The Devil in the Details: Looking for Tough Moments in Unusual Places

ABSTRACT

Critical moments from a youth transitions' point of view, narrative turning points from a life course perspective, and biographical crisis from a subjective and reflexivity approach have been of interest for those concerned in biographical approaches, life histories, and social trajectories. It has been rightfully associated with qualitative approaches: the life stories that are told are the channel for researchers to identify and analyze the role of these specific moments in the course of lives. But is this the only route to identify, tackle and understand these moments of life? In this article we argue there are other means to analyze them. Using data from the longitudinal project “Linked Lives”, where 15 family histories (with a sum of 15 young people from 18 to 25 years of age) were collected through individual interviews, and qualitative oriented surveys were applied during and after the 2020 and the 2021 pandemic lockdowns; we explore two additional avenues. One is through the interaction during the interview. Based on ethnographic notes on postures, emotions, and interactions, during the interview as a whole, and in the moments where those tough life moments were shared, another layer of understanding is achievable. Not only regarding how these moments impact the lives of young people, but also in relation to the way they are capable and willing to express them. In another approach, we suggest that qualitative-driven surveys are capable of providing stories of tough moments. Using the collected information on self-reported wellbeing and reflections of the several phases of COVID-19 lockdowns, we are able to uncover differences and oscillations of young people in difficult contexts. This may also be an ante-camera of Pandemic long lasting hardship stories. These arguments are contextualized in longitudinal, intergenerational and household scopes, since tough moments are a result of accumulated and inter-personal dynamics.

KEYWORDS:

• Critical moments
• qualitative analysis
• young people
• ethics
• life stories

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1 This research and English revision were funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) in the scope of the project Linked Lives: a Multilevel, Mixed and Longitudinal Approach to Family Life Course (reference PTDC/SOC-SOC/29132/2017).

2 We used the occupational groups from the Portuguese Classification of Occupations (CPP) as a basis to ensure the recruitment of a socially stratified sample. Based on these criteria, Inês's family belongs to the lowest social class, in which the unskilled workers are found. This situation was confirmed during the fieldwork, where we found that among the 3 family members of working age, only one was formally employed, full-time and receiving at least the minimum wage.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia [grant number PTDC/SOC-SOC/29132/2017].

Notes on contributors

Magda Nico

Magda Nico is a sociologist, interested in the life course, social inequalities processes, research methods, young people's transitions and family dynamics. She recently co-edited a book on Agency and Structure in young people's Lives, with Ana Caetano (Routledge), and co-edited a Handbook on the Life Course and Inequalities with Gary Pollock. She is currently an assistant professor at ISCTE-IUL (Lisbon, Portugal), a Researcher at CIES-IUL and an associate editor for Journal of Youth Studies.

Maria Silva

Maria Silva is a historian, MA and PhD in Sociology of Education, researcher at CIES-Iscte. Her main interests are the study of families, qualitative methodology, inequalities, socialisation and political socialisation. One of her recent publications is the book chapter “The apple, the tree and the forest: Family histories as radars of social mobility and inequalities”, with Magda Nico, in Routledge Handbook for Inequalities and the Life Course edited by Magda Nico and Gary Pollock.

Diana Carvalho

Diana Carvalho is a sociologist, currently a research assistant at the Center for Research and Studies in Sociology (CIES-IUL) at ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal. She is also an Invited Assistant Professor at the same university and a PhD student at the Interuniversity Doctoral Program in Sociology (OpenSoc). She has worked in the areas of family, childhood and youth studies, and her current research interests are longitudinal and life course analysis and youth trajectories and transitions.