ABSTRACT
This chapter describes collaborative ways of working with young people and families in context, that starts with what is, rather than what is not; reflects on the link between creativity and resistance; aims to support and voice a set of experiences that have previously not been recognised. Mainstream views tend to conceive of resistance as disruptive, unhelpful and oppositional; resulting from some sort of failing on the part of the individual or group who exhibit it. In contrast to a problem-focused approach, Co-ordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) highlights both the impact of contextual factors and the existence of implicative factors in our lives. CMM recognises the concrete and practical as well as the intangible and subtle aspects of experience. Creativity helps us develop new ways of being collaborative, and collaborative processes seem to encourage creativity. It is not surprising, then, that young people and their families from the inner-city also become associated with deficit; defined as victims or perpetrators.
