Vulnerability, care and control: Insights from a study with ‘vulnerable’ young people in the UK

The identification and management of vulnerability is now a significant feature of welfare and disciplinary systems in ‘advanced’ liberal democracies, as reflected in EU attempts to respond to the worsening situation of ‘vulnerable people’. At first glance, such an approach would appear beneficial to disadvantaged groups, as it seems to draw attention to the need or obligation to provide additional support or assistance. Yet due in part to links with ‘deservingness’, ideas about vulnerability have more complex implications when applied in practice. This paper will introduce research which has started to examine some of the implications of vulnerability discourses in contemporary social policy. Influential constructions of the notion will be considered, with relevance outlined for EU youth policy. In addition, findings will be presented from empirical qualitative research which investigates how vulnerability has been operationalised in interventions with ‘vulnerable’ young people in London and Manchester. Data will provide insights into how the concept can be usefully understood, highlighting a potential disjuncture between ‘official’ views and the lived experiences of vulnerability. Some of the more subtle processes which underpin the care and control of ‘problematic’ or ‘needy’ groups will be brought into focus, and it will be questioned how far governance arrangements aimed  at prioritisation of ‘the vulnerable’ refocus public policies around personal accountability, rather than rights and collective systems.