Elaine Chase

• PhD
• Professor (Associate) at University College London

This open access book looks critically at how education, migration and development intersect and interact to shape people, communities, societies, ideas, values, and action at local, national and international levels. Written by leading scholars and practitioners based in Belgium, China, Columbia, Ethiopia, India, Lebanon, Mongolia, South Africa, t...

This chapter offers a conceptual framework for rethinking wellbeing through a political economy lens in the context of migration and multiple transitions. It then considers the relevance and application of these conceptualizations of wellbeing to the lives and circumstances of unaccompanied migrant young people undergoing multiple transitions. The...

This chapter demonstrates that while young people strive to establish an anchor in Europe as a place where they feel safe and can imagine and construct futures for themselves, they simultaneously derive a sense of subjective wellbeing from their transnational ties and personhood. Given the geopolitical framework that kept them apart from loved ones...

This chapter discusses the fundamental need for safety and freedom. For the period that they are recognized as children, there is arguably some degree of congruence between young people's conceptions of these aspects of their wellbeing and those of welfare and immigration structures, policies, and systems. However, as they turn 18, there is frequen...

This book examines the factors affecting the health and wellbeing of young people as they transition to adulthood under the shadow of migration control. Drawing on unique longitudinal data, the book illuminates how they conceptualize wellbeing for themselves and others in contexts of prolonged and politically induced uncertainty. The book offers an...

This chapter examines the methodology for the research in England and Italy concerning youth migration. It describes its participative and collaborative nature, which involved working closely with a team of young people who had previously migrated alone to the United Kingdom and Italy as core members of the research team. The chapter outlines the r...

This concluding chapter reviews the core questions addressed through the research and considers the implications of the findings for rethinking policy and practice. Young people are subjected to highly complex systems of immigration control intertwined with social support depending on their age, their status on the micro-level and, at the macro-lev...

This chapter shows how unaccompanied migrant and refugee young people are individuals driven by feelings and impulses as much as they are rational actors. Young people took extraordinary risks to protect their friends, and these actions shaped their trajectories. Sometimes the question of where young people ended up staying in Europe was the result...

This chapter explores core differences in how young people experienced the asylum/immigration and social care nexus in Italy and the United Kingdom. Both systems had intrinsic advantages and inadequacies that created different kinds of opportunities for individuals at different points in their migration journeys. Of most significance is the fact th...

Drawing on accounts of unaccompanied migrant young people becoming adult, this book offers a political economy analysis of wellbeing in the context of migration and demonstrates the urgent need for policy reform.

This book examines the factors affecting the health and wellbeing of young people as they transition to adulthood under the shadow of migration control. Drawing on unique longitudinal data, it illuminates how they conceptualize wellbeing for themselves and others in contexts of prolonged and politically induced uncertainty. The authors offer an in-...

This chapter explores identity and belonging as central tenets to young people's subjective wellbeing. The two were found to be closely intertwined, intrinsically linked with a sense of being part of the social, religious, economic, and political spheres of the communities in which they lived. While seeking to belong in their new homes, young peopl...

This chapter investigates how young people seek to construct viable futures through the process of migration. While many young people arriving in England, and to some extent in Italy, alluded to the expanding futures emerging in Europe, they frequently saw these new horizons shrinking as they approached adulthood, particularly if they still had unc...

This chapter assesses the central importance of health, and in particular mental health, to a sense of wellbeing. It considers the factors that negatively impact mental wellbeing of migrant young people not so much in terms of presenting symptoms and biomedical responses, but largely as products of systems and structures that are incompatible with...

This chapter examines the centrality of legal status as a building block for security and constructing a future in Europe. It engages with the realities of living with or without legal recognition in England and Italy and the impact this has on young people. The chapter considers these experiences within international and national frameworks of you...

While much has been written about the rights and best interests of unaccompanied children arriving in the UK and Europe, there has been very little focus on what happens when ‘children’ make the transition to institutional ‘adulthood’ at 18. This critical time for young people can variously mark being granted legal status, facing indefinite periods...

This paper offers some behind-the-scenes insights drawn from the collective fieldwork experiences of the contributors to this Special Issue. These include reflections on: how decisions about modes of accessing research participants fundamentally shape the research process and outcomes; the pitfalls of only focusing on young people's migratory exper...

This paper sheds light on the ambiguous position of children who migrate without a parent or guardian as they become adults in the European Union (EU). Through a critical analysis of three prevailing frames (‘best interests’, ‘durable solutions’ and ‘belonging’), which largely inform policy and practice related to this group, it explores the tensio...

This paper sheds light on the ambiguous position of children who migrate without a parent or guardian as they become adults in the European Union (EU). Through a critical analysis of three prevailing frames (‘best interests’, ‘durable solutions’ and ‘belonging’), which largely inform policy and practice related to this group, it explores the tensio...

European migrant citizens and their social rights are strongly contested in British political debate. This article seeks to challenge some common concerns and perceptions regarding the exceptionality of the British welfare state and the alleged ‘costs’ to it from intra-EU migration. The article first provides a brief overview of the foundations for...

The use of cash transfers within the anti-poverty policy domain has witnessed a ‘quiet revolution’ across the Global South over the past decade (Barrientos and Hulme, 2008). At the same time, conditionality – the granting of cash transfers or services on the condition that the recipient carries out activities or meets certain behavioural requiremen...

Young people subject to immigration control frequently draw a link between their own subjective wellbeing and whether or not they have a projected sense of self within a clear future trajectory. Building on previous work by the authors, this article explores young people’s lived experiences of constructing futures while subject to immigration contr...

Policy debates surrounding poverty in the UK are fundamentally framed by eligibility to welfare benefits and by dominant discourses surrounding those who are deserving, or conversely, undeserving of welfare assistance. While in the past there have been significant differences in these constructions of poverty along party political lines, more recen...

The shame experienced by people living in poverty has long been recognised. Nobel laureate and economist, Amartya Sen, has described shame as the "irreducible core" of poverty. However, little attention has been paid to the implications of this connection in the making and implementation of anti-poverty policies. This important volume rectifies thi...

Scheff (2000, 2003) has argued that shame, while recognised as a social emotion, is frequently explored outside of the social matrix and with limited reference to its role in human behaviour. Drawing on empirical qualitative research with adults living in poverty in the UK, this article illuminates a) how the co-construction of shame (feeling shame...

This chapter focuses on young people who migrate to the UK without other family members. As well as bringing with them troubled memories of traumatic experiences from the past, troubles in the present include isolation, loss of family, emotional and spiritual concerns, and what might be termed ‘external’ factors and systems (i.e. the UK legal and a...

Focussing on the psychosocial dimensions of poverty, the contention that shame lies at the ‘irreducible absolutist core’ of the idea of poverty is examined through qualitative research with adults and children experiencing poverty in diverse settings in seven countries: rural Uganda and India; urban China; Pakistan; South Korea and United Kingdom;...

This article considers the relevance of the notion of ontological security - a sense of order, stability, routine and predictability to life - to contemporary conceptualisations of wellbeing. Drawing on in-depth interviews with unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK, it demonstrates how a positive sense of self and being able to visual...

This paper draws on recent research examining the contexts in which school nurses have worked to date, and highlights some of the tensions they have faced in striving to meet a range of national health targets, which at times have lacked synergy and coherence. It first considers the findings from the study in relation to the vision for public healt...

This paper presents findings from a Department of Health-funded study into the emotional well-being of young people seeking asylum on their own in the UK. It discusses how young people accounted for only partly disclosing information about the circumstances surrounding their quest for asylum and subsequent aspects of their lives since arriving in t...

Internationally, as well as here in the UK, the concept of ‘peer pressure’ is widely used in analysing the factors influencing young people's experiences of sex and pregnancy – illustrated, for instance, by the following strapline from a recent English government‐funded teenage pregnancy national media campaign: ‘Should I let my friends control my...

This research summary provides an overview of findings from an 18-month, in-depth research project: The social functioning, emotional wellbeing and mental health of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK. The research was conducted by the Thomas Coram Research Unit, at the Institute of Education, University of London. It was commission...

Zimbabwe is one of the countries most affected by HIV/AIDS, and as elsewhere in southern Africa, the impact on children and young people living in affected households is significant. Loss is highly complex and dependent on developmental stage, resilience, quality of care, and social support networks, and often includes a progression of experiences...

Previous research has shown increased vulnerability to teenage parenthood for young people with experience of local authority care. This study explored factors contributing to early pregnancy and parenthood among young people in and leaving care; the types of support available; and the extent to which services are perceived as accessible. Semi-stru...

Previous research has shown that children and young people who are looked after are vulnerable to poor life outcomes, including early pregnancy. This paper examines how experiences of being looked after may contribute to teenage pregnancy. Using in-depth interviews, data were collected from 63 young people recently looked after who are aged 15–24 a...

Previous research has shown that looked after children and young people are vulnerable to poor life outcomes, including early pregnancy. Abigail Knight, Elaine Chase and Peter Aggleton discuss findings from a Department of Health-funded study on teenage pregnancy among young people in and leaving care. Using in-depth interviews, data were collected...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the process and lessons learned from an evaluation of “Teen Talk”, a health drop in service at Kidbrooke, a state secondary school in Greenwich. Design/methodology/approach A multi‐pronged approach was adopted for the evaluation. This included a questionnaire survey of a sample of 180 pupils within...

An in-depth study of the coping strategies of orphans and other vulnerable children (OVC) affected by HIV/AIDS was conducted across six sites in rural and urban Zimbabwe. Qualitative methods including case studies and in-depth interviews were used to examine the daily lives and coping strategies of children and their families. Data were gathered pr...

Schools are important settings in which to promote children's and young people's physical and emotional health. An evaluation of the National Healthy School Standard in England showed that education and health professionals have implemented a range of projects and activities to improve pupils' health. Although these were generally well received by...

An evaluation of the National Healthy School Standard (NHSS) was undertaken by the authors on behalf of the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills. One part of the evaluation involved gaining access to a number of datasets derived from previous research and analysing the health-related outcomes of schools which had attaine...

The interface between two major UK Government priorities—reducing unwanted teenage pregnancies and supporting teenage parents, and improving the health and well-being of young people in and leaving local authority care—has been the focus of recent research. The overall aims of this study were to explore factors contributing to early pregnancy and p...

This paper reviews recent information and data relevant to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young people in the UK. Three main aspects of exploitation are addressed: abuse through prostitution; abuse through pornography; and the trafficking of children and young people to and through the UK for the purposes of commercial sexual ex...

This report evaluates the extent of perceived and enacted HIV/AIDS-related stigma in a rural setting in Zambia. Stigmatisation is abundant, ranging from subtle actions to the most extreme degradation, rejection and abandonment. Women with HIV and pregnant women assumed to be HIV positive are repeatedly subjected to extensive forms of stigma, partic...

As part of the work leading to the development of the National Healthy Schools Scheme, an audit was carried out of existing healthy schools schemes in England. This, together with an evaluation of healthy schools activities within eight pilot healthy schools partnerships throughout England funded by the Department of Health and the Department for E...

The promotion of primary health care (PHC) at the Alma Ata conference has been followed by a variety of managerial initiatives in support of the development of PHC. One of the more promising vehicles has been the implementation of quality assurance mechanisms. This paper reviews recent examples of this genre and argues that the thrust of both prima...

Introduction A Boarding Provision for Vulnerable Children Pathfinder was launched by the government in November 2006, with the aim of exploring whether boarding school placements might be used to a greater extent by local authority children's services to provide support, stability and educational opportunities for vulnerable children and young peop...