The Importance of a Sense of Belonging to Youth Service Agencies; a
Risk and Protective Factor Analysis
Dawn Anderson-Butcher and Janet S. Fink / 11
The study explores the importance of attendance, age,
and a sense of belonging in predicting various risk and protective
factors and problem behaviors among youths participating in United
Way-sponsored youth service agencies (n = 98). Multivariate multiple
regression analyses indicate that belonging, more importantly than
attendance, has a significant positive relationship with protective
factors and a significant negative relationship with various risk
factors and problem behaviors. Analyses also indicate that youths
become more at risk as they get older and, therefore, suggest the
importance of involvement in youth development programming during the
adolescent years. Findings are discussed and implications for future
practice are provided.
South African Gay and Lesbian Youth Coming Out to Their Families:
Analysing Various Decision-Making Pathways and Outcomes
Allister H. Butler and Gaynor Astbury / 22
This paper focuses specifically on the various
decision-making pathways and outcomes for gay and lesbian youth coming
out (disclosing their homosexuality) to their parents and other family
members. It comprises one facet of a larger, three-year
phenomenological study (19972000) focussing on the coining out process
of gay and lesbian youth in post-Apartheid South Africa. A
non-probability sample of eighteen young people, aged between 16 and
21 years, were interviewed regarding their coming out experiences.
Their experiences are analysed with regards to achieving significant
milestones in their homosexual identity formation and development. Six
participants had decided to postpone their coming out to their parents
until a later stage in their developmental process. They provided
numerous reasons for this postponement, namely: to protect their
parents, to maintain family equilibrium, fear of rejection, lack of
independence, potential negative consequences, religion, parental
homophobia and non-acceptance of alternative lifestyles. Implications
for child and youth care workers are also considered.
On Revelation and Recognition
Thomas J. Cottle / 43
A discussion is presented regarding the development of
a child's sense of self and the need for adult role models in this
development. Complicating this development is the culture's
preoccupation with forms of distraction, such as entertainment. As a
result of children's engagement with entertainment and celebrity
worship, many young people grow up without encountering parents,
teachers, or youth workers who create interactive environments in
which the child learns about itself. An argument is advanced that the
fascination with celebrity role models bespeaks a need for recognition
from genuine role models and guides for developing what has been
called a narrative imagination leading to a rich involvement with the
world and a capacity for empathy.
Youth in Conflict with the Law and Socio-Economic Experiences in
Their Childhood: A Relationship?
Desiree de Koch / 56
Youth in conflict with the law is a growing phenomenon
in South Africa. To answer the question: "What happened in the early
lives of these children that drove them to violent crimes?" a
qualitative study, using 58 life stories of young people awaiting
trial, was conducted in Gauteng, South Africa. From these life
stories, the researcher identified a clear relationship between
socio-economic circumstances, childhood experiences, and conflict with
the law. Poverty was found to be the main contributing factor to
criminal activities. A lack of knowledge and understanding also
contributed to crimes such as rape and sodomy. Child and youth care
practitioners therefore should not only consider these aspects, but
should also address educational needs in communities.
Families of Children with Chronic Illness: A Review of the Literature
Tara Elliot and Jillian Roberts / 72
A significant number of children are born with some
kind of serious chronic illness and increasing numbers of youth with
chronic illness are admitted to the care system. Given the
improvements in medical treatments, the life expectancy of these
children is rapidly increasing. The consequence is that affected
families will need to adapt to, and accommodate, the needs of these
special children. This literature review provides an overview of key
research in this area, paying special attention to investigations that
have focused on parents and siblings. This review will be especially
salient for those child and youth care professionals who support these
children and their families in the care system.
An Evaluation of Training in Social Pedagogy in Slovenia
Alenka Kobolt / 83
This paper overviews key factors that influence the
quality of child and youth care work, and focuses on pre-service
academic training as a critical factor. The paper also presents the
evaluation of a program in Social Pedagogy in Slovenia by 131 students
who were in the fourth year of study between 1997 and 2001. Major
themes that emerged from the evaluation were the need for an emphasis
on the teaching of theoretical approaches, and the constant need to
update anti improve academic programs to keep pace with changing
trends in the field.
Promoting Successful Close Interpersonal Relationships in
Adolescence: Implications of Attachment Theory and Research for
Therapeutic Interventions
Dorothy Markiewicz / 93
Adolescent attachment styles are associated with their
adjustment and success in close interpersonal relationships. This
paper explores how different attachment styles are related to key
abilities for successful intimacy, including skillful care-seeking and
care-giving, being sufficiently autonomous, and being competent in
negotiation. Therapeutic approaches to helping adolescents improve
their intimate relationships should incorporate this model of
intimacy, focus on the elements described, and modify interventions in
light of the adolescents' attachment styles. Attachment styles also
impact the adolescents' processes of affective expression, information
processing, and communication. Thus, interventions should be adapted
to address the likely differences in problematic intervention patterns
and in the process of psychotherapy with these adolescents.
Radical Youth Work: Creating a Politics of Mutual Liberation for
Youth and Adults. Part II
Hans A. Scott-Myhre and Michelle Gretzinger / 110
In this follow tap to "Radical youthwork: Creating a
politics of mutual liberation for youth and adults" (Child and Youth
Care Work [19], 2004), this article highlights the relationship
between capitalism as an economic system and capitalism as a system of
social control for youth and adults. It proposes that capitalism and
forms of youth work based within capitalist power relations operate on
what is defined as a logic of addiction. The paper traces a history of
youth work within both modernist and postmodernist forms of global
capital and then delineates critical aspects of capitalism in relation
to youth work. A proposal is made for a definition of liberatory youth
work and a literature review is engaged to compare current progressive
youth work against this definition. The paper closes with a proposal
based in the writings on antifascist living by Foucault for an
"animated radical youth work."
Owning the Job: How Three Youth Workers Make Meaning of their Work
Quinn Wilder / 128
Themes derived from conversations with three youth
workers suggest that some youth workers experience a moment in their
careers in which they come to believe that without them, their program
would not have significant meaningful purpose for the youth
participants. The following themes contributing to this experience
were generated front the conversations: having a personal philosophy
of what young people need; having knowledge of resources and
experiences that may be personal and/or professional; perceiving
organizational alignment with one's own philosophy; and perceiving
organizational support and resources for creating desired program
outcomes. It is suggested that efforts to create meaningful outcomes
for youth through youth programs may be more fruitful if there is a
focus on developing youth workers’ sense of ownership of the programs
in which they work.
The field of Child and Youth Care suffered a great loss this year. On
April 30, 2005, Henry Maier died at the age of 87. In a career that
spanned six decades, Henry touched the hearts and minds of generations
of Child and Youth Care workers, and through them altered the lives of
countless young people around the world.
Henry began his career as a front line worker in 1943, and while he
was to go on to become a supervisor, and then a university professor, he
never lost touch with the day-to-day reality of our work. Henry was a
prolific writer, whose work advanced the literature of applied human
development and milieu treatment. At the same time, Henry continually
challenged us all to engage deeply and honestly with youth in our care.
Henry was a great friend to the Journal of Child and Youth Care Work,
and acted as an editorial adviser for many years. He was a passionate
advocate for the field and a discerning critic, who often pushed to
raise the standards for publication.
This issue of the Journal of Child and Youth Care Work is dedicated
to Henry Maier. Here you will find articles from five countries; stories
of the youth we serve, research pieces, reviews of the literature and
theoretical contributions. Henry would have been delighted by the range
and quality of these articles. It is fitting that we begin with Mark
Krueger's moving tribute to Henry's memory.
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