Opinion: Youth work in the centre of the triangle

Politicians have their expectations of the services they fund, and youth minister Margaret Hodge is right to note that the millions of pounds thrown at the social inclusion of young people in recent years have had relatively little effect. There certainly needs to be a debate about how to "reconfigure" the use of those resources. Youth workers are right to hold on to some of the core professional principles of their work. Young people are right to demand a voice and to express their needs and wants.

The policy challenge is how to reconcile those different perspectives as and when, inevitably, they come into conflict with each other. Indeed, I have often made use of a triangle to depict tensions at play between political demands, professional principles and young people's needs. When the practice of working with young people drifts into any corner of the triangle, it becomes paralysed. The reflective practitioner considers how to develop methods of working that best accommodate the political context, the aspirations of young people and their own principles.They position their work in the middle of the triangle.