Youth Work Ethics

This volume is part of a series of text books aimed at youth workers in training. It is important to address ethics and ensure that they are being actively debated by youth workers, especially as part of their initial training.

The book is attractive and accessible and the way the text is interspersed with case studies and activities is useful for teaching. Overall, however, the book fails to address this important topic in a coherent and structured way.

The author uses a range of unusual and idiosyncratic sources to construct his arguments. This produces speculative statements that are open to debate, rather than using substantial core texts and arguments that are more useful for a prospective youth work student. For example, in the opening chapter Roberts makes good points but fails to provide a coherent rationale to convince those new to the profession that they need to address ethics in their work. He also misses the chance to build on youth work academic Sarah Banks' key texts and work.