The relevance of professional youth work for preventionProfessional youth work is one of the social work professions. Dutch municipalities need insight into the contribution of professional youth work to prevention and reduction of youth care. In this paper we analyze data collected between 2011-2015 on the functioning and results of four classic youth work methods: ‘Group work’, ‘Detached Youth Work’, ‘Information and Advice’ and ‘Counselling Services’. The studies were explorative and have been analyzed with descriptive statistics. We conclude that the contribution of professional youth work can be: (1) to form an alternative for a significant other and/or positive peer groups in the neighborhood; (2) to strengthen the self-awareness and forethought of young people; (3) to strengthen the societal and economic participation of young people; and (4) to target institutions. Effect-research is needed to determine the actual contribution.
Hoofdstuk in The history of youth work in Europe and its relevance for youth policy today. Youth work in the Netherlands goes back a long way and since the 1970s has taken on a rather strong professional image. During the last decades, it went through some hard times, but recently it has undergone a revival and revaluation. (Griensven & Smeets, 2003). The first section of this paper is about how the characteristics of the Dutch affect social work and youth work concepts. The second part discusses the Dutch framework for youth work: definition, fields of activities, core tasks and the ambiguous relationship between youth work and social work. The third section deals with the history of youth work. The paper concludes with a reflection on the future directions that youth work could take. The article is based on Dutch historical research, some by the author, and the author’s involvement in youth work, both as a youth worker and editor- in- chief of the semi-scientific journal Jeugd en samenleving.
A case study and method development research of online simulation gaming to enhance youth care knowlegde exchange. Youth care professionals affirm that the application used has enough relevance as an additional tool for knowledge construction about complex cases. They state that the usability of the application is suitable, however some remarks are given to adapt the virtual environment to the special needs of youth care knowledge exchange. The method of online simulation gaming appears to be useful to improve network competences and to explore the hidden professional capacities of the participant as to the construction of situational cognition, discourse participation and the accountability of intervention choices.
