The Institute for Community Studies at The Young Foundation is a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

that works with communities, organisations, and policymakers to effect social change. It was founded in 1953 and is based in Toynbee Hall,

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

. In 2005, it merged with the Mutual Aid Centre and was renamed The Young Foundation, in honour of its founder, the sociologist, social activist and politician

Michael Young Michael Young may refer to: Academics * Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington (1915–2002), British life peer, sociologist and social activist * Michael Young (educationalist), British educational theorist and sociologist * Michael K. Youn ...

. In 2019, The Young Foundation relaunched the Institute under the auspices of Chief Executive Officer Helen Goulden. The Institute makes use of community-based participatory researchers to collect evidence.

Organisational history

Origins in the work of Michael Young

The original Institute was founded in 1953 by British Labour

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and sociologist

as the Institute of Community Studies in response to the

bureaucratic Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...

obstacles faced by

working-class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

residents of new

social housing Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...

estates in

.'''' As an economist for the Labour Party, Young wrote the Labour Party manifesto
Let Us Face the Future
for the July 1945 general election that swept Labour into power. The manifesto was key to the electoral victory and to the subsequent establishment of the welfare state of post-war Britain. Young left government in 1950 to pursue a PhD in

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

. Under the supervision of

Richard Titmuss Richard Morris Titmuss (16 October 1907 – 6 April 1973) was a British social researcher and teacher. He founded the academic discipline of social administration (now largely known in universities as social policy) and held the founding chair ...

, he completed a thesis in 1955, titled "A study of the extended family in

." While conducting his

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

on housing conditions in 1952, he lamented that "the local councillors heard the complaints, but did nothing about them because they were captured by the officials." Young cited bureaucratic obstacles and political inaction as motivations for founding the Institute of Community Studies in 1953. The Institute was to be a

think tank A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governme ...

from which many innovative public-interest projects were launched. The early Institute's stated purpose was "to examine the interaction of the family, the community and the

social services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

," and "to study the way in which ordinary people interacted with the newly expanded social service sector" which followed on the heels of the Labour reforms of 1945-1950. Furthermore, it "asked whether the

organs In a multicellular organism, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to a ...

of" the

welfare state in the United Kingdom The welfare state of the United Kingdom began to evolve in the 1900s and early 1910s, and comprises expenditures by the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland intended to improve health, education, employment and ...

"were in cooperation or conflict with established patterns of family support and

mutual aid Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meeting common needs. This ...

" in the UK. The Institute gained attention during its early years for its unconventional structure and its focus on community-level sociological research. of the sort that prompted Young to create it—although this meant that Young and the Institute were constantly seeking funding from

donors A donor in general is a person, organization or government which donates something voluntarily. The term is usually used to represent a form of pure altruism, but is sometimes used when the payment for a service is recognized by all parties as rep ...

foundations Foundation(s) or The Foundation(s) may refer to: Common uses * Foundation (cosmetics), a skin-coloured makeup cream applied to the face * Foundation (engineering), the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads f ...

, and the

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, pu ...

. One of its first publications was ''Family And Kinship In East London'' (1957), co-authored by Young and Peter Willmott. The study was based on

fieldwork Field research, field studies, or fieldwork is the collection of raw data outside a laboratory, library, or workplace setting. The approaches and methods used in field research vary across disciplines. For example, biologists who conduct f ...

with residents relocated from inner London communities to

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision (land), subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to count ...

. The study identified several social consequences of relocation, as highlighted in the Institute’s publication. The Institute's findings contributed to ongoing debates on urban redevelopment and its impact on community structures that characterized

post-war A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, ...

rebuilding in the UK and abroad. The Institute of Community Studies was an

incubator An incubator is anything that performs or facilitates various forms of incubation, and may refer to: Biology and medicine * Incubator (culture), a device used to grow and maintain microbiological cultures or cell cultures * Incubator (egg), a dev ...

for building nonprofit organisations to meet social needs, including

NHS Direct NHS Direct was the health advice and information service provided by the National Health Service (NHS), established in March 1998. The nurse-led telephone information service provided residents and visitors in England with healthcare advice 24 ho ...

, the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

, The School for Social Entrepreneurs, and

Which? ''Which?'' is a United Kingdom brand name that promotes informed consumer choice in the purchase of goods and services by testing products, highlighting inferior products or services, raising awareness of consumer rights, and offering indepen ...

(officially named the Consumer's Association.) The Institute created a series of

educational television Educational television or learning television is the use of television programs in the field of distance education. It may be in the form of individual television programs or dedicated specialty channels that are often associated with cable televi ...

programs called "Dawn University" that aired on

Anglia Television ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

. This program would become the

prototype A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...

for the highly innovative

, launched in 1964. The Institute also fostered the

distance-learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

National Extension College The National Extension College (NEC) was set up in 1963 as a not-for-profit organisation for distance learning for people of all ages. It was founded as a pilot study for the Open University. The college provides over 60 online distance learn ...

in 1963, and, in 1972, the

International Extension College {{Short description, College in the UK More commonly referred to as the IEC, the International Extension College is a defunct non-profit organization that was based in Cambridge in the UK. Its primary aim was to help set up and manage distance lear ...

for students from the

developing world A developing country is a sovereign state with a less-developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to developed countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreeme ...

. In 1982, the Institute worked with historian

Peter Laslett Thomas Peter Ruffell Laslett (18 December 1915 – 8 November 2001) was an English historian. Biography Laslett was the son of a Baptist minister and was born in Bedford on 18 December 1915. Although he spent much of his childhood in Oxford, h ...

to launch the British version of the University of the Third Age of Toulouse, a

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lifelong learning Lifelong learning is the "ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated" pursuit of learning for either personal or professional reasons. Lifelong learning is important for an individual's competitiveness and employability, but also enhances social in ...

program begun in 1973 .

Renaming and Relaunch

Young served as the Institute's director until his death in 2002. In 2005, the Institute of Community Studies merged with the Mutual Aid Centre (another Young-founded organisation) and was renamed The

Young Foundation The Young Foundation is a not-for-profit, organisation driving community research and social innovation. It is named after Michael Young, Baron Young of Dartington, Michael Young, the British sociologist and social activist who created over 60 ...

. The Young Foundation then launched a re-conceived Institute ''for'' Community Studies as one of its constituent parts in 2019, with financial support from charitable trusts and private donors. The new Institute's stated mission includes "engag ngwith people across the UK, with a focus on gathering public views and informing policy research." The Institute for Community Studies at The Young Center inaugurated its relaunch with a study begun in 2019 and completed and published during the

Covid-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom The COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom is a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In the United Kingdom, it has resulted in confirm ...

entitled "Safety in Numbers?"{{Cite web , title=Safety in numbers? , url=https://www.youngfoundation.org/our-work/publications/safety-in-numbers/ , access-date=2024-08-14 , website=The Young Foundation , language=en-US

Notable publications by the Institute of Community Studies

*''The Family Life of Old People: An inquiry in East London'' ( Peter Townsend, 1957). * ''Widows and their Families'' (Peter Marris, 1958). * ''Family and Class in a London Suburb'' (Peter Willmott and

, 1960). * ''Family and Social Change in an African City: A study of rehousing in Lagos'' (Peter Marris, 1961). * ''Education and the Working Class'' ( Brian Jackson, Dennis Marsden, 1962). * ''Living with Mental Illness: A study in East London'' (Enid Mills, 1962). * ''The Evolution of a Community: A Study of Dagenham after forty years'' ( Peter Willmott, 1963). * ''Human Relations and Hospital Care'' (

Ann Cartwright Ann Cartwright (born 1925, died 2024) is a British statistician and socio-medical researcher. Her Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care was launched by Michael Young, initially under the auspices of his Institute of Community Studies where ...

, 1964). * ''Innovation and Research in Education'' (

, 1965). * ''Adolescent Boys of East London'' ( Peter Willmott, 1966). * ''Working Class Community'' ( Brian Jackson, 1968). * ''The Symmetrical Family: A study of work and leisure in the London Region'' (

and Peter Willmott, 1973).

Notes

Organisations based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Social science research institutes Independent research institutes Research institutes established in 1954 Research institutes in London