The following is an excerpt from my opening chapter in Journeying Together. Growing youth work and youth workers in local communities. The book is a 144 page collection of writings looking at the practical issues effecting locally-based youth work. Although it is based around the experiences of The Rank Foundation, it will be of great interest to anyone working with local youth projects and agencies.

You can order a copy from Amazon here.

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Local Youth Work (Part 2)

1. There is a focus on young people
Given the term – ‘youth work’ – it should come as no surprise that it is concerned with young people! But the title does beg a more important question: why has work with young people developed as a specialist activity?

According to Savage (2007), young people view their experiences as being different to other age groups; they also seek out each other’s company. We know both from personal experience and biological study that the period of adolescence and puberty is a unique time of change and transition for a young person, where they start to test and form their own sense of identity (first proposed by Erikson, 1995:211). Due to these internal changes and the way in which they view themselves, young people can perceive the world differently to those of other ages. This is a distinctive feature of youth work; to provide a suitable response to those experiences.

Youth work aims to respond creatively to the needs of young people in a way that is appropriate and relevant to them.

“We recently started up a girls’ group, in response to what the young people were telling us. There are a lot of boys’ activities locally, but there was nowhere for girls to come and talk about the issues affecting them. Now they have that space and we’re busy getting to know them all and supporting them with their concerns.”

The challenge of working with youth, therefore, requires workers to understand and respond to the particular needs and experiences of this age group (Jeffs 2001: 156). However, the term ‘youth’ itself can be very difficult to define. Different agencies have differing criteria to define who they will – or will not – work with.

In addition, evidence suggests that adolescence is lengthening, due to rapid ‘changes in technology, economics, culture, politics, demographics, the environment, and education’ (Lloyd 2005: 17). This is leading to a widening in the definition of those classed as ‘youth’. Regardless of individual definitions, there is underlying agreement that a transitional period of ‘youth’ remains distinctive.

2. Young people choose to be involved
Youth work is not an enforced activity; it is about working with young people on their own terms. Young people do not have to go to a youth activity, they can decide whether or not they would like to join in. This idea of voluntary participation distinguishes youth work from other disciplines (Jeffs 2001: 156).

Another aspect that makes youth work, as we define it, distinct is that it allows young people the freedom to choose when and where they want to engage in activities and relationships with youth workers. Surprisingly, most other activities for or with young people are compulsory. Whether it is school, probation services or targeted projects, young people are required by law, or coerced by adults, to participate.

The ultimate control of a youth work activity is with the young people. An individual may decide to attend a youth club for a day, a week or a number of years – it is down to them. Voluntary participation also allows young people to be able to choose when they want to end these relationships or disengage from activities – they can vote with their feet! This can be problematic for workers, as there can be no certainty over the length of time young people might be involved. Instead, a worker must rely on their skills to engage young people and keep them interested in participating.

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Part 3 will be published next week. Click here for the full series of posts.