The Community Context of Child and Youth Care Practice

Abstract

SUMMARY Child and youth care practice unfolds within the context of the community. It is therefore essential that practitioners develop reflective skills not only in relation to their clients and the organizational context in which they are employed, but also in relation to their presence within a community and the community's perception of the practitioner's presence. The role of community within child and youth care practice is explored in relation to the professional issues that can arise for practitioners. It is argued that practitioners both use and contribute to the communities in which they work and that, therefore, an active engagement with communities will require the practitioner to be aware of the implications of their presence with respect to culture, power and community conventions. Finally, the possibility of expanding the role of the practitioner to incorporate community capacity building is also explored. Child and youth care practice is ideally situated to contribute proactively to community capacity as in most communities, capacity issues are very much related to living with children and youth.