'You Have to Learn to Love Yourself 'Cos No One Else Will.' Young Women with 'Social, Emotional or Behavioural Difficulties' and the Idea of the Underclass

Abstract

This article discusses some of the findings of a small-scale qualitative study involving young women identified and processed as deviant, that is as having 'social, emotional or behavioural difficulties', in their school years. It also explores some of the ideas currently much discussed in both the press and academic literature about the underclass and lone motherhood, arguing for an understanding that acknowledges the complex interweaving of structure and agency in the lives of disadvantaged young women.