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. 2015 Sep 7;11(5):1426–1435. doi: 10.1177/1557988315604020

Young Finnish Unemployed Men’s Experiences of Having Participated in a Specific Active Labor Market Program

Ove Björklund 1,2,✉, Elisabeth Häggström 1,2, Lisbet Nyström 2
PMCID: PMC5675199  PMID: 26345403

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to describe young Finnish unemployed men’s experiences of having participated in a specific active labor market program, intended to fight unemployment and offered at a resource center. Fifteen young unemployed Finnish men in the age range 18 to 27 years were interviewed face-to-face. Purposive sampling was used to increase the variation among informants. The interview texts were analyzed using both manifest and latent qualitative content analysis. The present results reported that the young men felt that they, thanks to the program at the resource center, had acquired daily routines and could ultimately believe in the future. The young men described how they now had a structure, economic support, and that they could return to their daily life. The informants also described how they could see new possibilities and believe in oneself. There is a lack of empirical studies assessing the possible impact of active labor market programs on the unemployed based on participants’ own experiences. Further research is needed to describe and elucidate in more detail the effects of targeted support measures and the needs of unemployed men of different ages and living in different contexts.

Keywords: young men, unemployment, experiences, active labor market programs, qualitative approach

Introduction

The financial and debt crisis has left deep scars in Europe in the form of youth unemployment. Spain, Greece, and Croatia top the statistics in the European Union, Spain having 50.9% youth unemployment, Greece 50.6%, and Croatia 44.1%. Sweden, Finland, and Denmark top the Scandinavian statistics in youth unemployment, Sweden having 21.6% youth unemployment, Finland 20.7%, and Denmark 10.8%. Here, the age range for defining “youth” is 15 to 24 years (Ekonomifakta, 2015).

Unemployment per se remains a major problem in many countries throughout the world. Mental health problems, for example, depression and anxiety, are often reported among unemployed persons irrespective of age and gender (Åslund, Starrin, & Nilsson, 2014; Bartley, 1994; Dooley, Fielding, & Levi, 1996; Flint, Bartley, Shelton, & Sacker, 2013; McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg, & Kinicki, 2005).

Unemployment is also associated with other outcomes such as decreased life satisfaction (Carroll, 2007; Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, & Diener, 2004; Luhmann, Weiss, Hosoya, & Eid, 2014) and lower self-esteem (Goldsmith, Veum, & Darity, 1997; Tiggemann & Winefield, 1984; Waters, 2000).

A number of studies (Backhans & Hemmingsson, 2012; Bambra & Eikemo, 2009; Davalos & French, 2011; Dorling, 2009; Gagin & Shinan-Altman, 2012; Giatti, Barreto, & César, 2010; Hammarstrom, 1994; Hammarstrom & Janlert, 2002; Hammarstrom, Janlert, & Theorell, 1988; Luo, Qu, Rockett, & Zhang, 2010) reported that unemployment has a negative impact on perceived health in general. One Swedish and one American study have revealed a correlation between unemployment and premature death (Lundin, Lundberg, Hallsten, Ottosson, & Hemmingsson, 2010; Roelfs, Shor, Davidson, & Schwartz, 2011). There are different hypotheses concerning how unemployment and health may be correlated with each other. According to Gonäs, Hallsten, and Spånt (2006), one possible explanation for the correlation between unemployment and ill health can be explained in the fact that unemployment per se leads to ill health; this is called the “unemployment hypothesis.”

Besides, a number of studies have also indicated that unemployment can lead to destructive health behavior, such as increased alcohol consumption, smoking, and use of other drugs (Björklund, Söderlund, Nyström, & Häggström, 2015; Eliason & Storrie, 2009; Hammarstrom, 1994; Janlert, 1997; Kalousova & Burgard, 2014; Montgomery, Cook, Bartley, & Wadsworth, 1998; Mossakowski, 2008; Reine, Novo, & Hammarström, 2004; Virtanen, Janlert, & Hammarstrom, 2013). One Swedish study investigating the association between unemployment and alcohol consumption reported increased consumption but only in unemployed men (Reine, Novo, & Hammarström, 2013).

A few studies have even claimed that unemployment may entail increased risk for suicide (Gunnell, Platt, & Hawton, 2009), and that this risk is greater among unemployed men (Jalles & Andresen, 2014; Milner, Page, & LaMontagne, 2014).

Unemployment is correlated in different ways with health, well-being, and even death and suicide, but a number of studies have reported that the experiences and consequences of unemployment can affect people strikingly differently depending on, for example, context, gender, and age (Artazcoz, Benach, Borrell, & Cortès, 2004; Backhans & Hemmingsson, 2012; Gagin & Shinan-Altman, 2012; Jalles & Andresen, 2014; Luo et al., 2010; Malat & Timberlake, 2013; Milner et al., 2014; Reine et al., 2004).

Based on international rates of unemployment among young men and the possible consequences of unemployment for health, well-being, death, and suicide, it would seem obvious that society as well as the unemployed men themselves should strive to alleviate the negative effects of unemployment through, for example, active labor market programs (ALMPs). The purpose of the present study is to describe young unemployed Finnish–Swedish men’s experiences of a specific ALMP offered at a resource center (RC) in a small Finnish town with approximately 70,000 inhabitants.

The Concept of Active Labor Market Programs

Kluve (2010) noted that different kinds of ALMPs for unemployed persons, such as labor market training, job search assistance, and wage subsidies, are an important element of European countries’ efforts to combat unemployment. Kluve (2010) also reported that, for example, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark spend more than 1% of their gross domestic product on ALMPs, while, for example, the Czech Republic only spends 0.17% of its gross domestic product on ALMPs and the United States even less at 0.13%.

Kluve (2010) suggested that while ALMPs have been in use for many years, there is a need to develop and evaluate them. In his meta-analysis, Kluve (2010) reported that the program type seemed to matter for effectiveness. For example, wage subsidies and job search assistance could be effective in increasing participants’ employment probability, while training programs identified modestly positive effects on employment probability. Sianesi (2008) noted that labor market interventions have been an important element of public policy in, for example, Europe for some decades and that this surge in interest in ALMPs and increases in public spending beg the obvious question of how well the programs work. In her Swedish study, Sianesi (2008) reported that the more similar an ALMP is to a regular job, the more effective the program is in helping the participant get back into work. Looking at the situation in Denmark, Jespersen, Munch, and Skipper (2008) revealed that private job-training programs may have substantial positive employment and earning effects. Pehkonen (1997) reported no clear connections between ALMPs and increased youth employment in an earlier Finnish study. One German study (Tisch & Wolff, 2013) attempted to examine the effect of workfare program participation on self-efficacy and reported that participants’ self-efficacy, on average, was not improved by participation in such a program.

It should be noted here that evaluations of ALMPs have primarily dealt with whether programs have increased the likelihood of employment or reemployment, ignoring for the most part possible effects on health and well-being. Thus, the focus has been on overall economic outcomes and not on individuals’ experiences in relation to, for example, health and well-being.

Description of the Resource Center and Its Activities

The RC is a job and youth center located in a number of towns in Western Finland. The aim of the centers is to help men and women find work, activities, education programs, or other solutions that will have long-term positive effects on their well-being and development. The RCs’ target group is unemployed persons, students who need help with or are considering terminating their studies, and persons who are neither employed nor studying. The goal is for participants to find a sustainable solution in the form of work, studies, or other activities that promote their development and well-being, based on their individual needs and life situation. The activities include daily job searches, lectures, individual guidance, writing one’s own project paper, creativity training, and study visits (Resurscentret Föregångarna, 2014).

Need for Further Research

According to Reine, Novo, and Hammarström (2011), unemployment is increasingly becoming a major problem in many industrial nations, and because of this, unemployed people are the targets of government policies, such as different kinds of ALMPs.

Reine et al. (2011) noted the general lack of empirical studies assessing the possible impact of ALMPS on health. Oliffe and Han (2014) suggested that it takes time to design, implement, and formally evaluate intervention programs intended to improve men’s health and that the field is relatively new and unexplored. Cylus, Glymour, and Avendano (2015) suggested that understanding the impact of policies is useful in identifying intervention approaches that can reduce the possible harmful effects of unemployment. Cylus et al. (2015) also stated that few studies have explored whether specific social programs modify the health effects of job loss. In light of the above discussion, the aim of the present study is to describe young Finnish–Swedish unemployed men’s experiences of having participated in a specific ALMP intended to fight unemployment and implemented at an RC. In the present study, being unemployed means having been without paid employment between 2 and 6 months. The time spent at the RC varied between 1 and 3 months.

Method

Design

The present study is descriptive in design and takes a qualitative inductive approach. To acquire a deeper understanding of the young Finnish men’s experiences of a specific ALMP at an RC, a qualitative study was considered most appropriate, because such an approach tends to be more holistic and aims at achieving an understanding of the whole (Polit & Beck, 2012).

Study Sample

The participants were 15 young unemployed Finnish men in the age range 18 to 27 years. They were linked to an unemployment center in a Finnish city and also part of a previous interview study published in the American Journal of Men’s Health (Björklund et al., 2015). Narratives were selected for the study, the purpose of which was to try to understand young Finnish men’s experiences of having participated in a specific ALMP offered at an RC that was intended to fight unemployment. The focus of the narratives was on the content of the stories; all 15 men narrated their different stories, which provided rich descriptions and variation. Purposive sampling was used to increase the variation among the informants in terms of residence (rural vs. urban), age (within the age interval), previous education, work experience, unemployment, and ethnicity. Purposive sampling is a nonprobability sampling method, meaning that the researcher selects participants based on judgments concerning which individuals will provide the most informative narratives (Polit & Beck, 2012).

Data Collection

Initially, the first author conducted two pilot interviews with two young men. Based on the information derived from the pilot interviews, the interview protocol was formulated. The interview protocol consisted of narrative descriptions including structured, semistructured, and thematic open-ended questions, where the focus was on open-ended questions. The first author carried out the qualitative interviews at an unemployment center in Finland. The 15 male participants were familiar with the center, and this hopefully created a secure atmosphere that allowed them to narrate freely about their experiences and feelings (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). The interview began by collecting background data, for example, age, own education, parents’ education, and living conditions. The informants were then asked to narrate about their experiences and feelings, for example, about their lives in general and being unemployed. Examples of questions intended to encourage narration are as follows: “Please tell me about your time here at the resource center,” “Please tell me about what it means to you to be in this ALMP,” “Please tell me about what work means to you,” and “Please tell me about how it felt to be unemployed.” Follow-up questions, so-called probes, were also used to encourage richer narratives. Examples of probes are as follows: “What do you mean?” “How did you feel when you heard that?” “How did you feel then?” and “What happened then?” All interviews were concluded with the question: “Is there anything else you would like to add or ask about before we stop?” The interviews lasted between 25 and 55 minutes and were recorded and later transcribed verbatim (Polit & Beck, 2012). The variation in interview duration may be explained by the men’s different personalities. Some of them felt comfortable and found it easy to narrate freely, while others were shy and not used to narrating spontaneously about themselves. Despite these differences, the transcribed text revealed the richness and depth of the interview content.

Data Analysis

The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis, through which both verbal and written communication are systematically examined (Krippendorff, 2004). The interview text was analyzed using both manifest and latent qualitative content analysis (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004). This method seemed to be appropriate for analyzing the young men’s narratives, from which both descriptive and interpretative meaning emerged. The analysis began with the first author listening to the recordings and reading the text several times to get a sense of the material as a whole. The second author also read through all of the interviews. The first author then divided the interview text into meaning units based on words and sentences related to the study aim. The meaning units were then condensed to clarify the essence of the text. The condensed text was then abstracted, labeled with codes, and sorted into categories based on similarities and differences in content after a number of regroupings. In the next step, the underlying meaning of the categories was interpreted and presented in one theme. The analysis was characterized by a dynamic process involving alternation between the parts and the whole. Discussion and revision of the different steps in the analysis process resulting in the meaning units, the categories and the theme were carried out jointly by all authors until consensus was reached (Graneheim & Lundman, 2004).

Ethical Considerations

The project was approved by the research ethics council at Åbo Akademi on April 27, 2011. The study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration (Forskningsetiska delegationen, 2009).

The participants were informed, orally and in writing, about the purpose of the study. They were also assured confidentiality and informed that participation in the study was strictly voluntary and could be terminated at any time without explanation. Both prior to and during the interviews, the interviewer (the first author) kept in mind that questions about general well-being and life conditions could lead to thoughts that the young men might need to deal with. A plan of action for managing such possible situations was developed. The action plan included, among other things, giving the young men the phone numbers and addresses of professional counselors.

Results

The analysis and interpretation resulted in five categories that were based on the various meaning units in the empirical material. In the further analysis and interpretation process, one theme emerged. The categories and the theme are presented in Figure 1.

Figure 1.

Figure 1.

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Categories and theme.

Belief in the Future

In the theme “Belief in the future,” the young men described how, after spending time (4 to 12 weeks) at the RC, they—as unemployed individuals—had gone from feeling listless, generally depressed, and experiencing shame, disgrace, and exclusion to beginning to feel increased optimism and joy. Having a time schedule gave life structure and helped the young men establish everyday routines. Financial supported was tied to having somewhere to go, where there were also people who seemed to care about them. All of these factors contributed to making life feel easier. The participants described how they could now feel like they were “somebody.” Their self-confidence had increased; they were part of a context and had begun to regain a belief in themselves. At the center, they were also given opportunities to cultivate other interests and do things they had not tried before.

The young men described how the “targeted support measures” had slowly but surely begun to give them a belief in the future. The theme consists of five categories: “Structure in life,” “Economic support,” “Social support,” “Seeing new possibilities,” and “Belief in oneself.”

Structure in Life

The young men described how things had changed. As unemployed individuals, they had gone from not having to be punctual and not having anything to do to feeling compelled to get up in the morning to participate in the activities at the center. The informants were expected to arrive in the morning and spend the entire day at the center. This was very much like having a regular job. There was always a schedule with set times. A normal day at the center usually started at 9 a.m. and ended at about 3 p.m. with a lunch break. One young man stated: “You need a structure.” Another young man said: “If you don’t have any structure you don’t feel good. Here you get into a daily rhythm.” The young men also talked about their lives during unemployment, how they often sat up late at night and slept well into the day. In contrast, now at the RC, they had a regular time schedule to keep to. Another young man stated: “It feels good having routines, I don’t have to think so much about what’s going to happen tomorrow.” The young men also reported that when they were unemployed and not participating at the RC, they had felt resigned and inactive and that their life had consisted of just floating around. Now, however, they felt that their lives were slowly but surely gaining more structure and content. Another participant said: “Here you do sensible things, which I don’t do at home. It also gives my life a rhythm.”

Economic Support

The young men described how, when they were unemployed, they had often felt worried about their and their parents’ financial situation, but that now, at the center, the men felt somewhat more secure, thanks to the economic support they had been granted: “Anyway I get 25 Euro a day when I’m here.” The informants also described the importance of making ends meet, of feeling that they at least had money for the necessities and did not need to feel dependent on their immediate family and relatives in order to make a purchase. The young men were clear about not wanting to be a financial burden on their family and stressed the importance of getting some kind of financial support: “The money lasts me pretty well; I have more than when I was studying.” One young man indicated that the economic support was actually a contributing factor to his staying at the center: “Well, I like it here, but if I wasn’t getting the money . . . ”

Social Support

The men also stated that, while unemployed, they had felt that their life just involved floating around: No one was asking about or waiting for them. Now, however, at the RC, they felt strong support from the staff and that there was a place for them. All participants had a personal guidance counselor and there were other staff there who cared and provided support. If a participant failed to turn up at the RC, this was noticed quickly. Someone from the center would call him, and if no one answered, the staff would make a home visit to establish the reason for his absence. One young man stated: “There’s always someone here who cares, always someone you can talk to.” The participants also reported that the staff were engaged and present and that they were truly concerned about the young men’s lives. Another young man stated: “The support, I get all emotional when I think about it.” The young men also underlined the importance of having someone with whom they could talk about anything: “I like talking about life; here we can talk about anything.” The informants also described the importance of not being alone, but instead having a sense of belonging and a context: “This bit about being in a group; there’s been too little of that.” One young man stated: “Here there are social benefits; that’s sort of what’s good about it.” Another said: “The atmosphere here, you don’t have it at home.”

Seeing New Possibilities

The informants described how they had previously, while unemployed, spent their days doing nothing in particular and that that had led to feelings of meaninglessness and emptiness, but that now at the center they had the opportunity to see and feel “that life has a meaning.” Different daily tutor-led activities, for example, projects like writing book reviews or writing about films and theater productions at the RC, opened up new possibilities and new perspectives. These activities were perceived as meaningful. One reason for this was that the informants themselves were allowed to choose the topics of their projects. Life had changed from being experienced as drab, empty, and more or less meaningless to having a feeling of meaningfulness when the informants were able to see new perspectives and possibilities. One young man stated: “Being here I’ve realized that I’m more philosophical than I thought.”

The young men described how, earlier, they could just lie or sit around on the couch feeling resigned about things, but that they, now, at the RC, could feel new energy and a will to move forward. One young man said: “Now I feel I want to move forward.” Another stated: “It would be fun to drive an excavator, or be a psychiatrist, or maybe a social worker.” Many of the informants also talked about how previously when unemployed they had behaved destructively, for example consuming large amounts of alcohol several times a week, but that they now had changed their behavior radically, mostly due to the structure, but also due to the different discussions and projects; they were now willing to make new changes and find new perspectives: “I’ve realized that I like both art, music and design, and being a craftsman would also be fun.”

Belief in Oneself

The informants also described a feeling of not being anybody when they were unemployed. For many, having a job was the only thing that counted. But now at the RC, they had slowly begun to feel more self-confidence and to believe in themselves. Here, there were counselors and other people who really cared. The young men could work with projects of their own choice, practice writing a CV, and practice being the interviewee at simulated job interviews. One young man stated: “Here I feel like I’m somebody.” The young men also described how they, while unemployed, had felt pressure and stress associated with not having become something, not having made a career for themselves. The informants also talked about their experiences of feeling excluded. While unemployed, they had felt they were standing on the sidelines of society, not participating in normal life, but that had really changed at the RC. Daily scheduled activities, strong support from competent, enthusiastic counselors had all contributed to increasing their self-confidence. One young man stated: “My self-esteem has really improved here.” Statements from other young men were “For instance, you learn to write a CV. Here I feel I’ve achieved something,” “I have to pull myself together now,” “You can never give up, that’s really important.”

Discussion

The results of the present study reports that the young men had strikingly positive experiences of the active, targeted support measures. The theme “Belief in the future” was something the young men as a group expressed very clearly. One quote in support of this theme is the following: “Now I have dreams about the future, many dreams.” His time and experiences at the RC had allowed this young man to dream about the future and in that way also believe in the future. Another quote supporting the theme is “It’s really important to have something to strive for.”

The category “Structure in life” also emerged clearly in the study. A number of the young men described how they had gone from resignation, inactivity, and feelings of floating around to now, at the RC, having a set time schedule and structure. This category would seem to be in very good accordance with Maria Jahoda’s deprivation theory, which proposes that employment provides certain benefits, such as time structure (Jahoda, 1981, 1982, 1987).

Jahoda (1982) argued that the most important of the latent benefits was time structure, and that loss of that particular benefit was experienced as a heavy psychological burden. Other authors have also reported that unemployed people’s time is less structured than that of the employed (Björklund et al., 2015; Jackson, 1999; Wanberg, Griffiths, & Gavin, 1997). Thus, life at the RC can more or less be likened to a kind of employment, particularly in relation to the regular, set working hours. Other quotes supporting this category are the following: “If you don’t have any structure you don’t feel good” and “Here I have a rhythm in life. I sleep much much better. I’m calmer and more myself when I have a rhythm.” The need for and importance of having daily routines and a kind of structure in life among the unemployed have also been described by Aldrich and Dickie (2013).

The second category, “Economic support,” also emerged as an important parameter for the young men. Previously in life, when unemployed, they had almost constantly worried about their own and sometimes even their parents’ financial situation. Now, participating in this specific ALMP and thanks to the economic support they received from the RC, they felt relieved about this aspect as well as their situation in general. The young men were no longer always dependent on others for money. The informants’ financial situations were tolerable, and they could sometimes allow themselves something extra, which had positive effects on life. One quote that supports the category is “I don’t need to think, can I buy this or that, I can actually buy most things I want and that makes everything feel easier.” One of the informants actually stated that the financial support was a contributing factor to staying on at the RC. Some research (Bambra & Eikemo, 2009) suggests that the social safety net, including unemployment benefits, also plays a positive role in unemployed persons’ perceived health. These findings are also supported by Rodriguez (2001), who reported that receipt of benefits could moderate the association between unemployment and poor subjective health in a positive direction. McLeod, Hall, Siddiqi, and Hertzman (2012) also reported that the association between receiving benefits and better health was most pronounced among low-skilled unemployed workers who gained cash benefits. Ferrarini, Nelson, and Sjöberg (2014) suggested that unemployment benefits may contribute to both stability and predictability for both individuals and society at large. Cylus et al. (2015) reported that unemployment benefits were associated with lower likelihood of reporting poor health among unemployed male workers. Their findings are in accord with research reporting that men in the West are more exposed to the negative effects of unemployment than women are, including various kinds of ill health, for example, mental distress, as well as greater stigmatization. Their results are also in accord with studies reporting that men are more likely than women are to believe that employed individuals do not respect the unemployed (Backhans & Hemmingsson, 2012; Kulik, 2000; McFadyen, 1995; Shamir, 1985).

The category “Social support” was also expressly described as positive by the young men. From feeling like their life only involved floating around and standing on the sideline when they were unemployed, now at the RC, they felt strong support from both the other participants and the staff. The informants now felt they really were somebody—somebody in a context. This can also be tied to Jahoda’s (1981) claim that work per se has latent consequences, such as regularly shared experiences and contacts with people outside the nuclear family. In this connection, spending time at the center corresponds directly to having a kind of employment and, thus, “becoming” someone as well. One quote that supports this is “Here I feel that I actually am someone.” Antonovsky (1991) also described the importance of being surrounded by people who are helpful and supportive and of having an extensive contact network one can turn to. According to Antonovsky (1991), all of these factors together lead to a feeling of increased harmony. Eriksson (1986) also described humans as being part of a social system and the great importance of maintaining social relations for the ability to achieve well-being. Åslund et al. (2014) reported that unemployed individuals with low social capital, specifically with low tangible social support, had increased ill health compared with unemployed individuals with high social capital. Åslund et al. (2014) concluded that elements of social capital, particularly social support, might be important health-protective factors among the unemployed.

The fourth category, “Seeing new possibilities” was also expressed by the young men. Several of them described the transition from unemployment, when they had felt almost worthless, listless, and unable to take the initiative, to the present, when they could increasingly see new possibilities. Their everyday lives now contained new perspectives. Their time at the RC somehow felt meaningful. It seems as though the staff at the RC, together with the unemployed young men, were able to identify individualized activities that the informants found meaningful. Life at the RC, which involved focused talks, individualized projects, and general discussions, had opened the door to new possibilities and horizons. These findings can be tied to the work of Ball and Orford (2002), who reported that the unemployed could find meaningful patterns of time use, especially through work-like activities or education. In this connection, it can be said that the RC succeeded in offering work-like activities and education, for example, by allowing the informants to choose their own projects. The present findings can also be related to those of Scanlan, Bundy, and Matthews (2010), who suggested that activity-based programs for the unemployed may be useful both for society and for the unemployed individuals. Scanlan et al. (2010) also suggested that it was of the utmost importance that these programs be experienced as meaningful. Moreover, Scanlan et al. (2010) claimed that special attention should be paid to helping individuals find activities they want to engage in and that the focus of such programs should be on exploring personally meaningful activities and developing activity-based, person-centered goals. Clear connections to the RC can be seen here in which the staff encouraged the young men to choose their own projects to work on while searching for jobs and writing their CVs.

The fifth category, “Belief in oneself” was also stressed by the informants. Several of the young men described the low self-confidence they had felt when they were unemployed and how they had abused alcohol. After spending some time at the RC, they were starting to believe in themselves. In previous research, unemployment has been associated with low levels of self-esteem (Bartley, 1994; Tiggemann & Winefield, 1984) and increased alcohol consumption (Björklund et al., 2015; Eliason & Storrie, 2009; Hammarstrom, 1994; Janlert, 1997; Montgomery et al., 1998; Mossakowski, 2008; Reine et al., 2004; Virtanen et al., 2013). Paljärvi, Suominen, Car, and Koskenvuo (2013) reported that current unemployment among Finnish men was associated with significantly higher odds of hazardous alcohol intake. Increased alcohol consumption during periods of unemployment can perhaps also be linked to the findings of Courtenay (2000), who reported that ill-health behaviors, including increased alcohol consumption, could be connected to manhood and masculinity. This could also be connected to the findings of Majors and Billsom (1992), who claimed that compulsive masculinity could lead to alcohol abuse. Loss of self-esteem has also been reported to affect health adversely (Marmot, 2003). Taken together, these findings report how important it is to identify unemployed young men’s needs and problems as well as to offer adequate support measures similar to those offered by the RC. The young men at the RC clearly described their previous situation of drinking, increasing vulnerability, and decreasing self-confidence. While at the RC, they could feel an increasing belief in themselves. Clearly, the RC had succeeded in building up the young men’s self-confidence. Previous studies have also reported that work or other meaningful activities, for example, participation in labor market measures, have positive effects on self-confidence (Feather & Bond, 1983; Hallsten, Grossi, & Westerlund, 1999; Jahoda, 1982). Thus, the value of developing and running RCs for young unemployed men to increase their self-confidence, and ultimately their well-being and health, cannot be stressed enough.

Methodological Considerations

All interviews were conducted, recorded, and transcribed verbatim by the first author. The trustworthiness of the researcher’s immediate understanding was tested in the dialogue between the researcher and the informants, asking questions during the interviews such as: “Do you mean that . . . ?” or “Have I understood you correctly?”

In order to strengthen the study’s credibility, the male informants were selected so as to achieve variation in age (within the age interval), residence (rural vs. urban), previous education, work experience, and ethnicity. Direct quotations were presented in the Results section to increase the study’s credibility (Polit & Beck, 2012). To improve dependability during the analysis process, the authors returned to the original text several times to verify that no content was missing. In order to ensure transferability, the authors have attempted to describe and present the data collection and data analysis as clearly as possible.

The results were compared and discussed by all authors, also in an attempt to strengthen the study’s trustworthiness.

Limitations

One limitation of the present study is that qualitative interviews depend, among other things, on the interaction between the interviewer and the participant. To minimize the possible effects of this interaction, the interviews were conducted in an environment familiar to the participants. Another limitation was the small sample selected from a small part of Finland. Due to this limitation, the findings may not be generalizable to a larger population. Another limitation is also that the informants had spent different amounts of time at the RC.

Conclusion

The present study has demonstrated the importance of offering specially adapted or tailored ALMPs to unemployed young men. Encouraging these young men to adhere to a time structure, giving them economic and social support, offering them a meaningful existence, building up their self-confidence and, thereby, giving them a feeling of believing in the future may ultimately also improve their health and well-being. Further funding and research are needed to continue designing, describing, and evaluating different interventions and action plans intended to support young unemployed men. The study also suggests that there are health-related reasons for trying to reduce and counteract unemployment among young men. Society should encourage unemployed young men to engage more actively in different networks and in specially adapted or tailored ALMPs instead of isolating themselves socially.

Footnotes

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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