A History of Youth Work

youthwork.book Page 3 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM A century of youth work policy youthwork.book Page 4 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM youthwork.book Page 5 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM A century of youth work policy Filip COUSSÉE youthwork.book Page 6 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM © Academia Press Eekhout 2 9000 Gent Tel. 09/233 80 88 Fax 09/233 14 09 [email protected] www.academiapress.be J. Story-Scientia bvba Wetenschappelijke Boekhandel Sint-Kwintensberg 87 B-9000 Gent Tel. 09/225 57 57 Fax 09/233 14 09 [email protected] www.story.be Filip Coussée A century of youth work policy Gent, Academia Press, 2008, ### pp. Opmaak: proxess.be ISBN 978 90 382 #### # D/2008/4804/### NUR ### U #### Niets uit deze uitgave mag worden verveelvoudigd en/of vermenigvuldigd door middel van druk, fotokopie, microfilm of op welke andere wijze dan ook, zonder voorafgaande schriftelijke toestemming van de uitgever. youthwork.book Page 1 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM Table of Contents Chapter 1. The youth work paradox . 3 1.1. The identity crisis of youth work. 3 1.2. An international perspective . 8 1.3. A historical perspective. 13 1.4. An empirical perspective . 15 Chapter 2. That is youth work! . 17 2.1. New paths to social integration . 17 2.2. Emancipation of young people . 23 2.3. The youth movement becomes a youth work method. 28 2.4. Youth Movement incorporated by the Catholic Action. 37 2.5. From differentiated to inaccessible youth work . 46 Chapter 3. What is youth work? . 57 3.1. A new civilisation strategy through the youth movement . 57 3.2. The youth work paradox and the teabag strategy . 68 3.3. From youth work as a means to youth work as a goal . 79 3.4. From youth work to youth welfare policy . 85 3.5. An integrated two-track policy’. 90 3.6. Definitive recognition of Flemish youth work . 95 Chapter 4. Conclusion: Why youth work? . 103 4.1. From social and cultural work to youth work. 103 4.2. From accessibility to usefulness?. 109 Bibliografie . 117 [1] youthwork.book Page 2 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM youthwork.book Page 3 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM Chapter 1. The youth work paradox 1.1. The identity crisis of youth work Things are going well for Flemish youth work, as is underscored by the fig- ures: Flanders can boast a high number of youth work initiatives and a large number of adolescents are actually involved in youth work. Flanders has 1 youth work initiative per 250 inhabitants (Vannieuwenhove 2005). Youth work is reported to appeal to a great many young people: from one-third to a half depending on the age and region. When sports clubs and cultural associations are factored in, we see that only 6% of Flemish people in the 14-25 age category have never participated (Vanhoutte 2007: 176). Youth work receives glowing reports from both academia and the press. Youth work is universally beneficial: it enables children and young people to learn the social skills they need to act as active and autonomous citizens in what is becoming an increasingly intricate society. Researchers agree that youth work members are more likely to have democratic citizenship attitudes than none-youth work members (Smits 2004). The same applies to academic achievements, self-esteem, social skills, conflicts with parents, … Youth work: between efficiency and identity The key theme of the Flemish youth work policy is therefore ‘accessibility’. All children and young people are entitled to take part in youth work, which seems beneficial to both individuals and society, hence the so-called non- organised youth becomes the focus of youth work policy. All young people should participate in youth work. Therefore youth workers have to operate more effectively and reach out to more young people. There is less focus on what youth work entails exactly, which is quite curious. In the light of youth work’s positive results, it would seem only natural to investigate the processes applied towards this end. There is a suggestion however that what is primarily involved here is a selection-effect: it is not youth work that produces active, healthy, well achieving citizens, but active citizens that create youth work (Pelleriaux 2005, Fredricks & Eccles 2006, Quane & Rankin 2006). This avenue of enquiry inevitably raises the uncomfortable question of whether youth work has anything at all to contribute. What might be the ‘raison d’être’ of youth work? Indeed, what is youth work? So youth work seems doomed to drift between a crisis of effectiveness and a [3] youthwork.book Page 4 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM A CENTURY OF YOUTH WORK POLICY crisis of identity. These two different perspectives are alternately highlighted in the context of the youth work debate in Flanders. The fact that youth work is not accessible for all young people raises the question of whether this is a problem. Young people do indeed become adults without the influence of youth work, but this gives rise to another, more intimidating question: ‘Why do we still need youth work?’ Then the issue of youth work’s identity is easily circumvented by referring to the anticipated outcome: youth work makes a positive contribution to the socialisation of young people. In the light of this reassuring answer the focus is once more on enhancing the accessibility of youth work, because it is precisely those young people who benefit the most from the opportunities who are not participating (Smits 2004). The effectiveness issue is less daunting than the identity question and more manageable. A methodical differentiation takes place which enables us to boost the scope of youth work. We develop projects and experiments and establish readily accessible open working methods so managing to reach out to more young people. The interaction between both perspectives is the driving force behind the huge differentiation in youth work, but the central questions remain unresolved. As well as being faced with groups that are not reached (and become increasingly difficult to reach), we also see dividing lines being created between the various working methods. Voluntary youth work and professional youth social work The youth work debate is framed in fairly general terms even though youth work is not in the least a uniform activity. In the Flemish Region there are more than seven thousand youth work initiatives, with the best known ones being the uniformed youth organisations. In Flanders they are still referred to as ‘youth movements’. They are regarded as traditional types of youth work, in fact they are the standard for what genuine youth work should be. Apart from scouts and guides there are Chiro, Catholic Student Action (KSA – Katholieke Studentenactie), the Young Christian Workers (KAJ – Katholieke Arbei- dersjeugd), the Catholic Rural Youth (KLJ – Katholieke Landelijke Jeugd) and the Red Falcons (Rode Valken), to cite only a sample. Most of them are of Cath- olic origin, while a minority operate on the basis of Socialist, Flemish nation- alist or neutral principles. Many of these organisations have relinquished their political or religious allegiances and dispensed with their uniforms, but they continue to be recognisable groups in the street setting and the youth work sector. All together there are 2,665 Flemish youth movement groups, but these do not account for all the youth work initiatives in Flanders. The responsibility for defining youth work has been a local one since 1993, while the previous nation-wide definitions continue to serve as a frame of ref- [4] youthwork.book Page 5 Wednesday, May 7, 2008 2:43 PM THE YOUTH WORK PARADOX erence. In addition to the youth movement, we can list the following types of youth work: • Playground associations • Political youth associations • Youth centres or clubs • Youth amateur art associations • Youth workshops • Youth music workshops • Children’s farms • Youth cinemas • Student associations • Youth work for disabled children and young people • Initiatives for vulnerable/disadvantaged young people • Initiatives for working youth • Self-organising groups for young people from ethnic minorities This subdivision is not so cut-and-dried because solely in terms of names, they refer not only to various methods or themes, but also to different target groups. In the case of youth movements, there are, on the face of it, few prob- lems about defining the target group. They are’ broadly targeted’: they are focused on all young people. This generally applies to all the other types of work apart from the last five in the list. Consequently, they are often listed together under the title of ‘general youth work’. The methods used are not the same, while some working methods may have a specific programme, but they are focused on a general target group: youth. They also claim to be focused on the general personality development of young people. Another common fea- ture in this type of youth work is that they primarily rest on the responsibility of youth volunteers. The last five in the list are focused on a specific target group. The student movement is often regarded as the first true example of a youth movement, but student associations are not often associated with youth work nowadays. The activities acknowledged as Initiatives for Working Youth are regarded as youth work, but the bulk of their activities covers development in (part-time) education and vocational training. The remaining three groups are disabled people, ethnic minorities and socially vulnerable young people. Youth work focused on these specific target groups is often designated ‘specific youth work’.

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