"It started at home": A critical examination of family mediation as an intervention to prevent youth homelessness.

Rees, Nia 2024. "It started at home": A critical examination of family mediation as an intervention to prevent youth homelessness. PhD Thesis, Cardiff University. Item availability restricted.

	PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Restricted to Repository staff only until 26 March 2026 due to copyright restrictions. Download (4MB)
	PDF (Cardiff University Electronic Publication Form) - Supplemental Material Restricted to Repository staff only Download (125kB)

Abstract

This thesis critically examines a highly dominant, yet under-researched approach to the prevention of youth homelessness – mediation, a political priority in Wales and the global north. Dominant service responses have received limited academic scrutiny within international literatures, meaning this study addresses a fundamental gap by critically exploring mediation as an approach to youth homelessness prevention. Mediation services seek to support young people and their families to bridge differences that risk unplanned exits from the home. Fundamental to the approach is the maintenance or re-establishment of ties with family, ultimately aiming to prevent homelessness. This thesis adopted a participatory research approach, undertaken in the case study country of Wales. It employs in-depth biographical interviews and an innovative network activity with young people aged 16-25 years old who were at risk of homelessness and have experienced family mediation. Semi-structured interviews with mediation workers are also drawn upon to comprehend the inner workings and complexities of mediation. Focusing upon key themes of conflict, networks, care, and home, this thesis offers a rare critique of the merging homelessness prevention paradigm. It challenges the conceptualisation of prevention by considering the importance of the extent to which interventions enable the feeling of ‘home’. In addition, findings offer insights into the way in which relationships, connections and network interactions are re-established through the processes of mediation for young people at risk of homelessness. Importantly, it uncovers the crucial role of care in undertaking the mediation work and its influence in reconnecting families in conflict. Through innovatively drawing upon these concepts, this thesis offers a novel critique of the dominant intervention mechanism of mediation, extending the field of housing and youth studies, and makes evidence-based recommendations to improve service provision in Wales and beyond.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	Unpublished
Schools:	Schools > Geography and Planning (GEOPL)
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Homelessness, young people, prevention, family mediation, networks, care, home.
Funders:	ESRC DTP Wales
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 March 2025
Last Modified:	26 Mar 2025 16:29
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/177169

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item