ABSTRACT
In discussing this work two main strands of ideas will be considered: first, that approaches from narrative therapy can be effective in helping young people to shape more constructive as opposed to destructive stories about their lives; second, ideas will be woven in from attachment theory and research on the development of narratives to consider the structure of these young people’s stories. In effect the first strand concerns the content and meaning of their stories, and the second the form or structure of the stories. Importantly this second emphasis on structure tries to take account of the learning and development of the ‘skills’ required to place our experiences into narrative. Arguably, this is not simply an inherent human skill but an ability which needs to be developed and carefully fostered. In fact therapy can be seen not only as a context where the content of ideas is shaped, examined and co-constructed but also as an ‘educational’ experience where the abilities required to create a story for one’s life are encouraged and developed. Perhaps it is worth adding that for many young people in the ‘offending’ context, words, literacy, use of language and, even more broadly talk, present difficulties and can be experienced as aversive activities.
