Stage 8. Conflict and consensus

At this stage, I returned to the overall group transcript. Using the

knowledge obtained from the previous stages, I was able to gain a much fuller and richer understanding of the session by “returning the individual to the group”. At this stage, my focus was on the overall group, looking at the interactions and dynamics at play. I reviewed one session at a time, looking at the experiences being shared, what the young people were doing by sharing these experiences, and how they were making those things meaningful to one another. I also looked for consensus and conflict, how this conflict played out, and if any of the young people's account were being marginalised (Palmer et al., 2010).

To illustrate, referring back to the group's discussion of Tracy Beaker, there was an apparent split and divide among the female group members, something that was not immediately apparent, nor would perhaps be, if I was simply looking at the data on a surface level. Jae and Keira underlined their disdain for Tracy Beaker, with Jae backing up and building on Keira's claim she was a “little snob”, by stating, Tracy is a “little rat”. They both had experiences of care homes that other members of the group did not and were perhaps bonded by these experiences. Carly attempted to support them, however, having been compared to Tracy Beaker previously and perhaps identifying with her in some way too, she negated her original statement, by highlighting something funny about Tracy Beaker, “[She is] A liar. She is funny though.” Georgina supported her sister by stating Tracy Beaker is a

“role model”, having already drawn the comparison between the two.

So it seemed then, there was a divide between the two sets of girls.

Keira then stated Tracy Beaker was a “B-I-T-C-H”. In this way, it could be interpreted as she was calling Carly a bitch. Daniel, perhaps sensing conflict, stepped in and made his offer, “She's a stereotype”, a character the group were able to apply various labels to.

Joey went on to say he liked Tracy Beaker and Daniel agreed, “Yeah,

she speaks the truth.” This time Joey attempted to alleviate the perceived tension. Georgina affirmed her admiration for Tracy Beaker (and her sister), “That's what I wanna be when I'm older.” At this point, overall, the majority of the group seemed to favour Tracy Beaker and were able to see her positive qualities, as well as identifying with her on numerous levels. However, Daniel shifted his opinion, perhaps unsure whether he wanted to align himself with Carly, Georgina and Joey, “What, a scrubby little... thing?” Daniel was yet to make his mind up where he stood and who he sided with. Keira challenged him: “I doubt she would actually jump on Louise” and was immediately challenged by Carly, “Yeah she would”. Perhaps Carly stated no initially in an attempt to align herself with the other girls, but seeing the support for Tracy's character (and identifying with her), argued her true feelings. Joey once again agreed with Georgina, that the show was realistic, and the two younger members were firmly in the Tracy Beaker as positive camp.

Jae offered first-hand experience of care homes, underlining her expertise on the situation: “Because I've seen my brother in a foster home and he doesn't act like all them kids on there.” This went some way to explain the ferocity of her feelings. She opened up to clarify her thoughts, positioning herself as someone who had insight. Perhaps she wanted people to side with her and this was why she was giving something of herself, as it was hard for the others to counter this kind of experience. She went on, “like, all the other kids act like that, but he doesn't, he's not like... really horrible towards people.”

This seemed to gain some consensus as Carly bought into Jae's story, demonstrating some understanding, “We're not horrible”. In this instance, it seemed she was referring to the group. Perhaps she felt bad for having a conflicting viewpoint to Jae and this was, in some

way, an apology. Jae went on, underlining her point and experience,

“Some of the kids I've seen in my brother’s foster home were mean to him once, the one time I've seen them all.” In this way she was showing the group that not only are they (the group) not horrible, but neither is her brother, as he is one of them (the group).

Finally, Daniel appeared to make a decision. He believed Tracy Beaker was realistic and he offered some explanation of her behaviour:

“I think it's realistic. Because, well if Tracy, the character's been in care that many times, and she's been dumped in the same place obviously she's gonna be--” Sharna attempted to offer something for the first time, but she was immediately shut down by the others and her opinion on the subject remained unclear. And when Sharna interrupted, Daniel defended himself and his right to speak, “Hang on hang on... I should respect you when you talk,” implying she should respect him when he talks.

Daniel continued to share his story, offering an alternate to Jae. “Aye but obviously like, if you're gonna be like dumped in the same care home for like, most of your life and get fostered like, for up to three months and then dumped back in the same place, you're obviously gonna be like angry and messed up in the head a bit, and like hate people around you because you won't be able to trust people around you. So, that's, and as Keira said, there's other reasons why. So, you can just like, give it one reason and go through it.” Daniel went on to highlight Keira in his discussion, perhaps hoping for her approval or perhaps wanting to shift the focus from himself. Although he did not acknowledge that he shares Tracy Beaker's experiences, he went some way to explaining them, showing empathy, and it would appear reasonable to think that Daniel had experienced these feelings too. He felt ambivalent towards her, which would suggest for Daniel at least,

Tracy Beaker captured something of a real character. Good, bad, varying shades in between, and he saw some of himself within her too (Cohen, 2001).

Finally, Keira made her own plea, explaining her strong feelings on Tracy Beaker. She too had spent time in a care home, visiting her brother, “I haven't been in there, but I've been in to see my brother”. It transpired that Keira had also lived in a care home herself, revealed later at interview stage, but she did not reveal that here. However, her negative experiences there might also go some way to explain her feelings on Tracy Beaker and the bleak, miserable picture she painted when talking about care homes. Jae highlighted her similarity with Keira, “same with me”, and it was clear there was a bond between the two. Perhaps Jae was aware of Keira's true experiences and Jae had experiences she had not shared here that Keira was aware of too.

When Keira detailed a vivid account of a care home, she positioned herself as a leader and ended the argument. She did not win the younger members of the group to her way of thinking, but there was no more conflict. Perhaps she hinted at her true experiences of which some group members might be aware. Carly, finally, seems to have aligned herself with Jae and Keira, claiming she did not believe the children in Tracy Beaker's care home were authentic, perhaps considering the issue deeper following Jae and Keira's first-hand accounts, stating the characters felt “random” and “plonked in”.

Finally, Keira agreed with Carly, the two now on the same side, faction leaders in agreement. The young people with first-hand experience of care homes devalued these images (Milkie, 1999). As the session drew to a close, it appeared while some group members found positives in the character of Tracy Beaker, the overall consensus seemed to be that

the show was inauthentic and unrepresentative of a reality experienced by these young people.

Clearly there are additional interactional aspects to focus group data, with powerful and complex systems at play, which require analytic strategies that compliment a “standard” IPA approach. But rather than group members simply stating their feelings on a given subject, there is something even more complex occurring here, seemingly based upon common experiences and pre-existing relationships within the group.

As I worked with the data, moving through this stage of questioning, I began to develop an understanding of how the group worked together and of how particular young people enabled or constrained each other in offering perspectives on their experiences (Palmer et al., 2010). For further discussions on the consensus and conflict that occurred during each group session, see Appendix 8.

6.14 Stage 9: Linking themes and identifying thematic clusters