Wendy, Peter and the Lost Boys—The Gendered Discourses of Welfare Service Practitioners and Their Young Clients

Abstract

The article examines the discourses related to gender in interviews with welfare service practitioners and their young, 18- to 29-year-old clients using ‘boy discourse’ as an analytical framework and J. M. Barrie’s story of Peter Pan as a metaphorical framework. Those beyond the reach of the welfare services are referred to by the practitioners as ‘lost young people’. Some practitioners see young men in particular as poor creatures, unable to achieve anything without a girlfriend, whose task is to get these Peter Pans ‘on the right track’ as Wendy does. The ‘Lost Girls’ are in a similar position to the ‘Lost Boys’ but the practitioners are more concerned about the boys. Their assumption is that girls can cope but boys need Wendys in order to succeed in life. As a result, the combined efforts of the female staff and nurturing girlfriends are seen as instrumental in steering ‘failing boys’ towards adulthood.