Exposing the conditions of precarity: compounding victimization and marginalized young people

Abstract

Events of victimization that upend young lives and expose them to conditions of precarity are examined. Drawing on Judith Butler’s recent reflections on precarity, this article contributes to the extant critical victimology literature by linking precarity to selfhood and narrative. Narrative analysis is used to analyze two young people – Beatrice and Randall – who experienced sexual victimization and a number of subsequent victimizations at the hands of corporate and state organizations. To account for these subsequent persecutions, the concept of compounding victimization to expose the link between successive victimization that intensifies the experience of precarity.

Keywords:

• young people
• narratives
• compounding victimization
• precarity
• state victimization
• corporate victimization

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Justin Piche, Karen Foster, Rena Bivens, and Kevin Walby for earlier comments on this article.

Notes

1. In addition to such forms of secondary victimization, victims also face stigmatization (see e.g. Eigenberg, 1989; Feiring, Rosenthal, & Taska, 2000).

2. In a recent issue of Journal of Prisoners on Prisons, the narratives of Anonymous (2011) and ‘Petey’ (2011) reflect this precarious form of existence.

3. For more information regarding the demographics of this study, see Foster and Spencer (2012).

4. In order ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of Beatrice and Randall, some details regarding their personal information have been changed.

5. Studies show that for young people who have experienced sexual victimization, as compared to young people who have not experienced sexual victimization, there is an increased likelihood of negative developmental outcomes, including low self-esteem, an impaired ability to form affective and trusting relationships with adults, higher rates of depression and suicide attempts, criminal behavior, running away, or being kicked out of their home (Beitchman et al., 1992; Tyler et al., 2000; Swanston et al., 2003; Whitbeck, Hoyt, & Ackley, 1997).

6. This is in line with Ahmed (2004, p. 83) and Ngai’s (2005) assertion that objects of disgust involve a recoiling or pulling away of the subject.

7. http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/statutes/english/elaws_statutes_00e41_e.htm#

8. Ontario Works Policy Directives, p. 8, Retrieved March 25, 2010, from http://www.mcss.gov.on.ca/documents/en/mcss/social/directives/ow/0101.pdf

9. For more on surveillance and social assistance, see Magnet (2009) and Chunn and Gavigan (2004).