The suggested paper reports from an ongoing research project, working with the life histories of youth facing problems with self harm, drugs and/or sexual abuse.  The overall theoretical ambition of the research is to explore processes of change for youth in trouble: how such processes can be understood, and how they might be facilitated and maintained.

Concepts of ‘the everyday life’ are significant to these young people, as it seems to be an important figure in social work and the institutions of the welfare state:  In many cases, ‘a disrupted everyday life’ is considered a significant cause or symptom of youth’s social problems. Thus, to create a ‘structured everyday life’ is an important means for getting better and ‘a normal everyday life’ is often considered the goal for youth and social workers in their efforts to overcome social problems.

The paper presents empirical examples and preliminary analysis of young people’s subjective images of ‘the normal everyday life’, of the learning (or normalization) processes they experience in relation to the everyday life concept, and their experiences of who or what holds the power or potential of change.