Discuss: Youth workers – Agents of Social Change or Social Control?
In this assignment I will examine the Question; Are youth workers agents of social change or agents of social control? I will provide a brief explanation on social change and social control, using quotes and information from various books, journals, class notes and theorists. I will provide a brief understanding and definition on the context of youth work and will argue my points based on four key policy reports, The Albemarle Report, The Milson report, The Thompson report and finally the current policy Priorities for youth report. I will make specific reference to each report and highlight whether these reports show youth workers to be agents of social change or social control.
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The Youth Work Act describes it as ‘A planned program of education designed for the purpose of aiding and enhancing the personal and social development of young people through their voluntary involvement, and which is complementary to their formal, academic or vocational education and training and provided primarily by voluntary youth work organizations’(Youth Work Act 2001). This would suggest that youth works purpose is educational, to complement academic formal educational institutions. Whereas Life Long Learnings article ‘The benefits of youth work’ argues that ‘Youth work is neither social care nor formal teaching. It is an intervention that combines elements of both in the context of creating learning and supportive opportunities for young people’ (2010), which I believe talks about supporting young people to reach their full potential through intervention and providing opportunities for them to develop personally and …show more content…
If you were involved in youth fellowship (YF) then it is very much about social control, we are educating young people on the bible and Christian beliefs and many youth ministry workers don’t leave room for that to be challenged, there is a motive behind it and aims that we want to meet.” (Youth work practitioner one:2014)
This made me think about how the values of the youth worker impacts hugely on whether they are agents of social change or control. I know that in YF young people voluntary sign up to learn about Christianity and explore their faith, but I never thought about how some of my colleagues don’t allow young people to ask challenging questions. This in fact prevents young people holding their own opinions and beliefs and the youth worker forces them to conform to a particular way of thinking rather than giving the young people choice.
I asked the same question to a Youth work practitioner who works for a statutory center and their reply was: “I feel like as youth workers we should aim towards social change, but realistically we are more controlling than we think. Think about the programs we run in the center, we hold sign up days for young people to put their name down for a group they want to join. We don’t think about young people’s needs until we build relationships with them on these programs.”(Youth work practitioner two:
The "youth control complex" is one of the concepts presented by the author to analyze young people 's lives. As mentioned in the book, it is "a ubiquitous system if criminalization molded by the synchronized, systematic punishment meted out by socializing and social control institutions"(p.40). It is a person 's normal daily behavior become ubiquitously treated as deviant or even criminal behaviors. For example, schools in Oakland often treat problem students as potential criminals, and some staffs and teachers act as prison guards telling students they are will never be amount to anything and threaten to call the police for misbehaviors which should be dealt with on campus. Many young men are often called a thug and frisked by police. It damages the mind and future prospects of them. They feel outcast and just want to be acknowledged
As a result of the new changes, the teenagers had more freedom than before and also had more time to spend with their colleagues. This situation resulted in antagonism between them and their parents. The teenagers were then branded “juvenile delinquents” (Sagolla 163) by the media as a result of the trouble they took their parents through.
In all the analysis, the youth justice policy analyst has to judge the use of specific words and their interpretations conveyed and the interpretations captured by society and formalise a method which in all way tries to curb the spread of wrong interpretation. Moral panic, demonization, and politicisation are of invaluable use for the youth policy analyst as the interpretations of these words makes most of the difference in the way juvenile crime is viewed and accepted by society at large.
It is currently increasing in incidence at an alarming rate. Unemployment among young people is increasing predominantly as a result of youth receiving inadequate preparation for the job market and a largely ignored discrimination against youth in the job market. In order to minimize levels of youth unemployment, the education system and current workforce practices need to be analyzed and modified. The education system should be modified so that its degrees and more in line with jobs that are actually available and offer more job experience opportunities. The workforce practices should be modified so that discrimination against youth is minimized as much as possible. This can be achieved through invoking a higher rate of jobs awarded through meritocracy and reducing the amount of informal hiring. It is only after the integration of many of these concepts that youth unemployment levels will decrease. This will be a step towards a world with less inequality and unemployment, a step towards a better
2011). Some research suggests that the recent prevalence of targeted youth work is further stigmatizing the young people involved (Scanlon et al 2011; Jenkinson 2013). It is the role of the youth worker to challenge these negative agreements, to help young people find their truth. Rogers (1980) and Ruiz (2012) describe a process where a person, e.g. youth worker, values the significance and worth of another person. Through this acceptance the young person will begin to adopt a similar attitude and they will experience a rise in self-worth. Thus, they create a new agreement, that they are worthy of being valued and cared for.
I aspire to become Social Worker, working primarily with youth offenders. After visiting the Youth Justice Board website for more information, I was particularly impressed with the programmes set up to guide young people from deprived and anti-social areas. The Youth Inclusion Programme (YIP), for example, aims to provided young people with the opportunity to gain new skills as well as education and career gu...
I believe young people must be seen as full-fledged citizens of our world. Youth empowerment, the act of bringing out natural talents and energies in youth, is effective. Youth should be provided the supports and opportunities that enable them to increase individual self-worth and skills and have significant impact on services to communities, states, and the nation. Youth should be active participants on decisions affecting their lives, including their living situations. Further, the involvement of young people in the planning and implementation of services and in mobilizing community support for programs that affect their lives, and those of their families, is essential to their individual development and the success of the programs working with
Work-based learning (WBL) as a method for learning is playing an increasing role in professional development and lifelong learning. There are lots of publications/articles available on Work-Based Learning, but the definitions and implementations vary from place to place. A Glass, K Higgins and A McGregor say that ‘Work based learning is any training that relates directly to the requirements of the jobs on offer in your organization’. This is one of the examples of WBL in the form of training. Work-based Learning is used as a terms in USA, for programs for school children to obtain experience from work (“Work-based Learning Guide 2002”). According to (Kathleen A. Paris and Sarah A. Mason) it gives a chance to young people to be prepared for the changeover from school to work and, to learn the realities of work and be prepared to make the right choice of work. In Europe (particularly in England, Scotland, Ireland) and in Australia available commendation is more focused on on-the-job preparation and on academic learning linked to work situations, Degree programs and negotiated learning programs.
Youth are likely to feel an increased sense of self-esteem, empowerment, and knowledge. Youth who partake in engagement activities can also have improved social development, strengthened practical skills, and a greater sense of social values (Checkoway et al., 2005). On the other hand, municipalities can be exposed to a wide variety of ideas and perspectives in which they may not have encountered before (Blanchet-Cohen et al., 2014). These ideas and perspectives can support policies and programs which are inclusive of the youth voice and have a positive influence in the community (Blanchet-Cohen,
...qualifications. The work placements are run on a voluntary basis and travel and childcare costs are covered. These polices along with others have been put in place by the Youth Contract which was drawn up by The House of Commons; in theory it will ensure youth have access to all available resources to help them gain employment or a place in education (Mizra-Davies, 2103).
Youth of today are taking longer to complete the transition into adulthood compared to youth of twenty-five years ago. Changes in education and the benefit system may be responsible for the altered state of transition in current youth (Keep, 2011) which is an assumption that will be explored. In regards to this; this essay will cover youth transition and will look at how the restructuring of polices and legislations have affected youths transition in to adulthood. Furthermore the manner in which political ideologies and perspectives have altered factors such as education, employment, housing and benefits will be examined. Once a full explanation has been provided; the fundamental question that needs to be answered is; are the teenagers of today embattled or empowered?
I still remember the look on his face when I told him what happened. He had been in the crime investigation field for years. He was the greatest detective the police force had ever seen. H e had seen things that would scar most people for life and yet he hadn't been bothered at all. But this particular event was different because the victim, was his daughter.
The Youth Work profession has recognised that (in certain quarters) it has had a difficult task in persuading others that it should be recognised as a free standing profession. It has attempted to replicate supervisory support structures commensurate with similar associated professions, irrespective of the difference in the nature of the relationship developed with service users, that is, being specifically based upon voluntary association and trust. However, the failure to recognise Youth Work as a professionl often comes from within. Tash (1967) concludes that youth workers are struggling for recognition as professionals because they are not sure what a professional youth leader shoud be or do and often become frustrated or confused, particularly over an understanding of what action is acceptable in the supervision process. Supervision is not merely a time set aside for manager and supervisee to meet and talk, it framework which incorporates a range of methods which reflects the ethos and values which underpin the profession
Students need adults/youth leaders who will show them “how” to engage in the basic spiritual disciplines like prayer, meditation, fasting, and study. If we want our young people to spread the good news, I believe we must make sure they know it themselves. Relationships are the key to reaching young adults. The importance of small groups - whether off-site home groups or on-site Sunday School classes - in reaching and keeping young adults.
The work of a social worker is complex and all encompassing. Social workers work in many capacities seeking justice, liberation, and equality. There work is global, as they work to put policies in place to govern practices. To keep up with societal shifts and generational changes there learning is continuous. As new questions rise so does the need for the continuation of research, not only to answer these questions but to implement into