The emperor still has no clothes: Some realities about youth work interventions in the lives of 'vulnerable' young people in the 21st century

Abstract

There is enormous contemporary political and policy expectation and pressure on youth work to secure the 're-engagement' of young people already in, or at risk of, circumstances of social exclusion. That re-engagement is judged around issues such as 'citizenship' and 'employability', though - like youth work itself - those words have variable and flexible meanings and understandings. But even the very best of youth work practice neither has, nor is, a magic bullet. It is a professional process based on the establishment of trust and positive relationships with young people. It takes time, even more with young people who come from cultures of socio-economic disadvantage and who hold doubt and suspicion about the likely benefits of social interventions of any kind. Yet policy-making persists in asserting that youth work can provide a 'quick fix'. This paper is based on some of the more grounded realities that inform such interventions. It suggests that the political rhetoric attached to this kind of targeted youth work is based on mythical assumptions, irrelevant practice and unachievable targets. Drawing from a much-cited paper first published over a decade ago in relation to the political climate that then prevailed in the United Kingdom, this paper considers the challenges around connecting youth work to policy aspirations at the European level around social inclusion, the promotion of citizenship and labour market insertion.