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Within the United Kingdom (UK) in recent years, disadvantaged young women have been documented as having unmet needs and experiencing gendered inequalities. In response, UK policy-makers have funded early interventions for so-called vulnerable young women. This paper presents a feminist analysis of young women's talk about their journeys through a gendered intervention (Project X). Data were generated in focus groups during an evaluation of Project X. The focus groups were carried out using creative methods of data collection. The young women were asked to make a storyboard illustrating their journey through Project X and the impact it had had on them. They were then encouraged to reflect on, and talk about, their experiences. A secondary analysis and interpretation of the focus group data took place in addition to that required for the purposes of evaluation. This more in-depth analysis laid bare the various discourses the young women took up in order to make sense of their life experiences and their involvement in Project X. These included neoliberal discourse such as talk of selfimprovement, reinvention and aspirations of self-control. These are discussed with reference to the themes of choice and control, vulnerability, governance, and resilience. The social and political implications of the analysis are discussed including a key argument that the young women's discursive practices reinforce hegemonic gendered identities, neoliberal ideology and existing structural inequalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much attention has been given in recent years to involving community members in research within a number of fields including community development. Indeed, there is a large amount of literature outlining what this process involves and describes the benefits and problems of doing such research across a range of contexts. There has also been some discussion of the different approaches that can be applied under the umbrella of community-based research and their relationship to the outcomes associated with both successful and positive community development. Yet very little attention has been paid to the actual experiences of these lay researchers involved in community-based research in relation to their roles. The nature of the researcher's role as work thus requires critical consideration. This article examines the role of lay researchers within four different approaches to community-based research used for the development of community action plans within the Objective 1, South Yorkshire context. This article reports upon differential roles and types of work in relation to both experiences and outcomes. The article, therefore, addresses what these different researcher roles tell us about community-based research and outlines the implications in relation to community development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]