sacred building, secular club negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space peter...
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Sacred Building, Secular ClubNegotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space
Peter Hart2nd year PhD studentSchool of Applied Social Science, Durham University
[email protected]/peter.hart
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Aim
How does a youth club as ‘contested space’ affect conceptions of ‘good’ or ‘ethical’ practice.
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Methodology
8 month ethnographic study of four youth centres:• Local Authority run centre• Community run club• Church based youth ministry• Church based youth café
Methodology based on Wolcott’s (1990) ‘micro-ethnography’
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Methodology
Over 90 observations
23 interviews with workers and managers
6 focus groups with young people.
Inductive analysis, using aspects of grounded theory, aided by Nvivo.
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
What is Youth Work?
‘Cultivation of Gifts in all Directions’ (Forrest 2010)(See also Young 2006, Morgan and Banks 2010, Jeffs and Smith 2010,
Batsleer and Davies 2010)
Youth Work
Social
Moral
Personal
Spiritual
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
What is Youth Work?
‘Cultivation of Gifts in all Directions’ (Forrest 2010)(See also Young 2006, Morgan and Banks 2010, Jeffs and Smith 2010,
Batsleer and Davies 2010)
Youth Work
Social
Moral
Personal
Spiritual
Relationship
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Contested Space: Youth Café
A contested space is (Schmelzkopf 1995, Valentine 2001):
Differing ideologies on purpose
Resources threatened
Conflict over control
Removal of groups from space
Apprehension and insecurity
Aesthetics mirror uncertainty
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Contested Space: Youth Café
A contested space is (Schmelzkopf 1995, Valentine 2001):
Differing ideologies on purpose Discipleship v secular
Resources threatened Church equipment locked away
Conflict over control Money & meetings v ethos
Removal of groups from space Greater sanctions on misbehaviour
Apprehension and insecurity Threat of redundancy
Aesthetics mirror uncertainty 10 year old building, in disrepair.
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Ethical practice
Local Authority
Duty based ethics
Fairness and consistency key to perceptions of good practice.
(Banks 2010, Sercombe 2010)
Youth Ministry
Character or Virtue approach
Integrity of worker key.
Incarnational.(Banks 2010, MacIntyre 1984, Hauerwas
1997)
Different ideas of ‘good practice’, but theoretically consistent within themselves.
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Ethical practice: Youth Cafe
Workers use personal judgement, while management attempt to impose a rule-based ethic.
No evidence that a ‘good character’ is the basis for making judgements.
Rules used inconsistently.
Spaces within the club not used for ‘moral philosophising’
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Conclusion
• Youth work = holistic development using relationships, therefore a moral exercise.
• Differences in practice in other organisations consistent with underpinning ethical philosophy.
• In a contested space differing ideologies create differences in perceptions of good practice.
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School of Applied Social Sciences
Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space.
Selected References
Banks (2010) Ethical Issues in Youth Work, 2nd ed. London: Routledge
Batlseer, J and Davies, B (2010) What Is Youth Work? Exeter: Learning Matters
Forrest, D (2010) ‘The Cultivation of Gifts In All Directions’ in Jeffs, T and Smith, M. K. (eds) Youth Work Practice Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
Jeffs, T and Smith, M. K. (eds)(2010) Youth Work Practice Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
MacIntyre, A. C. (1984) After Virtue, 2nd ed. Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press
Schmelzcopf, K (1995) ‘Urban Community Gardens as Contested Space’, Geographical Review, 85(3), 364-381
Sercombe, H (2010) Youth Work Ethics Exeter, Learning Matters
Valentine, G (2001) Social Geographies, Space and Society Pearson College
Sacred Building, Secular ClubNegotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space
Peter Hart
@youthworkerpete
www.durham.ac.uk/peter.hart