Young people creating belonging: Spaces, sounds and sight

The project will examine the notion of belonging in relation to the experience of children and young people with experience of potential or actual disruptions in their family circumstances, for example children living in kinship care, foster care or residential care.
The aim of the project is to examine the ways in which a comfortable sense of belonging may be established in varied and varying 'home' circumstances and spaces over time. At the same time, attention will be paid to experiences of ambivalent or 'not belonging' in particular domestic environments.
These concerns will be explored in part through sensory experience and the project will develop and employ innovative, visual and audial qualitative methodologies in two semi-structured interviews with each of the 30 participants (aged 10-18). The role of material objects in constructing belonging will also be explored.
The project therefore combines theoretical sociological interests in the sociology of family and relationships and of sensory experience, with the developing area of sensory methods. It also draws on social work theory and responds to current UK policy concerns to incorporate a more relational approach to social care practice and to improve outcomes for 'looked after' children.