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20 OCTOBER 2010
NO 1643
Professionalization
From a political point of view, "youthwork needs a youthworker or it needs t0 become its own youthworker." By this I mean it needs to listen to itself, hear what its members are saying, define itself, come to terms with its power, and then go about becoming all it can become. If it is to become a profession, as with all professions, those who would be its members will need to take the lead in defining what it is and what its practice entails.
If I were youthwork’s "therapist," my first suggestion would be that it not evaluate itself using the same methods used by other professions. Instead, I would like to see it become the first human service profession that evaluates itself by human standards: Compassion, hope, and caring. I urge that it define itself in terms of its core values, not its techniques — that it talk of caring, rather than diagnosis; of hope rather than prognosis; of compassion, rather than techniques and "cures"; of the quality of life, rather than the quantity of clients; of extending its social responsibilities rather than erecting its professional boundaries — and that its success be measured in terms of relationships to clients rather than to sources of funding and institutional support. This would keep its vision, mission, and existential stance in the forefront, where they belong.
I would also suggest that youthworkers find people to listen to them, to document their knowledge, and to help them develop ways to talk about what they do, what they believe, and the ways in which they work. If this were done, it would allow for reflection and the development of a language of youthwork. It would also begin to document the "doing" of youthwork, youthwork practice.
JACQUELYN KAY THOMPSON
Thompson, J.K.1999). Caring on the streets: A study of detached youthworkers. Child and Youth Services, 19, 2. pp. 84-85.
