Our theoretical frame

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Seal ◽  
Pete Harris
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Young People ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Conceptual Basis ◽  
Existential Philosophy ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Theoretical Frame

The authors set out their own distinctive analytical frame that combines elements of critical theory, psychosocial criminology and applied existential philosophy to produce a practical conceptual basis for work with the young people that youth workers will encounter on a daily basis. This involves the authors seeking to augment the existing youth work ‘canon’ with some key concepts from criminological thought, primarily around the study of desistance and masculinities. The authors seek to locate the criminological subject within a social context, whilst taking psychodynamic ideas of the “defended self” seriously, and existential philosophy which serves to foreground notions of self, choice and meaning within considerations of violent behaviour and desistance. These are then linked to what the authors see as 4 possible levels of meaningful response: personal/psychological, community/cultural, structural/symbolic and existential.

Responding at the personal (P) level

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Seal ◽  
Pete Harris
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Young People ◽  
Youth Violence ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Young Person ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
The Face ◽  
Generative Phase

This chapter outlines how workers can respond on a personal, individual level to youth violence. The authors illustrate how the unpredictable nature of the physical and social space in which youth workers operate requires them to capitalise on and privilege spontaneous encounters and not be afraid to use them to begin to challenge or constructively confront violent behaviour. The authors show how these behaviours are meeting deep needs and that youth workers need to find ways to get young people to understand and acknowledge that, and identify how they may be able to meet these needs in other, less destructive, ways. Part of this process may involve presenting oneself as a blueprint for change, in the context of a relationship that needs to be characterised by warmth, trust and respect, but which should not collude with neutralisation of violence or abandon the young person in the face of structural forces. The authors argue that supporting young people to move into voluntary and paid roles where they can help and support others creates the opportunity for them to move into a generative phase of their own life cycle.

Rethinking some youth worker ‘tales’

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Seal ◽  
Pete Harris
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Youth Work ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Violent Behaviour ◽  
Youth Worker ◽  
Conceptual Clarity

This chapter begins by challenging workers to critically interrogate what the authors see as archetypal youth work ‘tales’. The authors highlight how some youth workers can over-privilege and idealise their own relationships with young people and need to be wary of over-identifying with them to such an extent that challenging their violent behaviour falls off the agenda. They also argue that youth workers need to develop greater conceptual clarity, especially around notions of respect and trust. With the former, for example, workers may need to make distinctions between earned, intrinsic respect, and respect that is based around fear. The chapter explores how workers might encourage young people to reflect on self-respect and how status is constructed in their community and culture, working on alternative attainable and sustainable ways to develop it. The authors then cast a critical eye over the relationships between youth workers and professionals from other agencies, arguing that youth workers should not develop a crab mentality towards these agencies but rather seek to present the distinctive, but not unique, contribution they can make.

Informal Sex Education by Youth Practitioners

Young ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 485-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maya Lavie-Ajayi
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Unique Nature ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Unique Potential

Youth practitioners are commonly acknowledged to play an important role in supporting the sexual health of young people. However, there is relatively little literature that documents, conceptualizes and theorizes the unique nature and potential of informal sex education provided by youth practitioners such as social workers and youth workers. Using the theoretical framework of critical pedagogy, this article seeks to conceptualize informal sex education practices by youth practitioners, from the practitioner’s point of view. Eight semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with youth practitioners, working in a variety of programmes and provisions for young people across Israel. The data were thematically analysed. The analysis identified three key concepts, drawn from critical pedagogy, which underscore the unique potential of informal sex education by youth practitioners: dialogue, the language of possibility and language of critique.

Responding at the structural (S) level

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Seal ◽  
Pete Harris
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Critical Theory ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Structural Violence ◽  
Symbolic Violence ◽  
Youth Workers ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Violent Relationship ◽  
The Eu

This chapter uses critical theory to explore how youth workers need to consciously seek to avoid collusion with structural violence. The authors’ data suggests that many young people across the EU feel they are, in effect, situated within a violent relationship with the state and the police. There is strong evidence that large numbers of young people are being caught up in anti-crime measures that penalise them in terms of their freedom to gather in public spaces, irrespective of their involvement in crime or violence. The authors show how this is resulting in a deepening of young people’s sense of exclusion from the rest of society. The authors argue that youth workers should be facilitated within managerial structures to challenge this structural and symbolic violence, and they provide some theoretical concepts, such as sousveillance, to equip youth workers with some tools to do so.

Social context, perceived norms and drinking behavior in young people

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 257-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis L. Thombs ◽  
Bette Jean Wolcott ◽  
Lauren G.E. Farkash
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Young People ◽  
Drinking Behavior ◽  
Perceived Norms

Education through and to love - Sexuality as a source of conflict in German pastoral care of youth and the possibilities of practice in sex education

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-103
Author(s):  
Stefan Gärtner
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Young People ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Sex Education ◽  
Life Situation ◽  
Positive Potential ◽  
Children And Young People ◽  
The Past

The climate in German Catholic pastoral care of youth with regards to sex education is in a sorry plight. This is due to the fact that the conflicts of the past are still very much alive. At the same time, however, there is a positive potential for development in this field of pastoral care of youth. This is especially significant, because friendship and sexuality are such important themes for children and young people. Indeed, pastoral care of youth will have to take into account their special life situation and the changed social context. Individualised, postmodern society offers a large number of sexual options. Against this background, we will end by outlining some fundamental perspectives for sex educational concepts in pastoral care of youth, in which teaching them to love and the ability to form relationships is central.

Key Concepts in Social Pedagogy — or How to See Everyday Life in Children's Residential Homes From a Social Pedagogical Perspective

2011 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 214-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sylvia Holthoff ◽  
Lotte Junker Harbo
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Zone Of Proximal Development ◽  
Zone Model ◽  
Proximal Development ◽  
Joint Activity ◽  
Residential Homes ◽  
Social Pedagogy ◽  
Key Concepts ◽  
Paper Work ◽  
The Common

“Now I can actually play soccer with the young people without fearing that my colleagues think I am escaping the paper work.”These were the words from a participant in a social pedagogy training course in England a few years ago. This understanding emerged through in-depth discussions and activities around key social pedagogical concepts, such as the ‘common third’, the ‘3Ps’, the ‘zone of proximal development’ and the ‘learning zone model’. In this article we will explore how a joint activity, for example, playing soccer, can be seen as a pedagogical activity and with what intentions it is undertaken to make it pedagogically purposeful.

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