Supporting Troubled Young People

This highly informative book focuses on the lives of ‘troubled’ young people, unpicking this conceptualisation at the outset. All young people experience troubles at some point in life and many live complex lives. This book is promoted as a practical guide and indeed does contain very practical suggestions for professionals with a remit for supporting the mental health of young people. Walker is well positioned to reflect on the current state of play in the field of young people’s mental health. The Introduction sets the scene by discussing the increased prevalence of mental health issues amongst young people, including self-harm and suicide, taking place within a crisis in child mental health services and a context of reduced funding and increased demand for services. The book is an opportunity to enhance knowledge and understanding, with a clear aim of improving the support offered to young people. The question of how young people’s behaviour is perceived by professionals and agencies is raised early on in the text. Walker notes that the same child can be described in a myriad of ways by the adults who are part of their life, be it family or professionals. A young person might be defined as having a mental health problem, or defined by criminal justice or social services, or by health or education. In this way, we see that troubles are socially and culturally produced and not necessarily inherent to a young person or a problem of an individual. Troubles are located in a social, political and familial context, essential to highlight in the contemporary drive towards the psychiatrisation and psychologisation of children’s lives.

Context (archaeology) · Harm · Mental health · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Child and Adolescent Health · Psychology · Social Psychology