The Use of Mental Maps in Youth Research: Some Evidence from Research Exploring Young People’s Awareness of and Attachment to Place

Abstract

The rising interest in children’s and young people’s geographies in recent years has led to broader and deeper insights being made into their lives. These insights have further unravelled the complex meanings, frameworks, identities and subjective relationships that children and young people have in relation to place and space (see James, 1990; Matthews and Limb, 1999; Young and Barrett, 2001; Ross 2007). The additional emphasis on exploring the subjective as well as objective relationships that young people have to space and place has been recognised as highly significant; not least as it promises to reveal a more holistic understanding of space and place. As Reay and Lucey (2000: 410) observe: ‘Experiences of places and spaces are structured in all sorts of ways by broader social power relations, which include race, class and age as well as gender.’ From a methodological perspective, the focus on exploring and understanding young people’s relationships with space and place has seen a range of innovative and mobile methods and approaches being employed to complement or replace more traditional approaches to research (such as questionnaires, interviews and focus groups). Many of these ‘new’ approaches have focused on utilising young people’s written, oral and visual skills. Some of the most notable research in this field has incorporated mapwork exercises, self-directed photography, writings, drawings and commentaries (Ross, 2007); mental maps, thematic and non-thematic drawings, photo diaries and daily time lines (Young and Barratt, 2001); and qualitative applications of geographical information systems (GIS) (Dennis, 2006).