The Values and Character Dispositions of 14-16 Year Olds in the Hodge Hill Constituency

much trust in the community and several wanted to work hard in order to leave the Hodge
Hill area. Most said there was little to do in East Birmingham. For them government
appeared detached from what happened in the real world of their community.

This inquiry led to questions about trust, values and race in the following questionnaire.

5. Desire to ‘fit in’

People with no religion are least likely to want to fit in with others. Does that make
sense to you and why?

Students were asked if they could understand why not having a religion often resulted in
being less involved in the community. One student said that such individuals did not feel
‘part of anything’ and would therefore not make much effort with others. Several
students appeared challenged by this question and remained silent.

This question was not used in the next questionnaire.

6. Perceptions of justice and fairness

The majority of students said that if they saw an act of unfairness they would do
something about it. How important is justice and fairness to you and why? Does life
seem fair to you? Why? Why not? Does life in Britain seem fair to you?

Many students thought Britain an unfair place, but there was a minority who thought it
was a fair place. One student said that government investment in the neighbourhood
seemed to be minimal, especially compared to some places in London (Camden) where
more seemed to be invested. Other students agreed that more investment would make
young people happier. It was noted that Camden in London had schemes to assist ‘poor
kids who wanted to do stuff at sports centres and that’ but that such schemes were
completely absent in their part of Birmingham. All students were in agreement here.

Muslim students tended to think that Britain was fairer, one remarked that ‘it’s what you
make of it innit? Seems fair to me’ suggesting that they had a higher level of self control
than other groups. Non-Muslim students were more critical of Britain, commenting that it
had done little for them.

A version of these questions appeared in the second questionnaire.

7. Dealing with unfairness

If life is unfair to you, for whatever reason, how do you deal with it? (What do you
think to get you through?)

There was not a wholesale consensus on this question. Several students said that they
would reflect on what had happened to them and work to improve the situation, ‘you have
to sit down and think about things a bit’. However there was agreement that ‘a lot of

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