Security and subjective wellbeing: the experiences of unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK.

This article considers the relevance of the notion of ontological security - a sense of order, stability, routine and predictability to life - to contemporary conceptualisations of wellbeing. Drawing on in-depth interviews with unaccompanied young people seeking asylum in the UK, it demonstrates how a positive sense of self and being able to visualise a place and role in the world into the future were integral to their notion of wellbeing, offering an important counter to the pervasive sense of living in limbo. The article argues that this fundamental need for a projected self is largely neglected in contemporary discussions on wellbeing. To date the idea of security as a determinant of wellbeing has been primarily constructed around the notion of protection from harm and the provision of the requirements for physical, emotional, economic and social wellbeing in the here and now. Findings from this research suggest that those providing services and support to young people who have experienced trauma need to consider how they might best nurture in them a sense of place, belonging and security into the future. Equally, they have implications for how we conceptualise and operationalise wellbeing more generally.