NCJ Number
197894
Journal
Youth & Society Volume: 34 Issue: 2 Dated: December 2002 Pages: 214-231
Date Published
December 2002
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This Australian study examined how the increased period of youths' living at home with their parents was experienced by the youth.
Abstract
In Australia, four in five single people aged 18 to 24 years are living at home with their parents. The largest group of dependents is between the ages of 18 and 22 years. This study considered in what sense the parental home is also "home" to coresident young-adult offspring, as well as how these constructed meanings of "home" relate to young people's experience of autonomy and the structure of power relations in the family. Using a snowball sampling technique, the study drew on structured interviews conducted in Melbourne with 83 youth between the ages of 18 and 25 years. Although the resulting sample was not representative, it matched many of the characteristics typical of people in this age group. The group interviewed included male and female students, part-time and full-time workers, and 17 youth who had returned home after periods of independent living that ranged from a few months to several years. The transcripts of the interviews were analyzed with reference to clusters of themes that expressed diverse aspects of the experience of coresidence and the transition to adulthood: perceptions of independence/dependence, patterns of dominance, and subordination in definitions as adults/children. The concept of "home" emerged as a core organizing symbol in the discourse about the experience of coresidence with parents, linking the social, emotional, and physical dimensions of the domestic environments with the young person's developing sense of self. The findings showed that the intersection of power, autonomy, and the differentiation between "house," "household," and "home" was most evident in youths' accounts of their parents' rationales for whether sexual partners were permitted to stay overnight. When control clearly resided with parents in determining permissible behavior within the space of the house, the terms "house" and "household", rather than "home," were used to refer to the interviewee's place of residence. Further, the lack of clarity about role, either as financial contributor or regarding social, emotional, or practical support, was evident in feelings that one was not an "adult" while living with parents. 32 references