Youth work
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In the United Kingdom youth work is the process of creating an environment where young people can engage in informal educational activities. Different varieties of youth work include centre-based work, detached work and school-based work.
Throughout the United States and Canada, youth work is seen as any activity that seeks to engage young people in coordinated programs, including those which are recreational, educational, or social by nature and design.
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[edit] Definition
"Youth work" is defined as activities that intentionally seek to impact young people. This is primarily a set of loosely affiliated activities which have been defined, redefined, examined and reinvented in subsequent generations.[1]
The Ireland Youth Work Act of 2001 states that,
- "'Youth work' means a planned programme of education designed for the purpose of aiding and enhancing the personal and social development of young persons through their voluntary participation, and which is (a) complementary to their formal, academic or vocational education and training; and (b) provided primarily by voluntary youth work organisations."[2]
However, critics of this particular definition report that,
- "This definition sees youth work primarily in terms of the development of the young person. However some would argue that this is a limited view and that central to a definition of youth work is the notion that youth work should aim to engage with society and bring about social change in an unequal society."[3]
These same critics report that youth work should seek "real participation, liberation and empowerment of young people.[4]
Youth work is historically said to focus on five areas, including a focus on young people; an emphasis on voluntary participation and relationship; a commitment to association by youth and adults; friendly and informal atmospheres, and; acting with integrity.[5]
[edit] History
Modern youth work emphasises the need to involve young people in the running of their own services through a process of youth-led youth work though historically youth services were more about adults providing activities for young people or, to coin a phrase, "keeping them off the streets".
This early approach to youth work has actually been around since the birth of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, which was the first time that young men left their own homes and cottage industries to migrate to the big towns. The result of this migration was an emergent youth culture in urban areas, which locally was responded to by the efforts of local people. Although with the formation of the YMCA (and later Scouting) organisations were founded whose sole aim was to address these issues, the emphasis was always on providing for young people.
By 1959 widespread moral panic in the press about teenage delinquency led the British government to look into a national response to catering for the needs of young people. In 1960 a government report known as The Albermarle Report was released, which outlined the need for local government agencies to take on responsibility for providing extra-curricular activities for young people. Out of this the statutory sector of the youth service was born.
Today (as outlined in the Transforming Youth Work document released in 1998 by the DfES) it is the statutory duty of all local government organisations to provide a youth service in their region. Also for the first time the youth service has national targets that have to be met with regard to the reach (initial contact) with young people, the number of relationships developed with young people and the number of accredited learning programmes achieved through the youth service.
[edit] Approaches to Youth Work
[edit] Community youth work
- See also: Youth activism
Community youth workers provide community-based activities for young people in a variety of settings throughout local communities, including places of worship, nonprofit organizations and government agencies.
[edit] Youth voice
Youth voice is an approach to youth work which emphasizes the centrality of adolescents in defining the issues that matter to them. The voice of young people is an important element of youth work enabling young people to play a central part in the decision making process that affects their lives. This can include not only how their youth services are run but also influences local and national government decisions. This also enables them to contribute to the community through being central to the decision making process for funding grants for which they are not only applicants but decision makers.
[edit] Youth empowerment
Youth empowerment is the deliberate granting of authority to young people by adults. This may take the form of youth leadership in program or organizational planning, research, design, facilitation or evaluation. This youth centred approach is renowed for increasing youth engagement and the efficacy of a variety of approaches.
[edit] Centre-based Youth Work
This youth work is carried out at a dedicated premises, which may include facilities such as drop-in coffee bars, sports facilities and advice centres. Most youth clubs fall under this fairly wide category. It is reliant on young people choosing to come to the centre, but in some cases may be linked with outreach or school-based youth work.
[edit] Detached Youth Work
This form of youth work takes place "on the streets". Detached youth work is youth work where you are not responsible for a building or the area in which you are working.
Detached Youth Work focuses mainly on meeting the young people where they are and not expecting them to fit into any particular system. In detached youth work the young people set a lot of the rule during the encounter and choose whether or not they wish to engage with you.
This form of youth work is good for reaching young people who are not engaging with any other form of youth work or even the educational system.
Detached youth work in its purest form is working with young people on their agenda not the agenda of the agency or the worker. This is a difficult task to accomplish in an environment of funding led work and central government targets.
[edit] Outreach youth work
Outreach work is based on a pre-set agenda, more often than not to attract young people into existing youth facilities, such as an existing youth centre.
[edit] School-based work
- See also: Student activism
This form of youth work is carried out in schools and is provided directly for the pupils, often by an organisation external from the school. It may include lessons, assemblies, after-school clubs, one to one mentoring etc. There may be a link with other non-school youth activities.
[edit] Youth development
Youth development programs seek to identify the needs of young people from a social/educational perspective, and to meet those needs through structured, intentional activities which satisfy those needs. This area includes community youth development and positive youth development activities.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Smith, M. (2001) Definition, tradition and change in youth work Encyclopedia of Informal Education.
- ^ Irish Statute Book Government of Ireland.
- ^ Jenkinson, H. (2000). "Youth work in Ireland the struggle for identity," Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies, 2(2).
- ^ Jenkinson, H.
- ^ Smith, M. K. (2002) Transforming Youth Work - Resourcing excellent youth services, Encyclopedia of Informal Education.
