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ISSN 0840-982X

VOLUME 22 NUMBER 2, SUMMER 2009

CONTENTS

Editorial:
Coming on board   3
Grant Charles

Of Families, Mothers, Gardens and Alchemy:    5
Re-thinking Relations Between Women in Youth Work
 Kathleen S. Skott-Myhre

Abstract:  This article investigates the complex power relations between generations of women. Using a womanist frame work it calls for a re-thinking of the traditional hierarchy
between young women and older women in order to build relationship based on mutual wisdom. Stepping aside from developmental models, there is a call for the recognition of the value of story telling between women of all ages. Using the work of Alice Walker, Luce Irigaray and Michel Foucault, the roles of mother and daughter are reconfigured into a communitarian web of shared experience that challenges the power structures of the patriarchal family. A proposal is made for a new womanist practice of youth work premised in the force of creativity and mutual transformation.

Child and Youth Care Practice in North America:    17
Historical Roots and Current Challenges
Grant Charles and Thom Garfat

Abstract: We believe that it is important for us to have an understanding of who we are as a profession not just today but within our historical context. This not only helps us understand who we are but also provides us with an understanding in part for why we do the things we do in the way that we do them. Given our rich history it is somewhat surprising that we don't have a better sense of our roots. After all if we don't know where we came from we can too often repeat the mistakes of our past and overlook our achievements. This article gives a brief history of Child and Youth Care in North America and identifies current challenges and struggles.

Creating an Oasis in the Classroom    29
Kathleen Cameron

Abstract: During my graduate training I wrote an autoethnography and conducted a self-study of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that contributed to me being at risk for poor academic outcomes. In exploring my childhood experiences in the education system, I recalled that after a very difficult school year and a tumultuous relationship with a teacher that was for me, from an academic and emotional perspective, devastating, I found myself in a classroom that in comparison to the previous year, felt like an oasis. I described the
teacher of that peaceful classroom as an "oasis teacher." Forty years later, that experience, and that teacher continues to affect my own teaching practice.

Holding on to the Line    36
Garth Goodwin

Book review: Rethinking Residential Child Care    39
Jack Phelan

Finding Oscar Wilde    41
Liz Laidlaw

Street-Involved Youths' Constructs of God    44
Meaghan Peckham

Abstract: The majority of research on street-involved youth focuses predominantly on the adversities and problems faced by this particular population of youth. Of the studies that explore street-involved youth's strengths, few mention the role of God, religion and spirituality. These studies identify the role of spirituality as a source of strength and resiliency but do not explore the youths' specific thoughts and ideas about their concept of God and the role of God in their lives. This current study analyzed qualitative data from interviews with 10 participants aged 18-24 who consider themselves street-involved in order to bridge the existing gap in literature. The data obtained from the interviews were analyzed, and the data was categorized in the following themes: reason(s) for believing/not believing, informed ideas about God, ideas about religion, self-determination, skepticism, cynicism, descriptors of God and the role God plays in their lives. I also provide specific quotes/examples from the youth related to these identified themes. 

Thoughts on Letting Go and Moving On    55
Donna Jamieson

Working in the Youth Criminal Justice System    57
Sheila Porteous

Abstract: In 2003 Canada proclaimed a new youth justice act. The act attempts to
underline the youth justice system with a clear set of values that promote community based intervention. These values align with child and youth care values. This opens the door for child and youth care workers to be able to work in and influence the direction of child justice. This article discusses the possibilities in this area.

Sex, Drugs and Rock 'N' Roll Conference 2009:    62
A Reflection
Edy Cruz-Fuentes

Working with Families:    64
A Child and Youth Care Case Example
Tanya Valois

Networking    70
Carol Stuart

Warming Up    73

Information    75
 

EDITORIAL

Coming on board

Thom mentioned in a recent issue that I was joining Carol and him as an editor of this journal. This is a great privilege for me to be able to be working with them. I have known the two of them for quite a few years. Thom and I first met in 1981 at the first Canadian National Child and Youth Care Conference in Victoria. I can’t say that we hit it off right away but he did grow on me over the years as he does with people. We have done a lot of work together since out first meeting
including both being Ph.D. students at the University of Victoria. I was the first Ph.D. student in Child and Youth Care there although, as he frequently points out to me, he was the first Ph.D. graduate. We have spent a lot of time together over the years as colleagues and friends arguing,
laughing, arguing some more, talking and believing together. Knowing him has made my life
richer.

I have known Carol nearly as long. Indeed, we have had almost parallel careers. We were front-line workers at the same time in Ontario, managers at the same time in Alberta and students at the same time in British Columbia and are now both academics. I have respected her work and
her way of seeing the world for a long time now. Those of us that know her personally and those of us who have read her work are fully aware that she is a remarkable individual. I feel fortunate to count her as a friend and colleague.

By way of introducing myself let me first say that I have had a long history with Relational Child & Youth Care Practice and its earlier rendition, the Journal of Child and Youth Care, having served as an editorial board member and contributor. My first job in the field was as a youth worker with street youth in London, England, some thirty plus years ago. Since then I have been a residential worker in two provinces, have done child protection and children’s mental health work and have
been a director of a number of residential and community-based treatment programmes. I have also taught at college and university levels. I am currently an academic at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. I have also been a columnist for CYC-Net and have published in a number of child and youth care journals.

I wrote this stuff about me as a way of introduction. I suppose I think it is something that one must do when starting a new endeavour. Really, though, what I was trying to do is to place myself in relation to the other editors and to people in our field as one does when one is in a new situation. Child and youth care (and life) is, after all, really about relationship. Relationship with young people and their families. Relationship with other people in our field and with fellow travellers in other professions. Relationship with members of our communities. This journal to me has always been about relationship through the widest possible lens. I hope that I will be able to help contribute to the journal by encouraging diverse opinions from the broadest range of voices. I believe that Thom, Carol and I share many of the same values and beliefs. However, we are also different people, so I suspect you will see our individual styles in the coming issues. How different we are will remain to be seen.

However, this does remind me of something that happened to Thom and me a few years ago at a restaurant in Nova Scotia. There was a young woman serving us and when she came up to take our order Thom asked her what the difference was between haddock and halibut. She paused for the longest time, looked at him as if he was a bit strange and said “well they’re different fish aren’t they?” I laughed and laughed and laughed. Thom, not so much. Anyhow, I guess we will see whether we are different fish or just a variation of the same species.

I am pleased to present my first issue as an editor of the RCYCP. I hope you enjoy reading the articles and columns as much as I did. This journal has been part of my life since it was first published. I am pleased to be on board. It is for me the beginning of a new part of a wonderful
relationship.

Grant Charles