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The purpose of this thesis is to explore the influence of loneliness on the everyday life of affectedyoung people between the age 15 and 25, and how participation within volunteer driven groupinterventions based on social interaction can lead to overcoming loneliness. This paper is based onsocial practice theory, an orientation towards human interaction within social and societalorganization. It is based on the theoretical framework of critical psychology and situated learningwhich provides an understanding of the subject’s experiences of possibilities and limitations ofparticipation in communities. This paper’s key concepts are participation, learning, communities,and self-understanding. Methodologically it is based on an empirical analysis of interviews withfour participants from the same group intervention who experience loneliness and one volunteer.This paper provides an understanding of loneliness as a subjective experience which affects theexperience of meaningful participation in group interventions and suggests how loneliness isovercome in different ways. Furthermore, it explores how different communities exist within agroup intervention which leads to conflicts between the core group, the volunteers, and othersbecause of different understandings of meaningful participation, which provides possibilities forovercoming loneliness for some, and limitations for others. In conclusion this thesis highlights theimportance of versatile communities within group interventions which makes it possible toparticipate in different ways and with different people. This paper recommends increasing the focuson the versatility of the intervention, and on the core group’s influence on the collective possibleways of participation. |
