Teens and morality: pandemic rights and responsibilities

Abstract

For many people, the Covid-19 pandemic was turned into a moral issue involving a moral choice by recognising the vulnerability of others and acknowledging that every individual had a part to play in tackling the virus. To what extent did young people view the pandemic in moral terms? It may seem self-evident to suggest that young people like adults should be considered as moral beings yet the pandemic at times reflected the on-going positioning of young people in adult-centred societies in terms of locating them as potentially less moral than adults. The fallacy of this positioning is explored throughout this thesis through its two core aims. Firstly, to examine the attitudes and experiences of young people (age 14-18) in Northern Ireland to wearing masks during the Covid-19 pandemic and secondly to explore their attitudes to and experiences of getting vaccinated. Two main methods were employed in carrying out the research. Firstly, young people responded to a written exercise around wearing masks and getting vaccinated in terms of perceived rights and responsibilities. Secondly, through focus group discussions, the research explored the extent to which young people considered compliance in moral terms using Goffman’s work on morality as a theoretical framework. Two hundred and seventy young people from 7 schools took part in the written exercise and 74 young people (51 girls and 23 boys) from 5 schools took part in focus group discussions. Young people’s reflections on the application of the concepts of rights and responsibilities to their everyday lives revealed that these were constituted and performed for the most part within social relationships. These relationships were seen as interdependent and reflected both social and moral values. For many young people, the pandemic was turned into a moral issue involving a moral choice by recognising the vulnerability of others with young people suggesting that every individual had a part to play in tackling the virus. While young people did not always practice what they preached and there were various incidents where young people revealed messy and contradictory attitudes and practices, nonetheless, they often strived to present moral selves. The research demonstrates the usefulness of Goffman’s work for understanding these contradictions. Existing research shows that Goffman’s work has been under-utilised by sociology of childhood theorists and the thesis illuminates the potential contribution of Goffman’s work to childhood sociology.

Date of Award	Dec 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	UK ESRC NINE Doctoral Training Partnership
Supervisor	Bronagh Byrne (Supervisor) & Dirk Schubotz (Supervisor)