and reach thousands of daily visitors
6 SEPTEMBER 2010
NO 1624
Establishing the relationship
The establishment of a relationship between the worker and the youth can be considered as a social process or a series of interconnected steps. A quote from a new youthworker working with a gang of girls exemplifies this sense of process (Hanson, 1964):
You try to remember what you really believe, that the noise and the bravado and selfishness hide a hungry child. Hungry for love, for attention, for respect and decency—and all too often, for food. You will teach and preach, instruct and persuade . . . a youth- worker’s voice can get very tired. Then one day she’ll decide you’re for real. You don’t have an angle and you’re not a kook. She doesn’t understand it, but she accepts . . . you’ll begin to see the signs .... It doesn’t always happen that way, of,course. Not eight times out of ten, or even five times out of ten. But it happens. And when it does, you’ll know that even if it happens only one time out of a hundred, it’s enough . . . until the next time, it’s enough. (p. 21)
Bernstein (1964) described the establishment of the relationship as a central dynamic for change,
. . . as a well-spring of potentially health~giving waters flowing toward a better future. It requires dedication, patience, skill, a feeling for the teenagers and the harsh realities within which they live, and a sense of fun with the ability to share in their legitimate pleasures. It opens new vistas of trust, activities, and community concern and resources. (p. 88)
The establishment of the relationship can also be described in terms of discrete activities (New York City Youth Board, 1952):
Hanging around, making small talk, establishing contact . . . involving much testing and re-testing. (p. 108)
Young people’s confidence in the worker came more through specific, concrete actions—e.g., helping them get jobs, coaching teams, passing around cigarettes (then more acceptable than now), paying for pool, visiting boys in jail, etc.—than through any verbal statements. Bernstein (1964) described the stages as recognition, contact, association, influence, and help with specific problems. Freeman (1956) described the establishment of the relationship as one that starts with being a "referee," moves to being a "diverter," and then moves to being an "exhorter." Clearly, the worker-youth relationship is basic and crucial.
JACQUELYN KAY THOMPSON
Thompson, J.K. (1999). Caring on the streets: A study of
detached youthworkers. Child and Youth Services, 19, 2. pp. 20-22.
References
Berbstein, S. (1964). Youth on the streets: Work with alienated youth groups. New York. Association Press.
Freeman,B. A. (1956). Techniques of a worker with a corner group of boys. Thesis submitted to Boston University School of Social Work.
Hanson, K. (1964). Rebels in the streets: The story of New York's girl gangs. Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Prentice-Hall Inc.
New York City Youth Board. (1952). Reaching the unreached: Fundamental aspects of the program of the New York City Youth Board. New York City Youth Board.
