Social exclusion and youth work – from the surface to the depths of an educational practice

Abstract

The current dominant discourse on social exclusion and youth work depicts inclusion in youth work as an instrument for inclusion in other more pivotal institutions of society. Recent studies have shown, however, that the participation of socially vulnerable young people does not necessarily yield the anticipated inclusions. Suggestions are subsequently been put forward to bring more structure into youth work initiatives. In this article, we assert that this technical reasoning fails to acknowledge the complexity of social reality. By means of a social pedagogical case study of the coming into being of a Flemish youth work field, we show how youth work actors in Flanders have come to reinforce the social exclusions they were so eager to solve. Our findings raise questions about individualistic fallacies and cultural biases in youth work practices and policies that have relevance well beyond the Flemish context.

Mind the Gap: The Potential of Professional Youth Work for Civic Empowerment and Engagement of Youth at Social Risk

“…This hierarchy is amplified when considering that general participation levels are lower among youngsters in more vulnerable socio-economic situations, as opposed to their middle-and higher-class peers (Vettenburg, Elchardus & Put, 2011). Not only do youngsters in Journal of Social Intervention: Theory and Practice -2022 -Volume 31, Issue 3 7 RONALD CROUZÉ, TOM VANWING, PIETER MEURS more vulnerable situations have less benefits from the positive effects of participation, but their non-participation is further stigmatised and problematised as bad citizenship (Coussée, 2008;Van de Walle, Coussée & Bouverne-De Bie, 2011). The ideal of the good citizen can thus broaden the civic empowerment gap, both due to the design of civic educational activities, as due to normative expectations concerning participation.…”

“…Historically, youth work originates in the nineteenth century in Flanders, as a response to the incomplete formal education of youngsters from the working class. Proper schooling and education were considered as the instruments to tackle social problems caused by industrial revolution and became regarded as necessary for the education and socialisation of youngsters (Bouverne-de Bie, Roose, Coussée & Bradt, 2014;Van de Walle et al, 2011). Two, sometimes contradictory, principles guided the diverse and complex emerging landscape that would come to define youth work: on the one Journal of Social Intervention: Theory and Practice -2022 -Volume 31, Issue 3 MIND THE GAP hand, the task of involving individuals and groups in existing social orders.…”

Sports-based interventions for socially vulnerable youth: Towards well-defined interventions with easy-to-follow outcomes?

“…This is especially relevant if such a trajectory or endpoint is conceptualised based on mainstream conventions and practices regarding education, employment or positive youth development, conventions and practices that are perpetuated by the same institutions (for example, schools and career services) that make young people vulnerable in the first place. Based on a socio-historical analysis of youth work practices and discourses in Flanders, Van de Walle et al (2010) have argued that the somewhat technocratic call to bring more structure into youth work practices (see Feinstein et al, 2005;Mahoney and Stattin, 2000), which would imply better structuring, defining and demarcating sports-based social interventions based on clearly pre-conceptualised outcomes, fails to acknowledge the complexities of social life, and might also even reinforce processes of social exclusion. In this context, Tiffanny and Pring (2008) have argued that the most marginalised young people are less likely to participate in highly structured and pre-described leisure activities.…”

“…Coakley (2011: 313) argued that positive development in sports programmes would also need to be defined in terms of the need for social justice, rebuilding strong community-based social institutions, re-establishing the resource base of the communities where young people live or empowering young people to be effective agents of social change in their communities. As such, sports-based social interventions would need to be evaluated on how such practices relate to a striving for more equality and social justice in society (Van de Walle et al, 2010). This is not to imply that sports-based social interventions should not aim at supporting young people in their personal development.…”

Parents’ role in adolescents’ leisure time use: From goals to parenting practices

“…However, young people's participation in organised activities differs according to socioeconomic status: working-class young people are often underrepresented (Bennett et al, 2012;Furlong and Cartmel, 2007). As these young people are believed to miss out on important learning opportunities, policymakers and researchers problematise their non-participation and try to increase their participation levels (Van de Walle, Coussée and Bouverne-De Bie, 2011). Based on the finding that parents play an important role in young people's leisure time use, policymakers and researchers approach parents as 'leisure providers' and 'facilitators', who are expected to make sure that their children's leisure time is wellspent, that is, in assumed beneficial organised leisure activities (Council of Europe, 2003;Fawcett, Garton and Dandy, 2009;Zeijl, 2001).…”