Susan Eley

'If they don't recognize it, you've got to deal with it yourself': gender, young caring and educational support

This articles discusses some of the findings of a small‐scale, localized, qualitative study involving children and young people identified and processed as young carers, that are providing ‘substantial care’ for an adult while in primary and/or secondary school. It explores their views on managing to ‘care more’ whilst at school and the role that teachers and schools do and could play in supporting them. The voices of young carers suggest that educational support should be available ‘as soon as’ children become primary carers. The interviewees were critical of the factors that they perceived compromised their ‘performance’ at school. Some implications of these findings for implementing strategies for carers in schools are discussed.This articles discusses some of the findings of a small‐scale, localized, qualitative study involving children and young people identified and processed as young carers, that are providing ‘substantial care’ for an adult while in primary and/or secondary school. It explores their views on managing to ‘care more’ whilst at school and the role that teachers and schools do and could play in supporting them. The voices of young carers suggest that educational support should be available ‘as soon as’ children become primary carers. The interviewees were critical of the factors that they perceived compromised their ‘performance’ at school. Some implications of these findings for implementing strategies for carers in schools are discussed.

Job Searching with a History of Drugs and Crime

This article explores the experiences and aspirations of offenders with histories of substance misuse in job searching. The analysis is based upon qualitative data from a localised study of 27 men and two women who were undertaking community-based court orders in Scotland. Their perspectives on job searching, job-readiness and aspirations for sustained employment including the role of self-employment are presented. The article concludes that with adequate support, greater tolerance and flexibility by employers and job searchers could contribute to reducing the vicious cycle of suspicion and dishonesty. Policy action needs to be sustained and possibly augmented to include enterprise training.