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European Youth Work Policy and Young People’s Experience of Open Access Youth Work

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2021

JON ORD Open the ORCID record for JON ORD [Opens in a new window] ,
MARC CARLETTI ,
DANIELE MORCIANO ,
LASSE SIURALA ,
CHRISTOPHE DANSAC ,
SUE COOPER ,
IAN FYFE ,
KAUR KÖTSI ,
EEVA SINISALO-JUHA  and
MARTI TARU
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JON ORD
Affiliation:
University of St Mark & St John, Plymouth, UK email: jord@marjon.ac.uk
MARC CARLETTI
Affiliation:
IUT Figeac, Toulouse Jean-Jaurès Université, France
DANIELE MORCIANO
Affiliation:
University of Bari, Italy
LASSE SIURALA
Affiliation:
Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
CHRISTOPHE DANSAC
Affiliation:
IUT Figeac, Toulouse Jean-Jaurès Université, France
SUE COOPER
Affiliation:
University of St Mark & St John, Plymouth, UK email: jord@marjon.ac.uk
IAN FYFE
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
KAUR KÖTSI
Affiliation:
University of Tartu Narva College, Estonia
EEVA SINISALO-JUHA
Affiliation:
HUMAK (University of Applied Sciences), Finland
MARTI TARU
Affiliation:
Tallin University, Estonia
MANFRED ZENTNER
Affiliation:
Danube University, Krems, Austria
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Abstract

This article examines young people’s experiences of open access youth work in settings in the UK, Finland, Estonia, Italy and France. It analyses 844 individual narratives from young people, which communicate the impact of youthwork on their lives. These accounts are then analysed in the light of the European youth work policy goals. It concludes that it is encouraging that what young people identify as the positive impact of youth work are broadly consistent with many of these goals. There are however some disparities which require attention. These include the importance young people place on the social context of youth work, such as friendship, which is largely absent in EU youth work policy; as well as the importance placed on experiential learning. The paper also highlights a tension between ‘top down’ policy formulation and the ‘youth centric’ practices of youth work. It concludes with a reminder to policy makers that for youth work to remain successful the spaces and places for young people must remain meaningful to them ‘on their terms’.

Keywords

youth workEuropean youth work policyimpact of youth workexperience of young peoplefriendship & sociability
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , April 2022 , pp. 303 - 323
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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