PROVIDING SUPPORT TO YOUNG PEOPLE
By Hazel Reid and Alison J Fielding
Routledge
ISBN 9780415419604
£18.99
A valuable introduction to providing information, advice and guidance for those working with teenagers.
This is a very useful, practical guide for professionals offering young people guidance, support and advice.
The authors set the scene by placing the business of helping relationships in the context of the development of integrated youth support services. They then suggest ways that practitioners can develop the skills and strategies necessary to become effective face-to-face workers.
The book itself begins by pointing out that workers need to listen properly to what young people say, "hear their story", and avoid issuing hasty prescriptions about the best course of action. It might sound obvious, but the use of unskilled practitioners coupled with increasing pressures to meet outcomes and quotas can sometimes work against the best outcome for the young person.
The principles that lead to a positive outcome are derived from Carl Rogers' model of empathy, genuineness and respect, while the key facilitative questions are modified from Gerard Egan's three-stage structured intervention.
However, although these models are rooted in counselling, the authors are keen to emphasise that their method is not a therapeutic process. Instead, it is "a tool to think with: a guide rather than a prescription". Those using the strategies in Providing Support to Young People need to be flexible as young people will often ask for help when confused or when they are near the end of the process, rather than at the beginning.
The authors are also careful to point out that many of the above approaches are based on an essentially white, Anglo-Saxon view of the world that places emphasis on young people's individual autonomy. These approaches may not be helpful when dealing with young people whose family or wider community have more say in the direction of their lives.
Reid and Fielding therefore admit that a more contextual approach to information, advice and guidance might need to be considered when working with young people from black and minority ethnic communities. But they don't go into detail, instead pointing to further reading.
Case studies are included and, true to the character of the book, there are no prescriptions about the "right" intervention, but rather options and questions for the helper to reflect on. A section on helping skills and strategies also contains some practical exercises for workers to deploy in helping young people focus on solutions, or to weigh up the pros and cons of different choices.
This book is a useful tool that could be used as a primer for those starting out in this field and for experienced practitioners to refer to. However, all youth professionals will find something here to refresh their skills in generating those essential conversations.
- Reviewed by Dave Ireland, manager - training, curriculum and quality, Cornwall Youth Service.
YOUNG CITIZEN'S PASSPORT
Cost: £5.99
Contact: 020 7873 6000
www.hoddereducation.co.uk
This is the 12th edition of the guide to the law in England and Wales for young people aged 14 to 19. Compiled by education charity the Citizenship Foundation, the guide gives detailed but accessible guidance on legal aspects of areas such as education, work and training, money, family, home, leisure travel, police and courts and "life" concerns, including sex, drugs and health. Also covered is the role of government, including the European Union. Its primary aim is to ensure young people are aware of their legal rights and responsibilities in everyday situations, and thus it comes in a handy, backpocket-friendly format. The information is supported with details of organisations that can give further help and there is also an associated website at www.ycponline.co.uk.
THE CHILD AND FAMILY IN CONTEXT
Cost: £18.95
Contact: 01297 443948
www.russellhouse.co.uk
This book looks at how children's services operating in disadvantaged communities can develop "ecological practice" - a holistic approach that links community and family elements of children and young people's lives. This kind of approach is supposed to underpin a range of recent developments, from Sure Start to extended schools. However, the authors here argue that a lot of mainstream practice fails to make the required connections. The book has three sections that examine various areas including the research and policy background to ecological practice, implications for practice - such as the role of youth support services in promoting community safety - and at challenges such as developing participant evaluation procedures.
TURNING POINTS
Cost: £1.50
Contact: 020 7540 4900
www.ymca.ac.uk/rank
The Rank Foundation has a strong track record of supporting the development of young people and those who work with them. This DVD, CD and booklet set tells the stories of 12 youth workers, who have been supported through the foundation and have touched the lives of people in their local communities. The stories track their own personal and professional development, often showing courage and determination against the odds. The stories focus on key turning points in life and highlight issues ranging from the importance of role models to respect, diversity and democracy. Producers see the approach as linking into the ancient oral tradition of storytelling, which can be an important method in informal education.
