Youth work
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In the United Kingdom youth work is the process of creating an environment where young people can engage in informal educational activities. Different varieties of youth work include centre-based work, detached work and school-based work.
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What is Youth Work?
History
For a full history see History of Youth Work
Modern youth work emphasises the need to involve young people in the running of their own services through a process of youth-led youth work though historically youth services were more about adults providing activities for young people or, to coin a phrase, "keeping them off the streets".
This early approach to youth work has actually been around since the birth of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, which was the first time that young men left their own homes and cottage industries to migrate to the big towns. The result of this migration was an emergent youth culture in urban areas, which locally was responded to by the efforts of local people. Although with the formation of the YMCA (and later Scouting) organisations were founded whose sole aim was to address these issues, the emphasis was always on providing for young people.
By 1959 widespread moral panic in the press about teenage deliquency led the British government to look into a national response to catering for the needs of young people. In 1960 a government report known as The Albermarle Report was released, which outlined the need for local government agencies to take on responsibility for providing extra-curricular activities for young people. Out of this the statutory sector of the youth service was born.
Today (as outlined in the Transforming Youth Work document released in 1998 by the DfES) it is the statutory duty of all local government organisations to provide a youth service in their region. Also for the first time the youth service has national targets that have to be met with regard to the reach (initial contact) with young people, the number of relationships developed with young people and the number of accredited learning programmes achieved through the youth service.
Approaches to Youth Work
Centre-Based Youth Work
Detached Youth Work
This form of youth work takes place "on the streets". Detached youth work is youth work where you are not responsible for a building or the area in which you are working.