No. 114 MAY 2015

ISSN 2057-4266 YOUTH &POLICY No. 114 MAY 2015 PRE-ELECTION ISSUE Youth Policy: Future Prospects? Young People and Housing: A Review of the Present Policy and Practice Landscape Young people, health and youth policy Youth Crime and Youth Justice 2015–2020 Youth Work Austerity youth policy: exploring the distinctions between youth work in principle and youth work in practice Innovation and Youth Work Youth Work: A Manifesto For Our Times – Revisited Thinking Space: The Fortified College Reviews Editorial Group Paula Connaughton, Ruth Gilchrist, Tracey Hodgson, Tony Jeffs, Mark Smith, Jean Spence, Naomi Stanton, Tania de St Croix, Aniela Wenham, Tom Wylie. Associate Editors Priscilla Alderson, Institute of Education, London Sally Baker, The Open University Simon Bradford, Brunel University Judith Bessant, RMIT University, Australia Lesley Buckland, YMCA George Williams College Bob Coles, University of York John Holmes, Newman College, Birmingham Sue Mansfield, University of Dundee Gill Millar, South West Regional Youth Work Adviser Susan Morgan, University of Ulster Jon Ord, University College of St Mark and St John Jenny Pearce, University of Bedfordshire John Pitts, University of Bedfordshire Keith Popple, London South Bank University John Rose, Consultant Kalbir Shukra, Goldsmiths University Tony Taylor, IDYW Joyce Walker, University of Minnesota, USA Anna Whalen, Freelance Consultant Published by Youth & Policy, ‘Burnbrae’, Black Lane, Blaydon Burn, Blaydon on Tyne NE21 6DX. www.youthandpolicy.org Copyright: Youth & Policy The views expressed in the journal remain those of the authors and not necessarily those of the editorial group. Whilst every effort is made to check factual information, the Editorial Group is not responsible for errors in the material published in the journal. ii Youth & Policy No. 114 May 2015 About Youth & Policy Youth & Policy Journal was founded in 1982 to offer a critical space for the discussion of youth policy and youth work theory and practice. The editorial group have subsequently expanded activities to include the organisation of related conferences, research and book publication. Regular activities include the bi- annual ‘History of Community and Youth Work’ and the ‘Thinking Seriously’ conferences. The Youth & Policy editorial group works in partnership with a range of local and national voluntary and statutory organisations who have complementary purposes. These have included UK Youth, YMCA, Muslim Youth Council and Durham University. All members of the Youth & Policy editorial group are involved in education, professional practice and research in the field of informal education, community work and youth work. The journal is run on a not-for-profit basis. Editors and Associate Editors all work in a voluntary and unpaid capacity. iii Youth & Policy No. 114 May 2015 ISSN 2057-4266 YOUTH &POLICY Contents No. 114 MAY 2015 PRE-ELECTION ISSUE Youth Policy: Future Prospects? Young People and Housing: A Review of the Present Policy and Practice Landscape Young people, health and youth policy Youth Crime and Youth Justice 2015–2020 Youth Work Austerity youth policy: exploring the distinctions between youth work in principle and youth work in practice Innovation and Youth Work Youth Work: A Manifesto For Our Times – Revisited Thinking Space: The Fortiﬁ ed College Reviews Youth Policy: Future Prospects? Aniela Wenham 1 ➤ Young People and Housing: A Review of the Present Policy and Practice Landscape Julie Rugg and Deborah Quilgars 5 ➤ Young people, health and youth policy John Coleman and Ann Hagell 17 ➤ Youth Crime and Youth Justice 2015–2020 John Pitts 31 ➤ Youth Work Tom Wylie 43 ➤ Austerity youth policy: exploring the distinctions between youth work in principle and youth work in practice Will Mason 55 ➤ Innovation and Youth Work Tony Jeffs 75 ➤ Youth Work: A Manifesto For Our Times – Revisited Bernard Davies 96 ➤ Thinking Space: The Fortified College Brian Belton 118 ➤ Reviews 126 ➤ iv Youth & Policy No. 114 May 2015 Contributors Brian Belton is senior lecturer at YMCA George Williams College, London. John Coleman is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. Bernard Davies, a qualified youth worker, has been a tutor on qualifying youth and community work courses and is now active in the In Defence of Youth Work campaign (http://indefenceofyouthwork.com/) and with the National Coalition for Independent Action (http://www.independentaction.net/). Ann Hagell is a Chartered Psychologist and Research Lead at the Association for Young People’s Health. Tony Jeffs is a member of the Youth & Policy Editorial Group and teaches at Durham University. Will Mason is a University Teaching Associate in the Department of Sociological Studies at the University of Sheffield. He has also been involved in the delivery and organisation of youth work for five years. John Pitts is Vauxhall professor of criminology at the University of Bedfordshire. Deborah Quilgars is a senior research fellow in the Centre for Housing Policy, University of York. Julie Rugg is a senior research fellow in the Centre for Housing Policy, University of York. Aniela Wenham is a member of the Youth & Policy Editorial Group and teaches in the University of York. Tom Wylie served as one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of education from 1979 – 1996 and as chief executive of The National Youth Agency from 1996 – 2007. v Youth & Policy No. 114 May 2015 © Youth & Policy, 2015 Youth & Policy Special Edition: The Next Five Years: Prospects for young people Youth Policy: Future Prospects? Aniela Wenham OVER THE LAST thirty years scholars have drawn attention to how young people’s lives have become more complicated, fragmented and difficult to navigate (Furlong and Cartmel, 1997). While youth transitions are now recognised as non-linear and more complex, policy has predominantly focused upon transitions that are deemed problematic as a result of their association with ‘poor’ welfare outcomes (teenage pregnancy, NEET, homelessness). However, since the 2007- 2008 financial crash and subsequent austerity measures, debates surrounding youth transitions have gained renewed prominence resulting in some commentators talking of a ‘lost generation’. Research exploring indicators of economic inequality in the UK since the financial crash show how young people have been hit particularly hard. Between 2007-2013 the most striking change is the deteriorating economic position of young people (Hills et al, 2015). It is well established that social inequalities shape young people’s choices and opportunities. Poignantly, the choices and opportunities available to young people are predominantly interpreted as a lack of aspiration rather than the wider structural determinants that provide a backdrop to their lives. Economic and social policies entrench disadvantage. While concerns surrounding young people’s labour market transitions have tended to focus upon youth unemployment, growing concerns have also been voiced with regards to the impact of underemployment. Commentators such as Shildrick and colleagues draw upon longitudinal biographical data to illustrate how young working class youth transitions often involve long-term churning between precarious, low quality jobs and unemployment (Shildrick et al, 2012). Within the current climate of austerity and the decimation of youth services, young people are left with limited opportunities and little support to forge and navigate increasingly complex, and for some, increasingly marginal transitions to adulthood. What provision does exists often perpetuates the discourse that the lack of opportunity is one of individual responsibility and deals with them punitively as opposed to supportively. Within this context, social policy can also be criticized for focusing upon young people in deficit terms – concentrating on them as a problematic group with particular issues that need to be targeted and addressed through professional intervention. It is rare that the voices of young people come to the forefront of political and media commentary. When combined with a toxic public discourse that vilifies the most marginalised young people in society there is little indication of a more supportive and compassionate approach towards the most vulnerable. 1 Youth & Policy No. 114 May 2015 YOUTH POLICY: FUTURE PROSPECTS? This special issue seeks to stimulate a more comprehensive debate surrounding youth policy with a particular emphasis upon ‘working with young people’ via a youth work approach. (See Wylie, Mason, Jeffs, and Davies). However, by encompassing a closer examination of the key policy areas of housing, health and crime we are able to take the initial steps towards forging a broader ‘vision’ for youth policy. The articles highlight the need to reflect upon the multiplicity of issues that impact upon young people’s lives and how these issues often interlink and overlap with one another. It is clear from the discussions in this issue of the journal that the complexities of young people’s lives require a holistic and integrative approach in response (Coles, 2000).The examples of housing, health, and crime illustrate how the policies and practices of major welfare institutions continue to influence and shape young people’s transitions. Social inequalities are built into these welfare and control systems – and an investigation into how these institutions serve to reproduce inequalities needs further analysis and discussion. Rugg and Quilgars article focuses upon young people’s housing biographies. They illustrate how housing

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