Youth Work and Social Pedagogy

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-167
Author(s):  
Howard Williamson ◽  
Mick Conroy
Keyword(s):  
Work Practice ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Young Offenders ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Social Pedagogy ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
Justice Model ◽  
First Offenders ◽  
Children First

The most visible differentiation between models of youth justice across Europe exists in tensions between welfare-based and justice-based approaches. Proponents of welfare-based interventions often find themselves conflicted by the current growth of a right-wing, nationalistic, and perhaps at times xenophobic political climate throughout Europe, calling for tougher sanctions and sentences for young offenders. As a consequence, the promotion of any primarily welfare-based approaches within youth justice settings throughout Europe has been slow to emerge within key strategies to develop effective interventions with young offenders. This chapter explores the merits of a youth justice model that embraces the “children first—offenders second” approach, and it examines the potential role that a hybrid model of youth work practice and social pedagogy theory might play in achieving one of the key principles of the Council of Europe: integrating young offenders back into society, and not their marginalization and social exclusion.

Post COVID-19 youth work: A contribution to the Swedish social pedagogical debate

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-120
Author(s):  
Irena Dychawy Rosner
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Pedagogical Expertise ◽  
Youth Education ◽  
Social Pedagogy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

The coronavirus pandemic affects the whole world. This situation is a very challenging time for all humanity and social services no less. The present article explores how care and different forms of support can or should be offered to young people in the post-COVID-19 youth work. The objective of this paper is to reflect on how social work practitioners can adapt their daily clinical practice by focusing their interventions on the social pedagogical dimensions of social work. The article presents a generalised discussion of practice logics in social work and social pedagogy. Because of the meanings derived from knowledge on the importance of relationships between the helper and the help receiver, social practices in the post-COVID-19 world need to consider social pedagogical expertise in social work practice and the development of preventive assistance for young populations. This effort has been prepared as a part of the project “Social Professionals for Youth Education in the context of European Solidarity".

scholarly journals The Adultification of the Youth Justice System: The Victorian Experience

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-113
Author(s):  
Natalia Antolak-Saper
Keyword(s):  
State Government ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Best Interests ◽  
Young Offenders ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Justice Model ◽  
The Media ◽  
Historical Examination ◽  
Welfare Model

In early 2018, an Inquiry into Youth Justice Centres in Victoria (Inquiry) found that a combination of a punitive approach to youth justice, inadequate crime strategies, and a lack of appropriately trained and experienced staff at youth justice centres, greatly contributed to the hindrance of the rehabilitation of young persons in detention in Victoria, Australia. In addition to identifying these challenges, the Inquiry also determined that the way in which young offenders have been described by politicians and portrayed in the media in recent times, has had a significant impact on shaping youth justice policies and practices. This article specifically examines the role of the media in the adultification of the Victorian youth justice system. It begins with a historical examination of youth justice, drawing on the welfare model and the justice model.  This is followed by a discussion of the perception and reality of youth offending in Victoria. Here, it is demonstrated that through framing, the media represents heightened levels of youth offending and suggests that only a ‘tough on crime’ approach can curb such offending; an approach that has been adopted by the Victorian State Government in recent years. Finally, the article considers how recent youth justice reforms are examples of adultification, and by not adequately distinguishing between a child and adult offender, these reforms are inconsistent with the best interests of the child.  

scholarly journals Abolishing Youth Justice Systems: Children First, Offenders Nowhere

Youth Justice ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 147322541989875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Case ◽  
Kevin Haines
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Justice Systems ◽  
First Offenders ◽  
Children First

The 1980s decade of diversion in UK youth justice consolidated critiques of iatrogenic systemic contact and generated an abolitionist momentum that was significantly reversed by the 1990s punitive turn and ‘new youth justice’ strategies of modernisation, expansionism, interventionism and risk management. However, the tentative rejection of risk management and the rebirth of diversion in contemporary youth justice offer new hope for abolitionist arguments. This article critically evaluates contemporary abolitionist arguments, asserting that Children First definitions and diversionary, Bureau model responses could coalesce to form an innovative paradigm to replace traditional, formal conceptions of youth justice ‘systems’.

A Comparative Study of the State of Ethics in Youth Work Practice in Jamaica, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cleopatra Monique Parkins
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Code Of Ethics ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
The United Kingdom

Even though youth work has played a critical role in fostering the holistic development of today’s youth, much controversy has surrounded the practice. Nevertheless, youth workers are slowly being accorded professional status, and a code of ethics has been developed in some jurisdictions. Some states are still to adopt this code; consequently the credibility of youth workers and the sector in general sway with the wind. This article presents a comparative analysis of ethical practices of youth work in Jamaica, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, examining current trends in observing ethics and addressing ethical issues. In the case of Jamaica, the researcher used the non-probability convenience sampling technique and collected primary data from a questionnaire administered to a sample of youth workers. The perspective of the ministerial arm responsible for youth work in Jamaica was also captured through an interview. In the case of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the framework of the profession and specifically matters pertaining to ethical practices were examined through the use of secondary data sources, which included reports on youth work practices in the selected countries. A mixed methodology was employed in analysing the data collected. The major findings of this study confirmed that advancing youth work as a profession is dependent on the acceptance and integration of a formal code of ethics, that youth workers must receive training on ethics and that a national youth work policy is important to guide youth work practice. In accordance with the findings, the researcher makes a number of recommendations and highlights notable best practices that may help with the overall professionalisation of the sector.

Youngistan-Discussion on Models for Working with Youth

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Praveen Varghese Thomas ◽  
Sojin P. Varghese
Keyword(s):  
Essential Element ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
The World ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Support Policy ◽  
Youth Bulge ◽  
Conducive Environment ◽  
Age Category

Youth is always considered as the dynamic section of society which stands inevitable both as age category and social status. There is a strong tendency among politicians, researchers to see youth bulge as a problem to be solved or as a threat which must be treated. However youth are underestimated as positive agents of change and key actors in development and harmony of the nation. But then more importantly, providing a conducive environment for youth is crucial and remains as the biggest challenge in India as the nation is going to be the youngest nation in the world demographically and will remain the same for next couple of decades. This paper explores the role of youth in development and various models and approaches by which the society and professionals working with youth can address those queries and anxieties associated with the youth bulge. Further the paper explores the scope of youth work in India as the nation is going to be the youngest nation in couple of years. Further research and debates on youth work as a profession in India is an essential element to develop specific guidance to support policy and commissioning processes in understanding how youth work contributes to effective interventions and improves the lives of young people.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document