Professional Youth Workers

Youth Work, Preparation for Practice--
Jason Wood, Sue Westwood & Gill Thompson
You can find the text here


In this text, the authors seek to define the purpose, roles, and characteristics of a professional youth worker. I think it is significant to note that defining this line of work can be difficult. This is because, a youth worker wears many different hats. I believe this is a advantage when working in this field, as the professional has an unlimited potential to apply their skills and expertise to a variety of purposes.
Everything from micro, to macro work, and usually many mediums in between. This is an a crucial element of the job, because youth are benefited in a multifaceted approach.

At its foundation youth work is a human service oriented type of work. How that service manifests itself, is diverse and dependent upon the context of each youth. Again, this is vital to effectiveness of the youth worker's contribution and effort. Being able to adapt the work that one does, in order to specifically cater to each individual, or community. There is no "one size fits all" method, and youth work recognizes that.

Education is certainly a core value of youth workers. This is mostly informal. While they may help by reinforcing academic content, they teach outside this arena, using methods of education surrounding social development. It seems the overall goal is empowerment. Educational empowerment and social empowerment of youth. I personally feel there is a large gap between what is learned through public education, and the skills youth need to function as a positive force in their own communities. You cannot put a price tag on something like this. Youth who feel empowered, are a priceless commodity.

Group Work, is believed to be the ideal environment for the youth worker. Research proves that human beings learn more when they learn together. The power of this is significant, especially among youth. Here is where you walk the delicate line between a trusted friend, and professional.

Social Justice can be viewed on a micro or macro level perspective. as mentioned above, individual empowerment of youth seeks to educate them about the society they live in. Such as, the distribution of power among communities, and the oppressed. Individual awareness of the political, social, and economic forces that are at play, will give youth the foundation necessary to become players in this game, mobilize and change their social surroundings. At the same time, I strongly believe that youth workers are advocates no matter what context you work in. Social  justice should be promoted, advocated, and fought for on the macro level. I think that is a nonnegotiable part of the job. By involving oneself in social policy, legislation, systems, and social movements, a youth worker is targeting the root issues of oppression and discrimination, from the top. This also paves the path for youth, as they look on to your example.

Young people getting involved, within the work of the professional or organization, is something I think needs to be encouraged more. First of all, volunteering their energy to a cause or project is admirable in itself. We need to focus on this, and make it more available. Communities will ONLY benefit from passionate young people, getting involved in youth work. It holds them accountable for social environment around them, while providing resources, guidance and support from a professional or organization. Talk about empowerment.

A great example of this: from a book of short stories......
"How to Change the World: Social entrepreneurship and the power of new ideas" by David Bornstein

 


Jeroo Billimoria started an organization in India, called Childline. A 24 hour hotline for children who are in distress (homeless, abused, orphaned etc.) Not only is she a brave, inspiring and successful woman, but she credits her success to the voluntary staff of her organization, which is completely run by street kids. Youth helping youth.
(You can find this book here)


The voice and influence of youth is something that cannot be swept under the rug. In my opinion this is one of the most important jobs of a youth worker. Working with youth who feel helpless and powerless in their own society, and equipping them with the skills to feel that they have a hand in what's going on around them, and if they don't like it, they understand and can execute effective avenues of change. *critical thinking skills

Framing the work professionals do as "problem solving" is problematic in itself. First, it tends to attach itself in a negative form to an individual or community, as having something wrong with them.
In the social work practice, this is brought to light by William Ryan's theory of "blaming the victim". It is unfortunately very prevalent still, and mostly happens to human service workers unintentionally and with good intention. Nonetheless it is toxic to the social development of any community. Youth workers are not seeking out problems to solve, in fact I don't think we can actually "solve" anything. We may guide, help, provide resources, expertise (etc.), but ultimately the individual helps themselves. We are merely a tool in that process, not the solution to the problems.

Labeling --this is one of my personal pet peeves. Referring to anyone by their struggle is disregarding them as human beings. Like, "teen mom" or "the autistic kid"--when you do this, you are automatically hyper focusing on the issue and not the person. That person is not defined by their struggle, there are many other things that make them who they are and so these references drive me absolutely nuts. Eliminating this type of vocabulary in youth work will help professionals to consider the individual in their entirety, in addition to outside forces. Holistic data gathering and observation is essential and will help guide the worker to maintain a holistic perspective of youth. You cannot look at one element of a person and disregard all the rest. There are an infinite amount of variables to consider when working with youth.

Other key elements from the text:

• The importance of a diverse skillset, using alternative methods
• Focusing on the promotion of critical thinking
• Self-awareness & identity > how this impacts the work you do
• Core values & ethics
• In depth context  knowledge of community you work within
• Ability to asses, plan, implement, evaluate your success
• Perspective: not merely providing a service, but helping build active participants/leaders