Abstract
The purpose of this master thesis was to examine how association representatives understand involvement of children and young people, and what conditions have had an impact on the association representatives’ experience of the process from involvement of children and young people to the development of sports activities in public housing areas. This multiple case study investigated three different areas, where workshops focusing on the involvement of children and young people as well as co-creation workshops in each area were observed. In addition, we conducted interviews with four association representatives from three different sports clubs. Both observations and interviews contributed to our analysis, which was dealt with in the line with instructions for thematic analysis. The analysis revealed the following themes: ‘Understanding involvement’, ‘The Involvement Workshop’, ‘Assist’s project description and guidelines’, and ‘Limitations in the process’.
Based on our acquired knowledge, the association representatives understand involvement both from a non-participatory and participatory perspective according to Roger Hart's Ladder of Participation. Our thesis points out that the association representatives demonstrate an understanding of involvement based on levels such as ‘Decoration’, 'Tokenism', 'Assigned and informed' and 'Consulted and informed'. However the association representatives express that a greater degree of involvement would have been advantageous in the process in order to meet the interests of children and young people in sports activities.
There have been several conditions which the association representatives experienced have had an impact on the involvement of children and young people in the process. The association representatives have experienced several limiting conditions related to the process, such as the involvement workshop, Assist´s project description and guidelines, the organizational field, as well as the conventions and resources applying to the sports clubs. However, the association representatives adapt to the norms and values the project contains.