INDEX OF QUOTES
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As a profession, child and youth care has always been more concerned with the unique experiences of each “client” than with the “systems” in which problems are identified and services delivered. Working alongside other professionals in social agencies, schools, correctional facilities, clinics, and hospitals, many child and youth care workers find themselves surrounded by beliefs and practices that don’t seem to fit with their own orientation and training. Given the time-tested traditions of other professions, it is understandable that the newcomers are reluctant to challenge the status quo and settle for an uneasy accommodation within the scheme of things. Services that operate under the “mental health” banner are often considered to be the most resistant to outside influence. While the term “mental health” has traditionally been used to describe programs based within the medical branches of service delivery, it has also become a generic term that defines a particular orientation towards the identification of problems and solutions. This focus becomes apparent whenever we talk about symptoms, syndromes, trauma, or injury, and whenever we think about our work in terms of remediation, treatment, or even healing. Such terms imply a particular relationship in which one person is afflicted and the other sets out to cure the affliction. While such relationships may serve to articulate the professional role, they do not promote the interpersonal qualities that lie at the heart of child and youth care. |
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