Professional credibility and public trust in those working with young people

2004 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Judith Bessant
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Public Trust ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
History Of ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Professional Registration ◽  
Development Workers ◽  
Professional Standing

As the embarrassment and shame around the ‘resignation’ of our last Governor-General indicates, the abuse of children and young people has become a major public issue. An increasing body of Australian research reveals a history of violence against young people while media reports reveal a history of serious physical and sexual abuse and exploitation of young people by professionals responsible for their care and protection.Moreover much of this systemic abuse took place in educational and welfare sectors that were and are relatively unregulated in respect to the professionalisation of workers. While there are now formal professional registration processes affecting teachers and psychologists, there is no equivalent for youth workers, social workers or community development workers.The disclosures of abuse and neglect revealed the suffering and harm experienced by young people, and in turn seriously damaged the professional standing of those working with young people, as well as the public trust traditionally conferred on professions and institutions.I argue that restoring public trust in the institutions and services where abuse took place, and indeed may still be happening, is an issue of considerable importance.I critically review the conditions necessary for restoring public trust. Those conditions include improved governance and systematic improvements in the intellectual and professional education of youth workers to ensure that they have the requisite capabilities such as critical insight, advocacy skills and political resolve. The value of establishing a code of professional practice ethics is also considered.Finally it is argued that advocating for young people's rights is another means of securing their well-being and workers' professional standing. I point out, however, that the rights option is somewhat limited because, although it obligates, it does not specify who owes the obligation, and for this reason rights talk too often remains ineffectual because it's abstracted. I suggest that the identification of obligations is also necessary for securing public trust and young people's well-being because, unlike rights, they specify who is bound and to whom the obligation is owed.

scholarly journals IDEOLOGIES AND THEORIES FOR YOUTH PRACTICE WORK

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-74
Author(s):  
Ramadimetje Bernice Hlagala ◽  
Catharina Sophia Delport
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
History Of ◽  
Mix And Match

There are many youth workers who continue to design their interventions without any theoretical basis, despite a long history of youth work as a field of practice. The aim of this article is to present selected ideologies and theoretical frameworks underpinning youth work practice. These ideologies and theories, although predominantly borrowed from other disciplines, provide insight on how youth work should be practised.Based on a thorough literature review, the authors have selected different theories and ideologies that youth workers, like other professionals, are expected to know, understand and to adapt to youth work practice. These theories are important and would serve as theoretical frameworks on which youth work interventions will be based and, thereby, provide youth workers with the means to predict and analyse the situations of young people from different viewpoints to enable the development of different strategies to address relevant problems.The article concludes that theories and ideologies should be used as reference points, and youth workers mix and match different theories and ideologies depending on the nature of problem they are addressing at that particular time.

What would we use and how would we use it? Can digital technology be used to both enhance and evaluate well-being outcomes with highly vulnerable and disadvantaged young people?

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 222-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rhianon Vichta ◽  
Karleen Gwinner ◽  
Brian Collyer
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Support Services ◽  
Digital Technology ◽  
Digital Technologies ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Over Time

An increasing number of technology apps for managing wellbeing and mental health are permeating young people’s use of digital spaces. There are a range of online wellbeing tools which have been developed to promote self-tracking and build young people’s wellbeing and mental health, for example, Optimism, My Mood Tracker and Strava. Tracking outcomes of support with highly transient young people is, more broadly, a particular challenge for youth workers, evaluators and social researchers. Using digital apps to promote as well as monitor wellbeing with tech-savvy young people is an enticing prospect for youth support services, particularly with young people whose engagement with support is sporadic and unpredictable during periods of homelessness or other crisis situations. The use of purpose-designed digital apps may have the potential to not only benefit young people’s mental health and wellbeing, but also enhance the consistency and quality of their connection with support services. In principle, putting wellbeing digital tools directly into the hands, and phones, of young people who are accessing support services seems to make good sense. A great number of online resources have, however, relatively limited uptake in highly vulnerable youth populations. The design starting point must therefore be, what would they use and how would they use it? How can digital apps help to promote stronger support engagement, be aligned with young people’s perspectives and priorities of wellbeing, and enable better outcomes evaluation? This article shares learnings from a consultation with more than 400 young youth service users to build better understanding of their relationships with digital technologies, what they would use and how they would use it to better connect with support as well as to promote and record changes in wellbeing over time. Exploring the young people’s perspectives on wellbeing, service delivery and use of digital technologies has broad implications for the integration of digital technology into both service delivery and evaluation of youth programmes. The findings suggest that digital platforms can play a role in evaluating youth wellbeing over time. The prerequisites, are however, that young people’s autonomy and individuality must be supported. We need to start from a place that facilitates agency and creativity, and focuses on capturing qualitative data that meet young people in their world – even when this is challenging for us.

Mental Health and Suicide Concerns

2019 ◽  
pp. 261-278
Author(s):  
Patti Ranahan
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Young People ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Expiration Date ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Youth In Care ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Health And Well Being

This chapter explores practice implications for youth workers attempting to support the mental health and well-being of young people as they leave care and transition to the adult system. Young people in care are more likely to experience suicidality and mental health concerns, with the transition out of care accentuating such concerns. Access to youth mental health services may also reach an expiration date, at which time young people are expected to transition to the adult mental health system at a predetermined chronological age. Specifically, this chapter examines the current research regarding mental health issues and suicidality within the youth-in-care population and the impact of transitioning out of care on the well-being of young people, and it discusses practical strategies for youth workers to enhance young people’s literacies in mental health that can lead to more positive outcomes.

Is childhood OCD a risk factor for eating disorders later in life? A longitudinal study

2011 ◽  
Vol 41 (12) ◽  
pp. 2507-2513 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Micali ◽  
K. Hilton ◽  
E. Natatani ◽  
I. Heyman ◽  
C. Turner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factor ◽  
Family History ◽  
Young People ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Clinical Predictors ◽  
Compulsive Disorder ◽  
History Of

BackgroundIt has been suggested that childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be a risk factor for the development of an eating disorder (ED) later in life, but prospective studies are lacking. We aimed to determine the prevalence of ED at follow-up and clinical predictors in a longitudinal clinical sample of adolescents/young adults diagnosed with OCD in childhood.MethodAll contactable (n=231) young people with OCD assessed over 9 years at a national and specialist paediatric OCD clinic were included in this study. At follow-up, 126 (57%) young people and parents completed the ED section of the Developmental and Well-being Assessment. Predictors for ED were investigated using logistic regression.ResultsIn total, 16 participants (12.7%) had a diagnosis of ED at follow-up. Having an ED was associated with female gender and persistent OCD at follow-up. There was a trend for family history of ED being predictive of ED diagnosis. Five (30%) of those who developed an ED at follow-up had ED symptoms or food-related obsessions/compulsions at baseline. A difference in predictors for an ED versus other anxiety disorders at follow-up was identified.ConclusionsThis study provides initial evidence that baseline clinical predictors such as female gender and family history of ED might be specific to the later development of ED in the context of childhood OCD. Clinicians should be alert to ED subthreshold symptoms in young girls presenting with OCD. Future longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the relationship between childhood OCD and later ED.

The basic determinants of perceived increase in violent, sexual and benefit fraud crimes

2014 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 180-188
Author(s):  
Shivam Fijwala ◽  
Marek Palasinski ◽  
Neil Shortland
Keyword(s):  
Sense Of Community ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Community Safety ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
History Of

Purpose – Given that how crimes are perceived by the general public influences their sense of community safety, police priorities and offending behaviour, and in light of little, if any at all, attention being paid to the determinants of such perception, the purpose of this paper is to examine their predictive value. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 150 English participants with diverse backgrounds (78 males and 72 females – mean age: M=24.3; SD=5.44) completed surveys on their perceived increase in violent, sexual and benefit fraud crimes, taking into account theoretically and empirically underpinned factors, like age, income, number of days unemployed in the last three years, number of years spent in formal education and machiavellianism. Findings – The multiple regression results suggest that participants with less formal education and less income were more likely to see a rise in violent crime. They also suggest that participants with less formal education and longer history of recent unemployment were more likely to see a rise in sexual crime. It turned out, however, that the recent history of unemployment was not a significant predictor of the perceived rise in benefit fraud – only a high machiavellianism score was. Research limitations/implications – This quantitative research paints a complex picture that could be complemented by follow-on qualitative studies. Practical implications – The overarching message from this relatively modest study, therefore, which is part of a much larger and more complex ongoing research project, is to inform the public on crime in approachable and mass data-driven ways rather than leaving this to sensation-driven and selective scenario-focused media. Social implications – Increasing people's sense of community safety is likely to improve their general well-being, community cohesion and trust in others without necessarily inclining them to take personal risks and falling victim to crime due to ignorance and gullibility. This, in turn, might help guide crime prevention strategies and contribute to the actual reduction in crime levels and safer communities. Originality/value – Not only does this article offer insight into people's perception of different crimes, addressing an important and neglected research deficit, but is also cautiously proposes the need for more professional education of the public about crime figures.

Beérkezett könyvek

2005 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-427
Author(s):  
Csaba Pléh
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Cognitive Science ◽  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Human Thought ◽  
Number Of Genes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Origin Of Mind ◽  
The Mind

Ádám György: A rejtozködo elme. Egy fiziológus széljegyzetei Carpendale, J. I. M. és Müller, U. (eds): Social interaction and the development of knowledge Cloninger, R. C.: Feeling good. The science of well being Dunbar, Robin, Barrett, Louise, Lycett, John: Evolutionary psychology Dunbar, Robin: The human story. A new history of makind's evolution Geary, D. C.: The origin of mind. Evolution of brain, cognition and general intelligence Gedeon Péter, Pál Eszter, Sárkány Mihály, Somlai Péter: Az evolúció elméletei és metaforái a társadalomtudományokban Harré, Rom: Cognitive science: A philosophical introduction Horváth György: Pedagógiai pszichológia Marcus, G.: The birth of the mind. How a tiny number of genes creates the complexities of human thought Solso, R. D.: The psychology of art and the evolution of the conscious brain Wray, A. (ed.): The transition to language

Probiotics in gastroenterology – from a different angle

2013 ◽  
Vol 154 (8) ◽  
pp. 294-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
György Miklós Buzás
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Beneficial Effect ◽  
Analytical Data ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Gastrointestinal Diseases ◽  
Convincing Evidence ◽  
Probiotic Treatment ◽  
History Of ◽  
Irritable Bowel

After a short overview of the history of probiotics, the author presents the development of human intestinal microflora based on the newest genetic data and the microbiological features of main probiotics. The indications of probiotic administration have been defined and extended in recent years. The author reviews significant results of probiotic treatment in some gastrointestinal diseases based on meta-analytical data. Probiotics are useful in preventing and treating diarrhoea caused by antibiotics and Clostridium difficile caused diarrhoea. In the treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection, preparations containing certain Lactobacillus,Bifidobacterium strains or Saccaromyces boulardii could enhance by 5–10% the rate of successful eradication and reduce the incidence and severity of the side effects. Some symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and thus the quality of life can be improved by probiotics. Their beneficial effect in ulcerative colitis was proven, while in Crohn’s disease has not yet been defined. The use of probiotics is not included in guidelines, with the exception of the Maastricht IV/Florence consensus. For each disease it is advisable to use probiotics containing strains only with proven beneficial effect. The efficiency of preparations containing mixed strains has not yet been properly investigated. The author reviews the rare but potentially serious side effects of probiotics. In Hungary, there are many probiotic preparations available which can be purchased in pharmacies without prescription: their use is more empirical than evidence-based. The European Food Safety Authority has recently rejected claims for probiotics to be classed as medicines given the lack of convincing evidence on the effects of probiotics on human health and well-being. Clearly, further research is needed to collect evidence which could be incorporated into the international guidelines. Orv. Hetil., 2013, 154, 294–304.

Faktor-Faktor Determinan yang melatar belakangi Kehamilan Remaja di Desa Pandansari Kecamatan Poncokusumo Kabupaten Malang

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 247-255
Author(s):  
Maria Magdalena Setyaningsih ◽  
Emy Sutiyarsih
Keyword(s):  
Sex Education ◽  
Teen Pregnancy ◽  
Teenage Pregnancy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Case Control ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Case Group ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
First Time

Kehamilan remaja adalah kehamilan yang terjadi pada remaja berusia kurang dari 20 tahunan. Kehamilan remaja memberikan banyak kerugian bagi kesehatan, mental dan psikologis, kesejahteraan ekonomi dan peluang karier, kemiskinan dan prospek kehidupan masa depan remaja. Tujuan penelitian mengidentifikasi faktor determinan yang melatarbelakangi terjadinya kehamilan remaja. Jenis penelitian adalah penelitian analitik kategorik jenis survei kuantitatif dengan desain case control. Populasi semua perempuan yang bertempat tinggal di wilayah dusun Wonosari, Sukosari, dan Krajan Pandansari dan pernah/sedang hamil pertama kali pada usia kurang dari 20 tahun. Teknik pengambilan sampel cluster random sampling besar sampel 73. Berdasarkan hasil model akhir analisis multivariat, diketahui bahwa variabel pendidikan, riwayat kehamilan remaja pada keluarga dan usia menikah merupakan variabel yang berhubungan dengan kejadian kehamilan remaja setelah dikontrol oleh variabel akses informasi, responden berpendidikan rendah memiliki peluang 20,8 kali lebih tinggi, responden yang memiliki riwayat kehamilan remaja pada keluarga memiliki peluang 14,9 kali lebih tinggi, responden yang menikah pada usia <20 tahun memiliki peluang 12,1 kali lebih tinggi, responden dengan pemahaman yang kurang baik terkait penggunaan kondom memiliki peluang 5,9 kali lebih tinggi untuk terjadi kehamilan remaja. Oleh karena itu perlu dibangun karakter buiding, sosial karakter suport untuk para ibu remaja dan keluarga sehingga terbangun interaksi yang baik dalam keluarga yang dilandasi dengan pendidikan dan pemahaman yang baik tentang Pendidikan seksualitas. Teen pregnancy is a pregnancy that occurs in adolescents aged less than 20 years old. Teen pregnancy provides many disadvantages for health, mental, psychological, economic well-being, career opportunities, poverty, and the future life. The aim of the study was to identify the determinants underlying teen pregnancy incidence. This study was a quantitative study with categorical analytic method. The study design used a case control with two comparison groups. The groups were control group and case group. The population in this study was all women who lived in the Wonosari, Sukosari, and Krajan Pandansari district and had or were pregnant for the first time at the age of less than 20 years old. Seventy three respondents were recruited using cluster sampling technique. The case group consists of women who were or had pregnant for the first time at the age of less than 20 years old and their children are currently aged ≤ 1 years old. The control group consists of women who were pregnant for the first time at the age of > 20 years old. The data was collected using a questionnaire. The findings showed that education, history of teen pregnancy in family and the age of marriage were related to the incidence of teen pregnancy after being controlled by information access. Low-educated respondents had 20.8 times higher chance of experiencing teen pregnancy; respondents with a history of teen pregnancy in the family had 4.9 times higher chance of experiencing teen pregnancy; respondents who were married at the age of < 20 years old had 12.1 times higher chance of experiencing teen pregnancy; respondents with poor understanding of condom use had 5.9 times higher chance of teenage pregnancy. In conclusion, the findings suggest to build good interactions in the family based on education and a good understanding of sex education.

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