Opinion: Young offenders need youth work most

Why should I have been surprised? Largely because academic commentators from both youth work and youth justice sides of the fence have been vocal in questioning the appropriateness of this relationship. But the argument is not whether youth work should engage with youth justice, but why and how. Youth work deludes itself when it believes it can, or should, stand apart from the big policy agendas of the day. It has always been expected to play its part in these agendas: intermediate treatment in the 1970s, youth training programmes in the 1980s, school inclusion and attainment in more recent years.

The workshop was kicked off by two contributions; one from a youth worker who was now working within a youth offending team; the other by a police officer who had developed what was, essentially, a modern and creative youth work project. These inputs prompted considerable debate.