youth social work from a male perspective - (fabrizio, joey, alex, early)
TRANSCRIPT
Youth work from a male perspective
Group 8Early Artis, Joey Cramer Vincentsen, Fabrizio Turci, Alex Brown
ICEHEARTS - the beginning● Ville Turkka founded the organization in 1995 in Vantaa
● The idea came to him while sitting in a bar
● Launch of a boys social sports club designed to prevent social exclusion through team sport activity
● Sports offered are ice-hockey, football, baseball, floorball
ICEHEARTS - operating model● Early intervention focusing on boys (girls have recently been added to their
program)● Provides long-term professional support for children who are particularly at
risk● The role of exercise and sports raises the physical and psychological
condition of the participating children● Promotes social skills and create long-term and safe environment for
children with a presence of adults through ALL the transitional stages of growing up
● Supports a child’s growth into a self-reliant member of a team, who takes others into account = Responsibility for themselves and Accountability for others
ICEHEARTS - members● Cooperates with social and educational professionals to target at risk
children: immigrants, single parent or large family whose resources for providing leisure activities are limited, candidates for social exclusion
● Children are recruited from the age of 6 years-old and remain in the program for 12 years
● Team´s core group of 10 children is selected with the help of a municipal social department when the child is 6 years-old
● The group´s small initial size ensures limited social load-bearing● The team will eventually be supplemented to include 20-25 children
ICEHEARTS - success factors and advantages● Team longevity means the educator can provide support for as many
challenges as possible whenever the child or family need assistance● Commitment, responsibility, trust● Positive male role models● Cooperation and partnership with the community● Minimal bureaucracy, flexible support, rapid reaction to needs● Shielded from municipal or state budget fluctuations● Prevents number of children taken into care, reduces social exclusion● Lessens inequality● Supports the school environment● Prevents school absences and drop-outs● Supports move from comprehensive education to vocational training and
further on to an independent and responsible adulthood● Promotes general and societal well being
ICEHEARTS - micro/meso/macro
● Individuals selected via school workers, parents, other children, active outreach programs
● Individuals form groups which compete, travel, learn with other groups
● Groups eventually mature into adults who then influence legislation and drive political and national agendas
ICEHEARTS - the organization now● Teams based in Vantaa, Helsinki, Lahti, Espoo, Turku, Ulvila, Seinäjoki with
more on the way● Partnerships:
In partnership with:
ICEHEARTS - budget and legislation● Organization is a tool and cooperation partner for
municipal basic services● Cross-administration model which works with social and
education department professionals● Funding provided by municipal, state, and private sector
grants● Annual budget is EUR 70,000 which covers the activities
of 15-20 children● 500 total children in the program
ICEHEARTS - skills needed● PERSEVERANCE● PROFESSIONALISM/REFLECTING, RESPONSIBLE APPROACH TO WORK● COMMITMENT● EQUALITY● INNOVATION● OPEN AND POSITIVE ATTITUDE● WILLINGNESS TO HELP AND DEVELOP OTHERS● TEAM AND NETWORKING SKILLS
* HIGHER EDUCATION DEGREE IN SOCIAL SERVICES/EDUCATION
Identity
● Personal identity● Social identity
Concepts of identity
● Descriptive● Prescriptive
Wood, Westwood & Thompson 2015
Masculinity
● Hegemonic○ Dominance, power, control
● Dialogical○ Organic, personally defined concept of
masculinity (oftentimes challenging the hegemonic)
Kahn, Holmes, & Brett 2011
Youth work and gender issues
● Female safe zones & male safe zones● Youth worker story--assumed
heterosexuality● Male social workers mentoring male youth● Males: 92.5% male in Finnish prisons,
Females: school
Wood, Westwood & Thompson 2015
Development of Young Population Groups in Helsinki Youth work in Helsinki is based on a long tradition of “side by side” cooperation between local government, NGOs, private organisations and foundations which together creates a wide reaching multi faceted network with the purpose of caretaking and following not only the required legislation, but also to accommodate the inhabitants on a broad spectrum in terms of promoting health and well-being amongst its citizens.
“Youth work provides enjoyable opportunities for young people to come together in groups to socialise and develop their interests. Shared activities enable young people with similar circumstances, identities or experiences to develop positive relationships, learn from each other and have a voice in issues that affect them” - Kate Sapin
Why do the youths participate in a program?In an effort to explain why the youth in in a broader perspective engage themselves in youth work, it is important to recognise Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Human Needs”, in the sense of that the given activity, event or institution fulfills some part of the individual’s perceived needs; whether they be voluntary or not.
On the right side I have borrowed Sapin’s list as she has managed to coin the definitions incredibly well.
How do the youth get recommended into participating in a youth activityIn a setting like the youth activity groups like Icehearts which work with a wide age range within the child and youth (till age of 18, presumed) spectrum.
The youths are usually being referred by the given authority in a local community setting, usually as an extension of pre-school evaluations, school curator, child protective service or other social workers involved in the immediate and long term well-being of youths.
The issues related to the young people’s development at Icehearts are centered around but not enclosed to:- Identity; lack of self esteem, self-image, groundedness and confidence, gender identity.- Health; physical, mental and emotional well-being, behaviour, self control, exercise and healthy being, stigmatism, addictions and substance abuse.- Relationships; Communication, negotiation and social presentation, giving and receiving love, family break up and parenting.- Education; access and pathways, motivations and aspirations, time management, progress and achievement in learning
Bringing youth together and recognising potential barriers.A key point in solution based therapy is to analyse the individual's needs, abilities, disabilities and wants and enabling them to take appropriate measured steps in order to reach those goals.
- A popular strategy is using a planned approach to bringing youths together, recognising shared problems and building onto existing interests revolving around physical activities like team sports and creating potential long term hobbies.- Enhancing those interests by placing the clients within approximate reach of other like-minded individuals having them engage each other within a team setting is a good base for positive results.
Additionally there is a wide arrange of over-all positive health benefits associated with it.----Early identification of potential barriers, environments, parallel problematiques and other hindrances is a high priority factor in determining the positive actions to counter non participation; it is also something that over time will be evaluated and taken into consideration by the individual place by qualified staff.
- The individual’s needs and ideas are always part of the overall considerations in individual cases of support and participation.
The importance of having fun - Sports focused setting “Whilst youth work should be more than just a service providing activity that young people enjoy, youth work should be fun! Involvement in positive and enjoyable experiences serves to address the human and developmental needs” - Maslow (1943)
For a community to work in a positive constructive direction then it is paramount that said environment and community is harbouring such traits as being supportive, high level of transparency in actions, openness, openness towards dialogue and renewal of activities and or policies and nurturing in the sense of affirmative action and willingness to support peer growth via example and exercise.
Youth work is very often centered around a (team-) sport, part due to it leading to a healthy body, and part due to the potential of interacting and shaping the youths in terms of reinforcing good habits in terms of empowerment (solution based) and developing their overall team work and social skills.
Using sports as a “springboard” for youth work practice is a long term process that in most cases take several years to develop, and involves creating activities across all skill levels in an effort to create even opportunity for participation regardless of the user's prior experience level.
ConclusionThe idea of developmental youth work centers around the identity development of the individual youth through personal commitment, from a community perspective; creating safe spaces onto which there is room for growth, personal- and/or team- development(in the format of a collective sport or activity).- It can be seen an intermediary platform between the individual and the establishment, not solely due to its official legal responsibilities (morning and afternoon activities-, child protective- ,SOTE- laws), but also in efficiency as a standing community where nobody is expendable.
Impact of the SOTE reform on Icehearts.
Working with young people: the value of youth work in Finland
Youth work is a relatively well defined concept and term in Finland,in the 2006 revision of the Youth Act, the definition of youth work was extended with a focus on young people’s personal development and prevention of (social) exclusion:
“youth work means the promotion of active citizenship in young people's leisure time, their empowerment, support to young people's growth and independence, and interaction between generations”.
Youth work has continued to grow in importance in recent years and has a high position in the public discourse. Youth unemployment and inactivity (a high number of males in particular) is one of the most important reasons. In addition, the growing awareness of a number of young people ‘not feeling well’ in society, demonstrated for example by the school shootings, is another important reason.
Organisational and voluntary activities are a significant part of life in Finland, however, there have been indications that young people’s commitment to traditional organisational and volunteering activities has decreased, particularly among those under 15 years of age.
The new concept in youth work is outreach, street-based youth work which means youth workers go out on the streets, youth clubs, shopping centres, and other areas where young people ‘hang out’ to identify young people who may be in need of help, rather than expect them to ‘come to look for help’.
Conclusions
● One of the main success factors behind youth work is that it is based on relationships voluntarily entered into, while schooling and relationships with professionals such as teacher and social workers, for the most part, is compulsory.
● Youth work aims to empower young people to make their own decisions that can improve their lives and adopts a youth focussed approach where the young person and his/her wishes are at the heart of the activities – rather than being driven by organisational targets or requirements.
● The credibility of youth workers in young people’s eyes often derives from being close to the community and having a genuine insight.
● A good relationship is usually rooted in mutual trust and respect. Building such relationship, particularly with high-need young people can take considerable time. ‘Troubled’ young people may be more likely to build such relationship with an adult who they do not see as ‘authority’ (like they may view teachers, social workers, etc.), but someone who simply offers to listen and support them at a pace that suits them the best.
References:Hall, A.-M. (2014). “Working with Young People: The Value of Youth Work in the European Union Country Report Finland.” Youth Policy, http://www.youthpolicy.org/library/wp-content/uploads/library/2014_EU_Youth_Work_Study_Country_Report_Finland.pdf. Accessed 7 February 2017.
Kahn, J. S., Holmes, J. R., & Brett, B. L. (2011). Dialogical Masculinities: Diverse Youth Resisting Dominant Masculinity. Journal Of Constructivist Psychology, 24(1), 30-55. doi:10.1080/10720537.2011.530486
Maslow, A. (1953). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm
Vuori, P. (2013). “Development of Young Population Groups in Helsinki.” Kvartti, http://www.kvartti.fi/en/articles/development-young-population-groups-helsinki. Accessed 7 February 2017.
Sapin, K. (2009). Essential Skills for Youth Work Practice; Sage Publications.
Wood, J., Westwood, S., & Thompson, G. (2015). Youth Work: Preparation for Practice. London and New York, Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
Finland: World Prison Brief. (2015). World Prison Brief, http://www.prisonstudies.org/country/finland. Accessed 13 February 2017.