The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, 5, 1-14 1
1874-9453/12 2012 Bentham Open
Open Access
Youth, Participation, Leisure and Citizenship
Lisbeth Lindström*
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Education, Universitetsområdet Porsön, 97187 Luleå, Sweden
Abstract: The purpose with this article is to describe, explore, and discuss texts that ten Swedish local councils present on
their homepages from the perspective of leisure, influence and citizenship for youths. Content analysis is used as a method
in order to understand the content and structure of texts such as political aims, strategical plans and budgets. The result of
the empirical study shows that the picture of youth citizenship is neither uniform nor coherent, but rather complicated and
contradictory. On the one hand, the image of young people is that they are presented as individuals who are creative,
interested in and willing to take responsibility for matters which concern them. The image of youth is that they need to
practice democracy in particular established structures. Young people are seen as individuals who need places to hang
around, meet with their friends and have free access to activities such as listening to music, playing games or using the
Internet. On the other hand the idea that the young generation needs protection and tutoring, to be watched over,
controlled and sometimes guarded by social authorities is also expressed in the texts.
Keywords: Influence, citizenship, youth, leisure, democracy.
INTRODUCTION
The purpose with this article is firstly to describe, explore,
and discuss texts that ten Swedish local councils present
on their homepages from the perspective of leisure, influence
and citizenship for youths. Secondly, I will also explore the
role leisure plays, or alternatively might play, in the development
of democratic citizenship. Harris, Wyn and Younes
[1] claim that songs, dances and gigs are often used as
explicit tools for the public articulation of political concerns
such as equality and human rights. Other music cultures,
songs and dance events have also been analysed as places
where young people participate in the creation of politics, as
well as in leisure communities with their peers.
The questions that originate from the stated aim are what
kind of influence and citizenship will be represented through
the local councils’ goal and steering documents for young
people and their leisure time? What kind of influence and
citizenship will be represented through the way the local
councils organize, manage and support the leisure sector and
what kind of influence and citizenship will be represented
through the supply of leisure activities for young people that
are presented on the local councils’ homepages?, finally,
what kind of influence and citizenship do young people
visiting meeting places for youth in the local councils
experience?
In the first section I present my insights about the theories
and perspectives of young people’s influence, democracy
and citizenship.
In the second section I show how and why some researchers
argue that we can see a decline in formal democracy in
the entire western world.
In the third section I present the framework of the
empirical study.
*Address correspondence to this author at the Luleå University of
technology, Department of Education, Universitetsområdet Porsön, 97187
Luleå, Sweden; Tel: +46920491148; E-mail: Lisbeth.Lindstrom@ltu.se
In the fourth section I present a picture of youth,
citizenship and leisure as they are presented on the local
councils’ homepages. This section is supposed to give an
answer to the present intended questions concerning the kind
of influence and citizenship that will be represented through
local council’s goal and steering documents, from the way
they organize, manage and support the leisure sector,
through the supply of leisure activities presented. Finally, I
will examine young citizen’s experiences of influence and
citizenship.
In the concluding section I highlight those dimensions of
influence and citizenship that have been visible, such as
young people’s need to practice democracy and the special
structures which have been established to enable this to
occur and to provide channels for dialogue with the
authorities.
THEORIES AND PERSPECTIVES OF YOUNG
PEOPLE’S INFLUENCE AND CITIZENSHIP
A citizen may be described as a member of a political
community or a state, who has certain legal, social and moral
rights, duties and responsibilities. Citizenship is a political
concept with a variety of rights and responsibilities in a
given political community. These rights and responsibilities
change over time as the result of social struggle, economic
change and shifts in governing ideology [2].
Hemingway [3] is interested in the role leisure plays, or
alternatively might play, in the development of democratic
citizenship. He implies that there is a move from representative
to participatory forms of democracy, the demands
on leisure increase accordingly. Further, he states that the
citizenship required by a representative democracy can be
labelled “weak citizenship” and citizenship required by a
participatory democracy a “strong citizenship”. Hemingway
[3] argues that if leisure is to contribute to the formation of a
social capital necessary for strong citizenship, it must
2 The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 Lisbeth Lindström
include the attributes of representative democracy. Attributes
such as participation, open communication, autonomy, trust,
cooperation and development are necessary for a well functioning
participatory democracy. He means that the forms,
content, and distribution of leisure activities represent a
major potential factor in the development of democratic
social capital and thus in the stability of democratic society.
Autonomous forms of social activity such as youth clubs in
which individuals are able to enhance existing capacities and
develop new capacities built on democratic norms can be a
breeding ground for a participatory democracy.
Peterson, Hermansson, Micheletti, Teorell and Westholm
[4] discuss the meaning of citizenship. They talk about an
inner core whereas the idea of a citizenship is built on
people’s equal value. All citizens must be able to enjoy several
common rights and have also some obligations towards
the society and to other citizens. Peterson et al., [4] argues
that young children and youth make their citizenship different
from that of most adults since they are dependent upon
adults to be able to claim and exercise their citizenship. The
youth are a social construction and a special category of
people with different civil rights at different ages. Citizenship
for the young is like a transitional stage between
childhood and adulthood. James and Prout [5] argue that the
public debate about children´s and parents´ responsibilities is
the question about what constitutes childhood. Furthermore,
that different public discourses compete to define childhood
and its relationship to adulthood and parenthood. Such and
Walker argue that definitions of responsibility have been
constituted and contested almost exclusively from adult
perspectives [6]. On the one hand, parents are assumed to
take responsibility for children’s well-being; on the other
young people are blamed for anti-social behaviour.
Within the new sociology of childhood, the child is seen
as a social actor. James, Jenks and Prout [7] claim being a
child is not static, it populates history. They even talk about
a new paradigm for the study of childhood that is emerging.
Furthermore, they claim that the child is active in its own
right as an agent in its own construction, similarly to any
adult, in the sense of an agency that concerns the initiation of
action by choice. James et al., [5] states that children must be
seen as actively involved in the construction of their own
social lives, the lives of those around them and of the
societies in which they live.
Such et al., [6] argue that New Labour have frequently
used the concepts of rights and responsibilities in its discussion
of the duties of parents and the anti-social behaviour of
children and young people without defining what these rights
and responsibilities constitute. They mean that the concept of
responsibility emerges as a key variable in the definition of
modern childhood and generational differences. On the one
hand, children are constructed as being free from responsibilities
of the adult world, on another hand, modern trends
towards individualisation emphasise participation [6].
Bennett [8] argues that our recent generations have entered a
time of post-material politics. Young citizens participate by
other means through “self-actualizing” or “self reflexive”
involvements in personally meaningful causes guided by
their own lifestyles and shifting social networks.
In considering the society to come, Arnot [9] questions
what sort of citizen will be needed in the future and how
youths should best be prepared for the social changes that
will occur. Youth cultural research has found that young
people today employ the language of individualizing, the
concept of freedom and choice, to justify their life styles and
decisions [9]. In the same way, Beck and Beck-Gernsheim
[10] describe what they call “Freedoms Children”. By that
they mean children who have been brought up, unlike their
parents, to become choosers, or consumers of what life has
to offer. This new culture is described as a self-culture and it
is tightly connected to leisure. Arnot ague central to this selfculture
is the process of individual reflexivity in which
individuals come to see themselves as the centre of their own
life-world [9]. This article focuses on the picture of youth
and youth citizenship as it appear in political aims, strategically
plans, and budgets presented on local councils
homepages.
Youth Participation in Formal Democracy
In all the Western World, youth participation in formal
democracy is declining Harris et al., [1]. It is found that
young people see a lack of connection between voting and
democratic participation with everyday politics. They do not
perceive voting as an important component of their daily life.
Lack of trust in political leaders is also clearly evident. However
it is also seen from other scholars that young people do
have political views and participate in alternative political
behaviour but they are not well informed about the role of
citizens. Harris et al., [1], Bennett [8], Print [11], Osler and
Starkey [12], O’Toole [13], Bang [14] argue that the new
generations of citizens are simply redefining what they mean
by politics, and that scientists should embrace this shift.
Bang [15] argues that the scope of the political in late
modern society is expanding and is expressed more and
more in, and through, people’s everyday lives which suggests
that the political is now personal. O'Toole, Marsh and
Jones [16] research show that young people are very far from
being politically apathetic, they were found to be highly
articulate about political issues. But a very strong sense
among their respondents was that they felt marginalised or
excluded from political decision-making or debates. They
felt that politics is something that affects them but not something
that they can influence. Based on lived experiences of
class, gender, ethnicity and age, their research revealed many
inequalities.
Helve [17] has investigated value structures among
young people in Europe in order to find out their ideological
preferences. The categories presented ranged from the ages
16 to 19. Her study showed that although different value
structures can be found among young people, only a few
clearly belonged to just one category. The values the youth
preferred were in accordance with the situation in which they
found themselves. This means that the same young person
may choose statements as an individualist in some situations
and as a humanist in others. Helve, therefore, claims that it is
worth asking what type of citizenship will be suitable for
young people with floating values and a variety of subcultures
[17]. Hoikkala [18] describes the young people of
today who are around thirty years old as the “sandwich
generation” (p. 10). The “sandwich generation” extend their
youth by travelling, consuming and enjoying themselves.
However they get anxious, have feelings of loneliness and
Youth, Participation, Leisure and Citizenship The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 3
suffer from psychophysical symptoms. He also talks about
the “yo-yo” generation that is constantly drifting between
work and unemployment [18]. Investigations in Sweden and
other countries have shown that young people are concerned
about society and want to influence questions that are
important for them Sörbom [19], Sörbom [20], Sörbom [21]
and Harris et al., [1]. However, youth are turning away from
conventional party politics and instead show involvement in
networking, activism, and political consumerism e.g.
boycotting certain goods [22]. Smith, Lister, Middleton and
Cox [23] even argue that this lack of citizenship among
young people is in need of intervention in order to develop
their citizenship. Even if young people hold political views,
they do not have access to formalised channels such as
voting. Neither, have they the ability to influence or to
change political decisions [22, 24].
Mossberger, Tolbert and Stansbury [25] state that new
communication forms like chat rooms and e-mails represent
new modes of information exchange and opinion mobilization.
There are new opportunities for shared political information
and communication on the Internet. Other scholars
[26-28] suggest that the Internet may function as a
deliberative public forum, something which can strengthen
democracy [25]. There is a fear however, that information
technology will promote further inequality in democratic
participation and widen the gap between those who
participate and those who do not [29-31]. On the other hand,
young people as groups seem to acknowledge digital
democracy [25]. The Internet can be a site for construction of
new forms of connection to society and the development of
citizenship.
Gallagher and Hafner [32] state that by using modern
technology it would be possible to make citizens aware of
governmental activities which bring them into the decisionmaking
process and, in addition, also bring the government
closer to the people. Gallagher et al., [32] further state that
since such a large amount of the youths’ time is invested in
online social networking, they might be more likely to
exercise their political authority if they got the opportunity to
vote online. This can be called e-democracy, which is a
relatively new concept that involves using technologies such
as the Internet and cellular phones to bring the government
closer to the people.
The Framework of the Empirical Study
Sweden is a parliamentary democracy, which means that
it is ruled by a political majority and general elections are
held every four years. The Swedish Parliament, (riksdag),
which has 349 members, is the supreme political decisionmaking
body in Sweden. Sweden has three levels of
government - national, regional and local. In addition there is
also a fourth level, the European level. Sweden’s fundamental
laws, which make up the Constitution, hold an exceptional
position in its legislation and cannot be amended as
easily as other laws. The fundamental laws cover the form of
government and democracy, freedom of expression, freedom
of the press and the order of succession to the throne.
This article describes, explores and discusses official
texts visible on homepages from ten Swedish local councils.
The article focuses on the picture of youth presented in the
material found in texts and documents such as political aims,
strategically plans, and budgets.
The choice of local councils for the research was done
with the intention of geographically and social culturally
representing local councils from the whole of Sweden. There
are 290 local councils in Sweden. Local councils were also
selected according to the amount of inhabitants, such as
small, middle and larger local councils. The selection was
made together with representatives from the state agency
(The Swedish national board for youth affairs) responsible
for implementing Swedish youth and recreation policies. The
chosen councils are not intended to be a representative
selection of the total amount of Swedish councils. They were
divided into three categories, a metropolitan municipality
with a population of over 200,000 inhabitants, larger cities,
suburban and commuter councils with less than 200,000
inhabitants and sparsely populated councils with less than
20,000 inhabitants. The age distribution was also considered
when selecting local councils, and whether they had a lot of
young citizens or a more elderly population. In the selection
of local councils, I had also attempted to keep in mind
patterns in the research material. I was for example, interested
to know whether there were some similarities and differences
between local councils in the north of Sweden or local
councils situated close to Stockholm and Gothenburg. The
selected local councils were Boden, Sundsvall, Munkfors,
Örebro, Uppsala, Linköping, Haninge, Lund, Motala and
Gothenburg ´City Centre. These councils were even chosen
because they had homepages which gave a fairly good view
of their activities and polices.
Municipality leisure activities are mostly governed by a
culture and leisure board and its decisions are implemented
by civil servants at the local administration office. These
boards have the responsibility to cater for all citizens when it
comes to leisure and culture. Activities for young people are
just one part of their work.
The official texts on the ten local councils’ homepages
can be written by civil servants at the leisure administration
or at the leisure board. Texts can also be written by youth
leaders who work at youth clubs or other meeting places.
They can be written alone by the youth leaders or by the
leaders together with the youths. The analyzed texts mirror
perspectives of three levels, the societal, the local and the
institutional.
The way the leisure sector is presented on the homepages
of the local councils may indicate both the values a council
put on leisure activities and the ideas about how to communicate
with citizens of different ages. How the leisure
sector is organized and managed is, of course, also a function
of size and the amount of inhabitants in the municipality.
The societal level in research covers national and international
policy, conventions and laws, which are of importance
to the leisure sector. These documents represent the
overall ideology which should permeate the local activities.
The question is if this is seen in the texts on the local
councils’ homepages.
At the local level the political documents were
scrutinized, which emanate from the boards decisions. The
way this is organised and managed in the different councils
were studied from the perspective of what intentions are
4 The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 Lisbeth Lindström
expressed in the texts and how these harmonize with
organisation and management.
The third level represents the actors, who are involved in
implementing the activities of the leisure sector and the
presumed individuals and groups, who gain benefit from the
activities.
Method and the Line of Action
The line of action for the study of the text is as follows.
After the local councils were chosen the process started to
systematically search for information on the Internet from
each of the local council’s homepages. It was a rather long
process to find all material of interest and to follow all links
that led to information relevant for the research questions as
the structures were different. It was also necessary to go back
to the web pages many times to be sure that all material
relevant for the research questions was found. The amount of
pages differed between the local councils. In total about a
thousand pages were found and printed out. All documents
found from the search on the Internet involving leisure with
a special focus on open leisure activities are included in the
material. In appendix, Chart 1 a list of all documents and
pages used in this article are presented. The documents with
the name and web addresses and dates are presented beneath
each local council.
To search for information on the Internet is a complicated
process. The local councils have homepages and pages
reflecting different structures. A reader of the pages does not
encounter a unified structure and pattern. In some of the
local councils it was necessary to search many links on
different levels to find relevant information. The information
was also spread out on many sub pages such as from the
boards, the leisure administrations, youth clubs’ own
homepages and youth divisions’ own homepages. Documents
and information have also been visible directly on the
local councils’ homepages as written texts not presented
under special links.
From the beginning the focus was solely on texts about
leisure for young people. However, in some of the documents
from the smaller councils, the text only discussed
leisure in general and very little was said about leisure for
young citizens. This means that documents that more generally
talked about leisure are also analyzed. This was
expressed in texts like leisure facilities for “all” citizens or
leisure activities organized and offered to “all”. In the study
it was of interest to know what was explicitly stated in the
texts of the documents. This means that the study focuses on
the way the texts are written, the content and in what context
the texts are presented.
The authors of these texts, who are civil servants in most
cases, have created a contextual coherence through naming
different phenomenon and by using a specific discourse.
That means that the leisure discourse is used as a general
idea that language is structured according to different
patterns that peoples’ utterances follow when they take part
in different domains of social life. Through these discourses,
which delegitimizes or limit certain things while it includes
others, a reality is constructed [33]. In the study it was also
of interest to unveil what is expressed in the text and discern
the contextual reality [34]. For example it was of interest to
find out about issues such as accessibility to leisure, the
importance of a balanced budget and expressed goals and
aims. Politicians expressed interest in supporting the leisure
sector and the way this emerged in the documents was also
analysed. This included premises about citizens’ welfare,
needs and expectations and their possibilities to influence
these factors. Within this contextual reality about leisure and
leisure’s contribution to young people’s lives, young
people’s citizenship is analyzed.
Textual analysis is a way to practice research in social
science. To analyze a text means to review the structure of
the text and scrutinize the content, which can be done
through content analysis. Textual statements and perspectives
are often written in an ideological framework. Sometimes
a text can consist of basic facts, sometimes of complicated
interpretations and conclusions of linguistically constructed
pictures of actuality or the state of something that
actually exists objectively. For example a basic fact can be
the number of visitors at a youth club. A statement of
something that exists can be the presence of drugs at a youth
club. There may even be complicated interpretations concerning
the reason for referring young people with certain
disabilities to a special youth club.
There can be different voices and positions from which
those who are talking in the text express themselves. The
ways in which the receiver is addressed may also differ, for
example whether texts are addressed to grownups or to
young people. Sometimes a text contains a counter-reaction
or counter voices. The text can be homogeneous or heterogeneous,
sometimes open and consistent in its attitude or
sometimes masked under a veil of an objectified subject. In
this study this is interpreted in the sense that a subjective
value is understood as an objective truth. In an explanation
of what textual analysis is, McKee [35] responds that when
we perform textual analysis on a text, we make an educated
guess at some of the most likely interpretations that might be
made of that text [35]. He means that texts are interpreted in
order to try to obtain a sense of the ways in which people, in
particular cultures at particular times, make sense of the
world around them [35]. Bruhn Jensen [36] view is that it is
only through language that sense can be made of the world.
Content analysis can be done both qualitatively and
quantitatively. There are different kinds of content analysis.
One of the key features of qualitative content analysis is that
the context is central to the interpretation and analysis of the
material [37]. This is the way content analysis is used in this
study. Further, content analysis is used because of the
interest in how the text describes certain phenomena i.e.
what standpoints authorities take and what arguments they
present. Furthermore, it is interesting to discover what
leisure activities are promoted and how the texts mirror
values and norms. Subsequently, it is of interest to examine
how the texts talk about concepts such as equality, sustainability,
democracy and accessibility, how and in which
context, these words are used.
With qualitative content analysis it is possible to study
interpersonal aspects that have to do with the interaction
between citizens. It can for example, include how different
authorities talk to their citizens or how producers of leisure
at youth clubs talk to young people. It is argued that the
manual content analysis makes it possible to do more
Youth, Participation, Leisure and Citizenship The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 5
advanced assessments, estimations and interpretations. With
the use of the content analysis it is also possible to have a
greater overview of an often relatively large amount of
research material as is the case in this study.
In this study, qualitative content analysis is used as
method, starting with a theory and research findings as guidance
for initial codes. The object of qualitative content analysis
can basically be any kind of protocols of observations
or written documents in general. Not only the manifest
content of the material is analyzed, but also what can be
called latent content as well as formal aspects of the material.
The word latent is interpreted as something that is veiled and
not directly visible. Kohlbacher [37] argues that the strength
of quality content analysis is that it is strictly controlled
methodologically and that the material is analyzed step by
step.
The empirical study proceeded through different steps
[38]. Firstly each document was printed out. The next step
was to read through all of the material several times to find
texts that had to do with young people and their leisure time
and make notes in relation to the notion of citizenship.
Reading the documents several times gave a feeling of the
totality of what the documents express. Sometimes it was
necessary to go through and then return to the documents for
the selected local councils. During that process statements
and phrases containing information relevant for the study
have influenced the questions being selected.
Notes were made on the documents about expressed
citizenship, committed resources, strategies and activities,
and what values were mirrored in the text. Through the
whole process the aim of the research and the research
questions were in mind and the theoretical perspectives were
used as a screen for the text. One step was to make a
reduction of the selected material, by listing the documents
and their main contents connected to the theory and to the
research questions. From that a coding agenda was made.
The units of meaning such as sentences, words and phrases
were grouped in different fields: forms of steering, type of
goals, different documents, management and operation
methods, forms of participation and facilities offered and
supported. These fields were helpful as a first step in sorting
out the huge material as they mirror the central content of the
texts in relation to what kind of citizenship is expressed.
Through these the material was structured and summaries
were made. This was the first constructed tool and was
further used in the analysis of the empirical material.
The research method aims to be observant of special
words and statements, which seem to be relevant for the
research questions, how they occur and in what order they
occur. In stating this, it has not been of interest to count the
amount of times they occur but rather whether words such as
influence and democracy occur at all. Of interest has been
how they occur and how they are discussed in documents
and what kind of citizenship they represent. After reading
through the material several times certain traits emerged and
the coding agenda had to be revised. For example, citizens’
health and citizens ‘possibilities of having access to leisure
facilities and outdoor life activities were mentioned in some
texts. Disabled citizens and citizens in the margins were
often mentioned too. The priorities made and values
expressed in the text have also been of interest. Sometimes
surrounding texts have been included in the interests of
visible coherence. This occurs for example, when questions
about leisure time and school are intertwined because of a
common board responsible for questions concerning school
and leisure. This can for example be an education and leisure
board. This implies that documents that are written about
children and young people’s leisure time when they in some
cases are connected to school questions are also included in
the study. Some local councils such as Uppsala have a
political board and an administrative division that do not
handle young people’s leisure time and leisure at school time
as separate questions. For example, youths’ leisure time can
be mentioned together with questions relating to social
services and which have a connection to the law of service
and support (LSS), in contact with the police or about
facilities for leisure situated close to school buildings.
The next step was to construct final categories, which
could be systematically used to scrutinize the different
dimensions of importance for the understanding of the notion
of citizenship for young people in all the texts. These categories
were democracy, influence, participation, responsibility,
self confidence, sustainability, accessibility, gender,
ethnicity, quality and integration. I started to list what the
different texts expressed and what intentions were formulated.
I further analyzed what kind of diction the different
texts had, in what context the texts were written and what
kinds of attitudes were expressed. Lastly I noted whether the
reader of the text was invited to any kind of interaction. A
strategy I used was to identify the senders of the texts as civil
servants or youth leaders. That means that I am also relating
the text to the context of how it is written and how leisure is
connected to the civic society more generally; for example,
for the development of social capital, solidarity and trust.
This can be seen in how authorities write about cooperation
and collaboration with the civic society and their forms of
management and organization of leisure.
To conclude, I searched for the ways the documents
wrote about young people’s leisure and what needs and
expectations they expressed about the young. I searched for
the picture of citizenship that could be drawn from the ways
the local councils formulated texts in goals and steering
documents. I also searched for activities provided and visible
strategies aimed at the development of young people’s
citizenship, and what values they mirrored.
RESULTS - YOUTH, INFLUENCE, LEISURE AND
CITIZENSHIP
In this section, the empirical part, I examine the situation
of youth influence, leisure, and citizenship as presented on
the local councils’ homepages. Firstly this part is supposed
to answer the questions concerning what kinds of influence
and citizenship are represented through local council’s goal
and steering documents; this is presented within the subtitles
Leisure management, The Swedish state and four perspectives
and Who is the producer of the text? Secondly the
questions concerning how local councils organize, mange
and support the leisure sector; this is presented within the
subtitles, What issues are mostly found in the documents?,
Establishing places for safe and meaningful leisure, The
images of youth and the supply of leisure and finally, A
6 The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 Lisbeth Lindström
place just to hang around. The questions concerning local
councils supply of leisure activities is presented within the
subtitle Funds.
Leisure Management
Leisure management is not mandatory for the Swedish
local councils. However, the councils have a responsibility to
cater for the leisure of their citizens, an obligation which is
stated in laws and rules on both a national and international
level, for example the System of Governance, Law of service
and support (LSS) and the UNs Children’s Convention.
Direct references to international conventions are found only
in a few of the documented aims; for example in Lund it is
stated that UNs Declaration about Human Rights and the
Children's Convention are fundamental documents and shall
be kept in mind for all activities in open leisure activities in
[39].
One example of the laws that the Swedish councils have
to consider is the Planning and Building law. The law states
(chapter 2, §5) that local councils should arrange green areas
for recreation, which should be accessible to people with
mobility and orientation disabilities. Chapter 5, §3 includes
regulations about facilities for athletics, sports and open air
swimming. Another law that is important is the Law of
Service and Support for People with disabilities (LSS, § 15),
[40], SFS (1987:10) [41] and SFS (1993:387) [42] which
states that disabled people are entitled to leisure activities.
The demands of this law are very much present when the
texts in the document talk about people with handicaps. The
activities in youth leisure centres are also indirectly affected
by the law of social services agencies 1 §, SFS (1987:10) it
is possible to find the aims for democracy, equality and
involvement in social life [41].
Who is the Producer of the Text?
The way the texts are written on the different homepages
reveals differences which are dependent on who is the
producer of the text. The way the young citizens are
addressed by administration officers, youth leaders and
voluntary leaders varies and different pictures are given of
how leisure is constituted. The question is what these
differences mean and what values and notions they mirror.
The first contact with the leisure area in the local council
is often a page which is created to provide information about
leisure and culture either for all citizens or just for the
youths. These pages have attempt a layout of pictures and
text, which intend to be interesting and inviting. Often there
are pictures of young people actively doing things. There are
big differences in the way the documents are written,
depending on who is the producer and also what type of
document it is. The general pages addressed to young people
are often flashy and colourful, while the pages of the
administration offices are rather formal. Besides, more
formal documents linked to the homepages are written in a
bureaucratic way, such as annual reports or minutes from
meetings. It is the same with information from the administration
or plans and budgets from the board.
When the producer is the personnel responsible for the
youth clubs there is quite a different form of communication.
The youth clubs seem to have an amount of autonomy,
which some of the clubs' own pages bear witness to through
comments like “we can”, “we have” and “we offer” in the
text. This can be seen in the local councils in [43, 44].
This can also be illustrated by the 14 youth clubs in
Örebro. Each one has a homepage of its own linked to the
homepage of the council. Five of the youth clubs only give
short information concerning opening times and who is in
charge. About five are more inviting, as they present pictures
of their activities and invite the reader to interact.
There is also a third category. These youth clubs have
pages, which are very rich in information and messages. One
example, Brickebacken, presents itself under the heading
“Come to our youth club” and decelerates its mission and
information about activities and excursions in a colourful
way with pictures from an art gallery.
We believe it as important that our young
citizens can feel safe and comfortable visiting
our facilities. We strive to achieve that
our visitors shall take responsibility, and feel
that they are a part of and understand that
they can influence and make their voice
heard. You are welcome with your own
suggestions, and we will try to fulfil them
[45].
This shows how different authorities talk to their citizens
and how the young people at the youth clubs are talked to. In
the aims of Brickebacken the youth club is mentioned as a
place for communication, where the young person can be
with other visitors in a private way.
What Issues are Mostly Found in the Documents?
As was illustrated in the previous section, there are differences
in the way the texts on the homepages are written,
but in most cases directly or indirectly expressed norms and
values can be found in the documents. The most common
values are about democracy, which includes information
about dialogue, participation and influence. An overall concern
about young people's responsibility and self confidence
is also seen in the documents.
The matter of young people's influence and participation
seems to be a main issue as texts about this are seen directly
or indirectly in all local councils. An ambition is expressed
to let young people at least decide about their own activities.
In almost every local council, special assemblies through
which young people can exert influence are presented on the
homepages. They are titled in different ways such as "Forum
for the young", “Board of youth”, “Youth advisement” etc.
but the purpose is the same. These forums are described as a
possibility for young people to practice their ability to think
critically, to make their voices heard and to have a chance to
influence and to be involved.
In a document from the Culture and Leisure board of
Haninge local council, an overall concern about young
people's involvement, participation, dialogue, influence and
involvement is expressed.
The overall aim is to increase young people’s
engagement through participation, dialogue
Youth, Participation, Leisure and Citizenship The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 7
and influence. This can be achieved through
development of the youth council and the
youth representative assembly but also
through developing a forum on the Internet
where politicians and youths can meet and
develop a democratic dialogue [46].
It is not only the formal representative way that is suggested
in the text but also a more open dialogue with the
politicians through the Internet. This indicates a wider view
of influence and citizenship than the traditional one.
In Uppsala, there are texts which, to an even greater
extent, point forwards the elaborated concept of citizenship.
The young peoples´ need for meeting places as a way to be
included in society is recognized. The local council has
written a guide for accessibility to culture, leisure and sports
in Uppsala which states that leisure time meeting places are
created as large social networks, which contribute to
increased integration and mediate the fundamental values of
the society [47]. What these values are is only implicitly
expressed. However, it acknowledges them as an important
arena for a democratic society.
In all the councils, the aim of arranging meeting places
for young people is expressed. These can be common youth
clubs, open houses or youth cafés. These places are said to
be non commercial meeting places for young people, which
is conscious ideological position. In the investigated councils
this is the situation in most cases regardless of the name. In
many of the councils, youth clubs have been transformed
into different kinds of youth centres like "Multi-activity
centres" and "House of youth" run by managers other than
the council.
The local council in Uppsala arranges meetings between
the politicians and the youths twice a year.
The meeting place. Do not let other people
make the talks for you. Did you know that
Uppsala local council’s politicians must
listen to us youths before they make any
decisions that concern us? The meeting place
is the place where you talk and politicians
listen before they make any decisions. The
meeting place is arranged twice a year. What
we are discussing next time is up to you how
you decide to participate [47].
In the document mentioned above which is visible on
Uppsala local council’s homepage a clear statement is made
claiming that the young people themselves decide the
agenda. It is also said in the text that the politicians must
listen to young people before they make decisions about
questions that concern the youths. All the quoted texts
express the norms of a representative democracy, in which
the citizens should engage in a dialogue with the politicians.
Besides, the texts seem to mirror a concern about getting to
know the opinions of the young people in the council [47].
The youth assemblies are a way to meet with the young.
Another type of channel which helps the politicians to get to
know what young people want are special sites on the
Internet, which are seen on almost every local councils’
homepage.
Establishing Places for Safe and Meaningful Leisure
Other values and norms that are emphasized by the local
councils are the issues of drug prevention and safety. Young
people are seen to be in need of support to be able to
withstand the temptation of drugs and crime. The city centre
of Gothenburg is one example of a local council that is
interested in working with strategies for health and to reduce
the use of drugs and crime. A Little social welfare office
(Lilla socialbyrån) and a unit Social Unit entitled (Sociala
enheten) are established that works to ensure that the local
council puts into practice laws such as LSS. The text states
that:
/ … through a health fostering strategy the
city centre of Gothenburg will prevent
insecurity, criminality, drugs and unhealthy
living. / ... / To avoid the increased use of
drugs and criminality all forces must pull in
the same direction. In the City of Gothenburg
schools, social services, the field of leisure,
parents, police, associations, single citizens
and business industry must cooperate to
create a safe environment [48].
It is notable that the term “fostering” is used in the document.
Although not all councils openly state the aim of
preventing crime and drugs, all of them have some organization
to implement this. It can be field workers, walking on
the streets, special teams to meet young citizens at their
meeting places or some civil servants who have a special
assignment to be part of the social emergency group. Club
leaders, police, human service agencies and other authorities
in the local society should work together to curtail any
problems that arise.
In Uppsala where the use of drugs is said to be increasing,
the authorities make statements about this issue. In the
so-called drug political policy one can find the following
quotation:
An indulgent and permissive attitude to drugs
from our society can have the consequence
that the problem of drugs will increase. Even
the connection between different drugs such
as tobacco – alcohol – drugs, are scientifically
improven [47].
In a similar way, the educational board in Motala writes
in the aims, directions and results for 2008, that leisure time
and leisure activities shall be safe for the visitors in terms of
drugs, bullying and other inequalities and also be a
physically safe place. The documents further state that to be
able to fulfil this aim they need youth leaders or youth
workers and talk about their job assignment as follows: "/ ...
their mission is to be at places where adults are scarce" [49].
A Place Just to Hang Around
A strategic document from Sundsvall local council, with
the title “Aims from the culture and leisure board 2004 and
2007”, states that the youth clubs are first of all for the
young people, who are more attracted by open leisure
8 The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 Lisbeth Lindström
activities rather than leisure associations with organized
activities. The text states that in the clubs young people can
come and go whenever they want during opening hours.
The youth clubs are mostly for groups of
youths that prefer leisure activities that are
unplanned. Activities aim to give young
people’s possibilities to just “be” at the youth
club without doing any organized activity.
The youth club shall be a place where young
people can meet with their friends and with
adults in an environment where they are able
to build up good relations [43].
The message of the text mirrors the idea that the youths
at youth clubs are different from other young people and that
they only need a place to be at where they can meet with
friends.
On Munkfors local council's homepage, the issue of what
expectations youths have is evident in the following
formulation:
The youth club is a meeting place for young
people in Munkfors. Young people come
here for a cup of coffee, to watch TV, listen
to music, surf on the Internet, perhaps play
table tennis and billiards or just to mingle. In
the cafeteria you can find coffee, soft drinks,
sandwiches, candies and ice cream to buy at
a reasonable price [50].
There do not seem to be any demands on the visitors at
all. They are just addressed as consumers. Another example
of how the users are addressed is found in Boden local
council. The information given to the young people is more
like a statement:
The house of youth is situated in the old fire
station on the road "Strandplan". Here you
can meet youth leaders working in the cafe
and they also arrange different activities. In
the hall divided into two sections you can
find among others things a billiard table, ping
pong table, facilities for handicraft, music
room and dance hall [51].
The activities listed indicate what interests the youth are
expected to have. Both these councils are very small and the
activities are directed to all young people between the ages
of 15-25. That might be the reason why there are no explicit
aims and goals.
The Image of Youth and the Access to Leisure
As I described in the beginning of this article, the
assumptions about today’s youths is that they are individualistic
and see themselves as the centre of their own life
world. Young people are supposed to have different life
styles, be creative and to be interested in what new information
technology can offer them. Furthermore, youth
quickly change preferences and express their ideological
standpoints through creative work and festivals. This picture
can be seen in the local council’s documents. In the local
councils’ documents there are more or less explicit
assumptions about the character of young people today.
A way to reach the interest of young people, suggested in
some of the documents, is by enabling creative work. This is
recognized in some of the bigger councils, where young
people are offered access to a recording studio and a theatre
scene to produce their own musical or movie. On the
homepage in the city centre of Gothenburg, the leisure board
strategies of one of the youth clubs are presented in the
following way: “Meeths in the middle of the town is starting
again. Come and play your own music, work in the art
studio, film studio, photo lab, wood working room, edit
music and videos, work with ceramics, learn about DJequipment”
[48].
The text clearly gives a picture of young people as
creative and artistic. In Haninge e.g. the youths are offered to
learn about art, painting and photography [46] and in Lund
one of the youth cafés has a gallery, where the visitors can
exhibit their own work.
Wickmanska is described on the page [39] as a cosy and
cheap café were one can take a Café Latte or a cup of tea.
No necessity to buy! You can buy just when
you want to. At Wickmanska there is also an
“inner place”. It is a place where young
people can fix (mecka) with a lot of things
such as painting pottery, or sewing.
Wickmanska are also following the latest
news on internet – wi-fi without any cost
[39].
One can also read that Wickmanska keeps up with the
latest Internet innovations. They have a wireless Internet
hotspot.
A notion about what young people want to do also
characterizes the provision of other types of facilities for
young people. For example Linköping announces "Hangaren
Hot Sport Center" on the page where the council’s meeting
places is presented. The description below shows all the
different possibilities that an activity house like this can
offer;
Hangaren has something to offer for all
regardless of age. Here you have the
opportunity to skate with in-lines, skateboard
or ride BMX or why not just take a cup of
coffee/soda in our café. Besides being a skate
hall Hangaren also has a sport hall where
young people among other things can jump
on a trampoline and participate in dance
courses. We also arrange discos in the sport
hall on several occasions during autumn- and
spring term. All activities in the hall are of
course run in a drug and smoke free
environment. In Hangaren one can find a
climbing wall run by Linköping's climbing
associations [44].
The style of the text is inviting and the text enumerates a
lot of different activities. It is not just new sport activities
that are offered but also disco and dance, which may attract
the girls.
A sensitivity to new trends and lifestyles among young
citizens is seen in the city regions, in particular the councils
Youth, Participation, Leisure and Citizenship The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 9
near to Stockholm, such as Haninge, Uppsala and Linköping.
The need for events and festivals as well as activity parks is
identified. For example, “Elsas Hus”, a culture and media
house or the music house “Skylten” in Linköping local
council.
Still, if the documented activities are aimed at all young
people most of the councils address the matter of accessibility
and equality when formulating goals. Many of the
local councils raise the question in their documents about
those citizens for whom accessibility and availability may be
problematic. On the local council's home page in Lund [39]
it is written in a program for sports activities from 2004, in a
report on pedagogies and leisure 2004-2006 and in the aims
from the culture- and leisure board from 2006 that the
council wants to be an inclusive community with facilities
adapted for disabled citizens. It is further stated that
inclusion is a concept that accepts different values and takes
care of the possibilities that differences give. This is an
ideological statement and in line with what the law LSS
states.
In some councils, the responsibility to meet the needs of
special groups has resulted in certain arrangements. Both in
Sundsvall and Uppsala there are separate activities intended
for young people who are disabled and in Haninge one of the
youth clubs has a special mission to cater for socially
disturbed youth. The following is written on the page of one
of the youth clubs: "It was possible, thanks to the LSS, to
open a special section for children and youth with Aspergers
syndrome" [46]. At the same time, texts are written on the
page about the ambition to integrate leisure activities for
disabled young people in ordinary open leisure activities at
the youth clubs. “Disabled young can find integrated activities
at several youth clubs and meeting places” [46]. This
is a contradiction because in the above quoted document the
opposite is suggested. In Haninge, the council has not chosen
to be inclusive but instead cater for separate activities for the
handicapped.
Another aspect of accessibility is raised in the documents
of almost half of the councils, namely gender. In Sundsvall,
as an example, the ambitions are expressed in Political
program for sports and leisure as follows: “Boys and girls
shall be given equal opportunities to actively engage in
sports and outdoor life. Today girls often choose other
leisure activities than boys, but there shall be equal
opportunities” [43].
In Sundsvall, the idea of separate opening hours for girls
has been on trial. This is presented on the home page of
Young in Sundsvall. "Every Tuesday evening we have
groups for girls with themes like ghosts, make-up and gender
equality" [52].
Funds
Another type of strategy that is presented in the
documents is financial support, which the youth can apply
for when starting different projects. The bigger local
councils have funds for young people to use for projects like
concerts, events, and adventures which can have positive
effects on their citizenship.
This type of money is found in many of the local councils
under different names. In Linköping it is named "Youth
check account". In Örebro it is called "Young penguin" and
in Sundsvall "Young pot". In Linköping e.g., the applicable
amount of money is from 500 to 5 000 Swedish crowns for
each project. Uppsala local council has a total sum of 25 000
Swedish crowns to give out. Haninge local council has also a
limit of 25 000 Swedish crowns, which one single person
can apply for. It is not a lot of money but nevertheless it
gives the youths a possibility to realize some of their ideas.
Uppsala local council invites young people at the
homepage to apply: "At our local council you can apply for
an amount of money for different activities for young
people" [47]. Linköping local council has stated in their
political aims from the culture- and leisure board that the
applicants must be between 13-20 years old and form a
group of at least two [44]. Sundsvall local council is inviting
young people to organise a group of friends to apply for
money for arranging concerts, theatre performances or
making films [52].
The following example from Örebro local council gives
more detailed advice to the young citizens. The information
is found on the local council’s homepage under the link
named “Young money”.
Young citizens between 13-24 years can
apply for money to organize events for other
youths. The events must be free of drugs,
religious and political propaganda. They
must be performed in Örebro and it is not
possible to search for school projects or for
sports events [53].
These funds are presented as a way of enhancing
democracy and promoting citizenship. It is further stated that
whether it will be successful or not depends on the
involvement of the young people themselves. It will depend
on what the money is used for and how many young people
at the youth clubs the funds will attract.
DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Citizenship is a central theme in the government’s
involvement in leisure. During the latest part of the 20th
century, the question about young people’s citizenship has
been actualized in Sweden and Europe. The reasons for this
are partly attributable to young people’s decreasing interest
in political parties and other associations of thought, the
occurrence of anarchistic youth revolts, and the spread of
fascistic ideas among the young generation.
As I have discussed earlier in this article, leisure,
influence and citizenship for young people have a strong
connection. This is what I also have found in the documents
which I studied. The government looked upon voluntary
associations as forums for fostering young people into decent
and democratic citizens. The same was found in the local
councils, where a special concern was the youths, who did
not join voluntary associations. Youth clubs, managed by the
local councils and run by educated leaders were organized.
Hence young people’s citizenship has come in focus. From
10 The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 Lisbeth Lindström
this perspective leisure time is important as young people
spend a lot of time in leisure activities. It is a mission for the
local councils to both cater for young people’s leisure
activities and development as citizens.
In the documents, the word democracy was frequently
used both as a way for the youths to have influence and as a
formal way of deciding on matters of importance.
Democracy as formal means was especially seen in
connection with the activities of the youth clubs. That the
young visitors should be involved in deciding about the
activities at the youth club seemed to be evident but it was
pronounced that it should be done in a formal way and
guided by youth leaders. Many of the activities at the youth
clubs and other meeting places can be characterized as, what
Hemingway [3] labelled, participatory democracy. Research
has found that young people have possibilities to develop
themselves, enhance existing capacities and develop new
capacities built on democratic norms and finally develop
their citizenship.
Another aspect of formal democracy that is of concern
for the local councils is representation. To meet representatives
of the youth groups in the council, most of them
had established different kinds of youth parliaments or youth
assemblies. These were also seen as meeting places between
young people and the politicians. There are at least two
problems with these assemblies. One is the question of
whom the members of these assemblies represent as they are
handpicked or just randomly asked to take part. The other
problem is that the assembly does not have any power to
force matters and will easily be neglected by the politicians.
This was also something that happened in one of the local
council in this research. To meet the first problem, some of
the councils have opened channels on the Internet, where the
young people in the municipality can chat with mates and
authorities and express their opinion in matters of
importance to them. Scholars like Norris [26], Hague et al.,
[27] and Grossman [28] argue that the Internet may function
as a deliberative public forum, something that can strengthen
democracy. In one of the local councils was a chat
established but just handful young citizens had used the
possibility during the years.
When addressing democracy, it is mostly the traditional
aspects that are mentioned but from a participatory
perspective. Looking at what is written about the youth clubs
and meeting places for the young, the documents show an
adaption to young people’s interest and need of individual
choices. Comments like “we offer”, “you can” your interest”
and “your needs” are often addressed to individuals in the
documents. This is an example of an ambition from the
youth clubs to meet the needs of a generation who have
entered a time of post-material politics. Young citizens
participate by other means through “self-actualizing” or “self
reflexive” involvements in personally meaningful causes
guided by their own lifestyles and shifting social networks.
The youth clubs in this research seem to have an ambition to
fulfil these needs.
The picture of youth influence and citizenship which
emerges from the documents is neither uniform nor coherent
but complicated and contradictory. The image of youths is at
least two sided.
On one hand, young people are seen as individuals who
need places to hang around, meet with their friends and have
free access to activities such as listening to music, playing
games and using the internet for chatting. These are the
youths who do not enrol in voluntary leisure associations. On
the other hand there are discussions about social problems
and the risk of going into drugs and crimes. The idea that the
young generation needs to be watched over, controlled and
sometimes guarded by social authorities is also expressed in
the texts. The picture presented is that young people need
protection and tutoring.
Another part of the picture is that the youths need to
practice democracy. Special structures are established to
enable this and give channels for dialogue with the
authorities. Some of these channels, such as different
assemblies, are organized in a traditional way as a
deputation, while others, on the internet, are informal and
open to everyone. The idea seems to be that young people
need special democratic channels in order to exercise their
citizenship. Open meeting places for youths should be places
where the younger generation learn formal democratic
procedures and practice democracy with their friends. In
addition, there is the question concerning young people’s
need for education and supervision by adults. Based on
research it is possible to be critical of local council’s huge
ambition and the expectations of the capacity of what leisure
activities such as youth clubs can do for young peoples and
their development of citizenship. The implication of this
study is that it is a complicated mission to learn young
people about democracy, letting them take responsibility for
concerts and activities and at the same time prevent the use
of drugs and young people acting in a criminal fashion.
As young people’s citizenship has come in focus in many
countries this study is also interesting for an international
audience. It is a mission for the local councils to both cater
for young people’s leisure activities and development as
citizens. In addition, many young people of today do not
have access to the labour market. From this perspective this
study is important as young people spend a lot of time in
leisure activities. The study shows that youth clubs and
similar meeting places have an ambition to fulfil young
people’s personally needs.
The conclusions that can be drawn from this research in
terms of the theoretical perspectives and, the textual analysis
of the documents are that individual young people have
opportunities to experience democracy and develop their
citizenship through leisure activities offered by local
councils. However, the aims and intentions expressed in
documents on the local councils’ homepages must be
fulfilled. They must be explicit expressed, systematically
evaluated and guarantees must be provided in order to ensure
quality control. However, just a few examples of evaluations
are seen in the documents and based on this research one can
be suspicious of an existing gap between aims and intentions
from local councils and what visitors’ experience.
Youth, Participation, Leisure and Citizenship The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 11
Appendix
Chart 1. Local councils’ pages and documents in the field of leisure and culture.
Local Councils and type of material
Boden
Bodens kommun, (www.Boden.se). On line (2007-08-28).
Bodens kommun, (www.Boden.se) . Notes from the Youth assembly from 2006-11-29. On
line (2008-12-14).
Örebro
Örebro kommun. (www.Orebro.se). On line (2007-08-21).
Program for developing democracy and culture political program for Örebro local council (2006).
(http://www.orebro.se/politikochdemokrati/styrdokumentpolitiskaprogram/programoc...). (1).
Political aims from the leisure and tourism board. (2007).
(http://www.orebro.e/politikoch demokrati/namnder/fritisochturistnamnden.437c0d5...) (2).
Political aims from the culture- and citizens board (2007) and the board for functional limitations
(http://www.orebro.e/politikoch demokrati/namnder/kulturochmedborgarnamnden4.3...) and (http://www.orebro.e/politikoch
demokrati/namndernamndenforfunktionshindrade.4...) (3).
Brickebacken. (www.foreningen-tradet.se). On line (2007-11-14).
Wasagården. (http://www2.orebro.se/fritidsgard/wasagarden/index.php?id=info.htm).
On line (2007-08-20).
Sundsvall
Sundsvall kommun. (www.Sundsvall.se). On line 2007-08-23/24).
Children’s Sundsvall, a guide book to leisure activities 2007.
(http://www.sundsvall.se/badidrottochfritid/fritidsevenemang/barnenssundsvall.4.627988f410febca17f68000131518.html.). (1).
Political program for sports and leisure (2004).
(http://www.sundsvall.se/div/sok.4.19f9c7a107dc1557c5800057824.html?query=m%C3%A5l+fritid+2004). (2).
Culture politics in Sundsvall (2004).
(http://www.sundsvall.se/div/sok.4.19f9c7a107dc1557c5800057824.html?query=kulturpolitiskt+program+2004). (3).
Aims from the board of leisure and culture (2004).
(http://www.sundsvall.se/demokratiochpolitiker/namnderochkommunledning/namnderochpolitiker/kulturochfritidsnamnd.4.19f
9c7a107dc1557c5800015396.html). (4).
Aims from the board of leisure and culture ( 2007).
(http://www.sundsvall.se/omsundsvallskommun/organisation/forvaltningar/kulturfritid/styrandedokument.4.3b6cd44910b19752
9fd80005841.html). (4).
Ungpott.(www.unigisundsvall.se/ungpott.htm). On line (2008-12-22).
Munkfors
Munkfors kommun. (www.Munkfors.se). On line (2007-08-28).
Uppsala
Uppsala kommun. (www.Uppsala.se). On line 2007-09-12).
The city councils program and the United Nations convention. (1999).
(www.uppsala.se). (1).
A Leisure political program for Uppsala local council. (2006).
(http://www.uppsala.se/Upload/Dokumentarkiv/Externt/Dokument/Om_kommunen/fritidspolitiskt_program.pdf). (2).
12 The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 Lisbeth Lindström
Aims from the children and youth board for open leisure activities for youth clubs. (2006).
(http://www.uppsala.se/Omkommunen/Politik--namnder/Namnder/Barn--och-ungdomsnamnden/) (3).
A Culture political program for Uppsala local council (2005).
(http://www.uppsala.se/Upload/Dokumentarkiv/Externt/Dokument/Fritid_o_kultur/kpp.pdf). (4).
Political program against the use of drugs. (2002).
(http://www.uppsala.se/Upload/Dokumentarkiv/Externt/Dokument/Om_kommunen/drogpolitisk_policy.pdf). (5).
Aims from the leisure- and natural board. (2007, 2006). (http://www.uppsala.se/Omkommunen/Politik--
namnder/Namnder/Fritids--och-naturvardsnamnden/). (6).
Aims from the social board for children and young.
(2007, 2008).
(http://www.uppsala.se/Omkommunen/Politik--namnder/Namnder/Barn--och-ungdomsnamnden/). (7).
A guide for accessibility to culture, leisure and sports in Uppsala.(2007.)
Haninge
Haninge kommun. (www.Haninge.se). On line (2007-09-10).
Aims and budget for 2007-2009 from the board of culture and leisure. (2006). http://www.haninge.se/OmHaninge/Sok/?quicksearchquery=m%c3%a5l+och+budget+2007-2008
(1).
Aims and budget for 2007-2009 from the board of culture and leisure. (2007).
http://www.haninge.se/Om-Haninge/Sok/Post.aspx?quicksearchquery=m%25C3%25A5l%2520och%2520budget%25202007-
2008. (1).
Political program for sports. (2000).
(http://www.haninge.se/Fritid--Idrott/Fritidsgardar/). (2).
No Remorse. (http://unighaninge.se/content/blogsection/9/22/). On line (2007-09-10).
Motala
Motala kommun. (www.Motala.se). On line (2007-08-28).
Aims from the board of education considering leisure and culture. (2007).
(http://www.motala.se/templates/MotIntra_Simplelist____1543.aspx). (1).
What is democracy. (2008).
(http://www.motala.se/templates/MotIntra_SimpleList____2898.aspx). (2).
The educational board’s direction- and result aims. (2008).
(http://www.motala.se/upload/Dokument/BlanketterDokument/Dokument/SkolaUtbildning/
N_Inriktningsochresultatml.pdf).(3).
Linköping
Linköping kommun. (www.Linkoping.se). On line (2007-08-31).
Political aims from the culture- and leisure board (2007).
(http://www.linkoping.se/kwebNET/Templates/Standard_Print.aspx?NRMODE=Publ...). (1).A report for quality accounting in
Linköping (2007). (http://www.linkoping.se/PageFiles/952/2007_2008.doc). (2).
Hangaren Hot Sport Center. (http://www.linkoping.se/kwebNET/Templates/Standard_Print.aspx?NRMODE=Publ..). On line
(2007-08-29).
City of Gothenburg
Göteborgs kommun. (www.Goteborg.se) On line (2008-08-05).
Aims and budget for 2007 and plans for 2008-2009 for leisure and culture. (Suggestions).
http://www.goteborg.se/wps/portal/PoliticalSearch?num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&as_occt=&as_sitesearch=&as_dt=&q=f%C3%
B6rslag+m%C3%A5l+%26+inriktning%2Fbudget+2007&collection%5B%5D=politik_collection%3AN%C3%A4mndhandlin
gar&origin_url=&origin_url_text=. (1).
Meeths. http:/www.centrum.goteborg.se/prod/Centrum/sdfsida/dalis2.nsf/vyPublicerade/EFE… On line (2008-12-22).
Youth, Participation, Leisure and Citizenship The Open Social Science Journal, 2012, Volume 5 13
Lund
Lunds kommun. (www.Lund.se). On line (2007-08-22).
Program for sports activities. (2004). http://www.Lund.se. (1).
Strategically document open leisure activities in Lund. (2005).
(http://www.lund.se/templates/IFrame2____21875.aspx?search=%c3%b6ppen%20fritidsverksamhet%20i%20Lund%20med%2
0sikte%20p%c3%a5%20framtiden). (2).
Political strategy for youth in Lund local council (2006). http://www.Lund.se. (3).
Report pedagogies and leisure 2004-2006.
(http://www.pedagogik.info/DesktopDefault.aspx). (4).
Aims from the culture- and leisure board (2006). (http://www.lund.se/templates/Page____26211.aspx). (5).
Wickmanska. (http://www.lund.se/templates/Page____100051.aspx)
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
None declared.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
None declared.
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Received: October 19, 2011 Revised: December 1, 2011 Accepted: December 2, 2011
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