Thirdspace as Tool for Grounding at-risk Youth

Abstract

This paper explores how Edward Soja’s theory of Thirdspace can be applied as a conceptual tool to rethink institutional environments for at-risk youth. While Firstspace views spaces solely as physical structures, such as walls and doors and Secondspace conceptualizes spaces through planning and design, Thirdspace emphasizes the way spaces are experienced, felt, and lived. Using the lens of Thirdspace theory, institutional environments are revealed as non-neutral spaces, shaped by lived experiences and power structures - often perceived by at-risk youth through control, trauma, and exclusion (Soja, 1996). By employing Thirdspace theory as a conceptual framework within institutional settings, such as detention centres for at-risk youth, it becomes possible to reimagine these environments not merely as sites of control, but rather as spaces fostering emotional safety, identity development, and social inclusion (Soja, 1996).