Belief, hope and dreams

– affect among professionals working with unemployed young people

Abstract

This paper explores the belief of professionals as an affective phenomenon when working with unemployed young people in the employment sector. Inspired by Ahmed’s focus on affect as collective atmospheres that impact on emotional work, ‘moodwork’, the article explores how belief as an affective atmosphere circulate among professionals and young people in the project called ‘Bridges to Education’. The analyses build on a qualitative analysis of fi ve focus group interviews with a total of 31 professionals. They contribute with insight into how the professionals work affectively by sensing the belief, and by attaching belief to hope, dreams, small developments and stories of success. The paper also shows how the collegial belief is crucial for the continuation of belief. Often belief is being challenged when the professionals do all they can to help the young people to live up to the expectations from the system, but then time and again are challenged by the gravity of the young people’s problematic situations. Following this, the article concludes that not only the belief in the young people itself, but also the collective belief is important for preserving their belief. The analyses highlight a need for the professionals to develop their cooperation affectively and collectively, in relation to the belief in the young people as well as in relation to the collective belief.