for futures than others. Given many young people seek reimagined futures as part of their use of residential AOD services, this creates a valuable opportunity for services to help shape achievable hopes and boost service engagement. We suggest that hope can materialise in a variety of ways but caution against relying on it as a motivational strategy without providing young people with other resources. A more sustainable narrative of hope may require a solid foundation of resources, allowing young people with AOD problems to gain a sense of control over their lives and their imagined futures

Sociology · Healthcare innovation and challenges · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Psychology · Gerontology