Local Youth Workers Research Articles

An Intersectional Analysis of Child and Adolescent Inclusion in Local Participation Processes

Educational and social initiatives promoting participation among children and adolescents struggle with the widely‐held notion that non‐adult stages of life are merely transitory and that, therefore, non‐adults’ views on public life are of less value. Apart from this hurdle of adult‐centrism, there are other obstacles to the full participation of this segment of the population. The present study analyses the inbuilt structures that help or hinder children and adolescents’ participation in the local arena. Being ascribed to one or other of the social categories (gender, origins, racialisation, economic status, functional diversity, physical and mental health, gender identity), in addition to being a child or adolescent, involves a further difficulty in exercising one’s rights in general and the right of participation in particular, and this weakens young people’s social inclusion and exercise of citizenship, deepening their social vulnerability. This is where the intersectional approach can help us avoid the exclusion of children and adolescents with added social barriers. In this article, we survey 191 local youth workers to determine their perceptions of inclusivity in child participation bodies in their municipality. The specific measures in place are also discussed. Lastly, we identify the challenges to children’s inclusion in local participation processes and some strategies for advancing towards the creation of more diverse and inclusive arenas of participation.

The Circulation of Youth Policies and Adaptation of Youth Work Practices Organised by Young People at Local Level in France

Abstract This article is focused on two local participation initiatives in North America and Europe. The Youth Services Cooperatives, summer organizations created by teenagers in Quebec, have been adopted in France since 2013, with the support of local institutions responsible for organising youth policies in the Brittany region (France). The other initiative, youth dialogue exchanges organised by young people, was established in Italy, the United Kingdom, and France. This European scheme aimed to create new ways of thinking about cultural policies for young people at local level. Conceptually, this work is based on actor-network theory (Akrich, Callon, and Latour, 2006) and the transnationalisation of public policies (Hassenteufel, 2005) applied to youth policies (Loncle, 2011), with a view to understanding how organisations working across different countries adapt certain international initiatives between different local contexts. The research is based on fieldwork. Interviews were conducted with young people, youth workers, and decision makers in France and Quebec. In Italy and in the UK, informal discussions and interviews with decision makers were carried out, and observations were made during activities led by young people. The analysis demonstrates that the circulation of participation initiatives is strongly dependent on the original context, especially with regard to the organisation of youth policies. Some characteristics of the initiative, for example the model of community organisation, are difficult to transfer to a country where public policies are centred around public institutions. Because of the absence of international actors who would be able to facilitate links between the organizations involved in these projects, local youth workers have taken on the role of international mediators between the original project and the new initiative in the destination context. These experiences are of interest for understanding how young people can have a fundamental role in implementing new participation initiatives, and have an impact on the definition and implementation of youth policies.

Participation of Local Youth Workers in Construction Industry and Strategies for Improvement: A Study in Kelantan and Terengganu

Participation of Local Youth Workers in Construction Industry and Strategies for Improvement: A Study in Kelantan and Terengganu

Subjectivity in detection of radicalisation and violent extremism: a youth worker's perspective

ABSTRACTThis article explores the challenges local youth workers face at the intersection of providing social care and detecting violent extremism. Extremism and other radical ideologies are often assumed to be a harbinger of terrorism. Even though both are still a rare phenomenon among adolescents, European states have become highly concerned with being alert to early signs of radicalisation processes. As a result, youth workers as well as other local professionals have been confronted with the task of detecting these early signs. However, despite training and increased knowledge, the question remains whether youth workers are sufficiently equipped to assess potential risks in youth who show no concrete plans for criminal action. In these cases, prevention targets ideas rather than violent behaviour. This article details qualitative results of a case study among Dutch youth workers and suggests that no clear framework exists for detection of radicalisation processes into (violent) extremism. This has two main causes. Firstly, the concepts of radicalisation and (violent) extremism are in practice difficult to distinguish. Secondly, the youth worker's judgement often relies more on individual perceptions rather than evidence-based criteria to identify potential ‘risky’ persons. This situation may lead to undesired side effects such as executive arbitrariness, prejudice or stigmatisation.

A fairytale narrative for community sport? Exploring the politics of sport social enterprise

ABSTRACTWith voluntary sports clubs operating within competitive leisure markets and local governments responding to austerity by transferring sport facilities to community groups, such organisations are encouraged to become social enterprises. Driven by social entrepreneurs embracing ‘Robin Hood’ business models, they apparently deliver innovative solutions to social problems. Such fairytale narratives are increasingly popular in Scotland with its reputation as a ‘happening place’ for social policy innovation. Using case study material from an award-winning football social enterprise, I outline how time spent in their deprived community establishing needs and ownership aided success. Also, recruiting local youth workers, developing authentic partnerships, and creating a non-judgemental environment delivered a positive ‘ripple effect’ beyond that possible from class-blind sport provision. However, ‘win win’ rhetoric ignores stresses from meeting financial requirements and moral dilemmas from trade-offs between social and business goals. The organisation’s ‘non-establishment’ nature is partially undermined by emphasising local poverty of aspiration and the psychological thinking within Dweck’s ‘Growth Mindset’ and Duckworth’s ‘Grit’ research. The resulting focus on individual effort and learning from failure chimes with neoliberal thinking, ignoring how widening societal inequality and politics causes local problems and the need for structural changes for wider social impact.

PUSH AND PULL FACTORS OF SUBURBAN LOCAL YOUTH TOWARDS CAREER IN OIL PALM PLANTATION

The rapid expansion of oil palm plantation in Malaysia in 1990, 2.03 million hectares to 5.39 million hectares in 2014 (Malaysia Palm Oil Board 2015) caused required high labour intensive in this sector. More than 78 % of labor (Azman 2014) in this sectors mainly came from Indonesia, Bangladesh and Philippines. Malaysia has become the main attention for the foreign labours to work in this country due to the wages more competitive and generative working condition especially the plantation sector provide the conducive accommodation compared to their origin country. The pressing issue now is the rising social issues of the illegal foreign workers and influx of the foreign workers without work permit. One of the best solutions is hire the local youth to works in oil palm plantation. The main problem is compounded by the fact that it is difficult to hire the local youth workers due to the migration of local youth from government settlers scheme oil palm plantation located in the sub urban area. As a result this scheme area dominated with foreign labour. This study which was conducted in the State of Johore wants to find the push and pull factors\towards the career in oil palm plantation which involved the repulsion, inclination and attraction based on their perceptions .A survey method through questionnaire was used to collect data from 278 of local youth between 16 years to 40 years old as focused respondents which were selected using random sampling method. Descriptive analysis was applied based on their demographic factors and the involvement of the local youth in oil palm plantation. Keywords : Career in Oil Palm, Perceptions, Push and Pull Factors, Suburban Local Youth,

Coping with Tragedy, Reacting to an Event

This article analyzes the unexpected nature and the consequences of the school shooting in Jokela, Finland in 2007. The study is based on interviews with professionals who participated in the relief efforts after the shooting incident. The analysis focuses on the role of the local youth workers during the days following the crisis. Reactions to the shootings and the consequences of the incident in the local community of Jokela are also considered. The philosophical concept of the event is used to highlight the suddenness of the school shooting incident, likewise its transformative character and its power to reshape public space. The results show that the efforts of the youth workers considerably helped the young in Jokela to cope with the immediate shock and changes in the community life after the shooting.

Planting the Seeds for Change: A Case Study from York University’s Knowledge Mobilization Graduate Student Internship Program

This practice-based article describes the academic and non-academic outputs and outcomes of community-academic research collaboration. The collaboration began with a university-sponsored knowledge mobilization internship. A doctoral student spent four months as a knowledge mobilization intern with a youth shelter. With additional funding, the internship evolved into a multi-year collaboration that positively influenced employment opportunities for local youth workers, the shelter’s economic stability and reputation in the local community, young people’s sustained transitions out of the shelter, and academic growth and development on the part of the doctoral student.

P6.033 Planning, Implementing and Managing Key Aspects of an Australian State Sexually Transmitted Infections Programme

BackgroundNew South Wales (NSW), Australia developed its first STI Strategy in 2006. Strategic goals were to reduce the transmission and morbidity of STIs; increase use of condoms with casual sexual...

Local Youth Work as Subpolitics of Multiculturalism: Professional Educators Constructing New Rationales in Eastern Finland?

AbstractThis article examines how the notion of multiculturalism is defined at the level of Finnish youth work. Local youth work is examined as a subpolitical arena in a rapidly changing and culturally diversifying society where answers by public institutions are not available. The essential objective of this article is to unravel the rationales of multicultural subpolitics and examine which policies these rationales enable. The data of the study consists of ethnographic observations of and interviews with youth workers in eastern Finland. The results of the study indicate that the subpolitics of multiculturalism are implemented through strategies of rationalisation and governance of minority populations rather than by recognising national and cultural ambivalences. The thesis is that such (sub)politics may reinforce the risk of cultural and ethnic demarcations among young people.

Young People and the ‘Right’ to the City

Cities are increasingly controlled and domesticated (Atkinson 2003, Raco 2003) as a result of the gentrification of the city and symptom of what Smith (1996) terms the ‘revanchist city’. Given the current moral panic in the UK around young people and anti-social behaviour, large groups of teenagers are not part of plans for the regenerating city. This paper will examine young people’s experience of urban public space and the exclusions (Sibley 1995) they encounter there. This will be achieved via secondary analysis of questionnaire data collected by young people themselves. Mitchell (2003) argues that certain groups have the ‘right to the city’ and as such are seen as legitimate users of urban spaces. Other groups are perceived as having less legitimacy in public space and are therefore viewed as problematic. Whilst Mitchell (2003) focuses on homeless populations this study will concentrate on another group marginalised from the city, namely teenagers. How teenagers gain legitimacy in the city is an important question here. This will be illustrated by using a case study of Cathedral Gardens, a newly regenerated public space in Manchester city centre, UK. As a solution to the ‘problem’ of large numbers of young people gathering in the gardens at weekends and during school holidays and with the threat of a citywide dispersal order aimed at groups of teenagers, local youth workers and a charity group set up a peer youth work scheme. This involves groups of young people being advised and in effect ‘policed’ by their peers. Using data gathered from interviews with peer youth workers the paper will explore how these young people gained legitimacy in the space and ‘the right’ to be present there.