Showcases the value of professional work with young people as it is practiced in diverse forms, and in locations from around the world.

Some of the most energetic, effective, and passionate activists involved in grassroots politics are young people--but their voices are rarely heard in policy, research, or public debate. This book remedies that, giving young activists their due and showing the effects of passionate social service practitioners who build relationships with marginalized young people in the face of spending cuts and shifting governmental priorities. Written by an experienced youth worker, Grassroots Youth Work uses interviews, dialogue, and excerpts from research diaries to bring youth work to life in both theory and practice.

Professional practice is at the heart of youth work training but integrating the theory learned in class with the reality of placements can sometimes require extra support. This comprehensive textbook is designed to help students working with young people become competent and ethical practitioners, able to reflect on their learning and interventions in young people’s lives. Divided into three parts, this core text: provides an understanding of and commitment to the principles of youth work explores how contexts shape youth work demonstrates the core practice skills that are required to make a meaningful impact on the lives of young people. Engaging and practice-driven, this is an essential text for all students learning about working with young people, whether on youth work or allied courses. It includes case-studies, tasks, further reading and reflective questions to help readers make connections between their own knowledge and practice.

Youth Work Process and Practice provides an overview of the central concerns in youth work today, exploring what youth work actually consists in and developing an authentic theoretical framework for practice. This accessible textbook places the role of the curriculum and idea of practice as a process at the centre of youth work. Exploring important aspects of practice – such as empowerment, participation and choice, group work, experiential learning and the importance of relationship building – Jon Ord explains how the idea of curriculum can be used to communicate, legitimate and develop youth worth practice, as well as help to articulate its value and importance. The book includes a detailed and up-to-date analysis of the policy climate, looks at the implications of its focus on measurability and outcomes and discusses the impact of devolution in the UK on youth work practice. It contrasts dominant contemporary perspectives of youth and youth culture and argues that, rather than competing, ‘informal’ and ‘social’ education are twin aspects of an educational practice which must emphasises both individual development and wider social change. Youth Work Process and Practice is an essential read for all students of youth and community work and will also be an important reference for practising youth workers.

The SAGE Handbook of Youth Work Practice showcases the value of professional work with young people as it is practiced in diverse forms in locations around the world. The editors have brought together an international team of contributors who reflect the wide range of approaches that identify as youth work, and the even wider range of approaches that identify variously as community work or community development work with young people, youth programmes, and work with young people within care, development and (informal) education frameworks. The Handbook is structured to explore histories, current practice and future directions: Part One: ′Youth Work′ and Approaches to Professional Work with Young People Part Two: Professional Work With Young People: Projects and Practices to Inspire Part Three: Values and Ethics in Work with Young People Part Four: Current Challenges and Hopes for the Future

The purpose of this book is to compile and publicize the best current thinking about training and professional development for youth workers. School age youth spend far more of their time outside of school than inside of school. The United States boasts a rich and vibrant ecosystem of Out?of?School Time programs and funders, ranging from grassroots neighborhood centers to national Boys and Girls Clubs. The research community, too, has produced some scientific consensus about defining features of high quality youth development settings and the importance of after?school and informal programs for youth. But we know far less about the people who provide support, guidance, and mentoring to youth in these settings. What do youth workers do? What kinds of training, certification, and job security do they have? Unlike K?12 classroom teaching, a profession with longstanding – if contested – legitimacy and recognition, “youth work” does not call forth familiar imagery or cultural narratives. Ask someone what a youth worker does and they are just as likely to think you are talking about a young person working at her first job as they are to think you mean a young adult who works with youth. This absence of shared archetypes or mental models is matched by a shortage of policies or professional associations that clearly define youth work and assume responsibility for training and preparation. This is a problem because the functions performed by youth workers outside of school are critical for positive youth development, especially in our current context governed by widening income inequality. The US has seen a decline in social mobility and an increase in income inequality and racial segregation. This places a greater premium on the role of OST programs in supporting access and equity to learning opportunities for children, particularly for those growing up in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty. Fortunately, in the past decade there has been an emergence of research and policy arguments about the importance of naming, defining, and attending to the profession of youth work. A report released in 2013 by the DC Children and Youth Investment Corporation suggests employment opportunities for youth workers are growing faster than the national average; and as the workforce increases, so will efforts to professionalize it through specialized training and credentials. Our purpose in this volume is to build on that momentum by bringing together the best scholarship and policy ideas – coming from in and outside of higher education – about conceptions of youth work and optimal types of preparation and professional development.

This exciting new book provides an overview of fifteen different contemporary social work practice settings, spanning across the statutory, voluntary, private and third sectors. It serves as the perfect introduction to the various roles social workers can have and the numerous places they can work, equipping students with the knowledge, skills and values required to work in areas ranging from mental health to fostering and adoption, and from alcohol and drug treatment services to youth offending. Each chapter provides: An overview of the setting, including the role of the social worker, how service users gain access to the service and key issues, definitions or terms specific to the setting Legislation and policy guidance related to the specific setting The key theories and methods related to the setting Best practice approaches and the benefits and challenges of working within the setting Case examples illustrating the application of the information to practice Social work students will find this an invaluable handbook that they will refer to time and again throughout their education and into their assessed and supported year of employment. Contributors: Mark Baldwin, Jo Bell, Jenny Clifford, Jill Chonody, Clare Evans, Benedict Fell, Alinka Gearon, Issy Harvey, Caroline Hickman, Tony Jeffs, Debbie Martin, Malcolm Payne, Justin Rogers, Sue Taplin, Barbra Teater, John Watson, Michele Winter. "It is an excellent student introduction to this diverse profession. Full of information that provides a thought provoking read." Andrew Ellery, Social Care Professional "This book really is an excellent resource for social work students at an introductory level and for preparation for placement levels. It provides a comprehensive overview of a range of service user groups as well as specific issues such as domestic violence, homelessness and substance use. Each section is structured around the policy and legislative context and includes comment on theory, challenges and anti-oppressive practice with case examples to aid learning. The focus on the settings within which social work is practiced is particularly welcome and provides an essential companion to introductory books which look more at values, professional behaviour and skills. The range of different settings covered provides excellent preparation for students about to start a placement. The sections on rehabilitation of offenders and self-harm highlight topics that are often given less attention but may well be encountered by students on placement. I will certainly be including this book as essential reading for students on introductory and practice preparation modules." Allan Rose, Social Work Lecturer, Brunel University, UK

This path-breaking book brings together an international list of contributors to collectively articulate a vision for the field of youth work, sharing what they have learned from decades of experience in the training and education of youth workers. Carefully designed evaluation and research studies have legitimized the learning potential of youth programs and non-school organizations over the last twenty years, and recent attention has shifted towards the education, training, and on-going professional development of youth workers. Contributors define youth work across domains of practice and address the disciplines of knowledge upon which sound practice is based, reviewing examples of youth practitioner development both in and outside of academia. Raising critical questions and concerns about current trends, Advancing Youth Work aims to bring clarity to the field and future of youth work. Advancing Youth Work will help youth work practitioners develop a common language, articulate their field in one voice, and create a shared understanding of similarities and differences. This book is also an invaluable resource for higher educators, researchers, and students involved with youth work.

This indispensable text analyzes the key skills in youth work, ranging from the initial steps through to supervision, which can be applied across a variety of settings and roles. Throughout the book, practical examples grounded in participatory and anti-oppressive practice address the core values and the purpose of youth work. Suggestions for further reading, definitions, and theories are also provided.

Transforming Social Work Practice shows that postmodern theory offers new strategies for social workers concerned with political action and social justice. It explores ways of developing practice frameworks, paradigms and principles which take advantage of the perspectives offered by postmodern theory without totally abandoning the values of modernity and the Enlightenment project of human emancipation. Case studies demonstrate how these perspectives can be applied to practice.