Staying safe while on the move: exploring differences in disabled and non-disabled young people's perceptions of the mobile phone's significance in daily life

This article investigates differences in young people's perceptions of the mobile phone's significance in daily life, drawing on a qualitative interview study with 12 mobility-disabled and 12 non-disabled young Norwegians aged 16-20 years. The interviews were analyzed following a constructivist grounded theory approach, using a continuous content comparative method. While the non-disabled participants perceive the mobile phone's social potential as it's most significant quality, the mobility-disabled participants perceived its property as a safety net as the most significant. The objective of this article is to generate knowledge about how differences in young people's perceptions of the mobile phone are influenced by practical challenges encountered in daily life and how they use mobile phones to meet these challenges. Furthermore, drawing on an actor-network perspective the article seeks to elaborate on how technology - represented in this article by the mobile phone - creates possibilities of action, participation and identity. Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd