Lived experience and meaning making. Stories of courage over childhood adversity

This chapter offers a deeply personal and reflective account of lives shaped by adversity, resilience, and divergence. Written by a social worker and former senior lecturer, it draws on lived experience rooted in a former mining village in Durham, UK, during the turbulence of the 1984–1985 miners’ strike. Interweaving theory and memory, this chapter explores social deprivation, mobility, adverse childhood experiences, and symbolic violence (Bourdieu), illustrating their impact through the contrasting life paths of the author and her brother, Geoff. While the author went on to study, qualify, and teach in social work, Geoff’s early involvement in the criminal justice system—captured in Beatrix Campbell’s Goliath—reflected a cycle of poverty, substance use, and exclusion. This chapter incorporates rejection theory, critiques of youth training schemes, and the enduring effects of trauma and marginalisation. Through these reflections, the author honours her brother’s memory and highlights what might have made a difference for young people like him. The work is informed by life history approaches and shaped by values of fairness, humour, and justice that defined Geoff’s life. It offers a powerful narrative of both sameness and difference, contributing to trauma-inclusive practice and broader understandings of structural harm.