Resources: Classic text revisited ... Part-time Youth Work in anIndustrial Community Bernard Davies, 1976

His work, initially with Alan Gibson, was fundamental to social education becoming a defining feature of youth work in the 1960s and 1970s. He made a significant contribution to thinking about group work and, in a series of books, pamphlets and articles, made a lasting contribution to our appreciation of youth work as an area of social policy. His recent historical analysis of youth work has continued his contribution and allowed workers to develop a more critical social and historical understanding of practice.

Part-time Youth Work in an Industrial Community is a powerful piece of writing that describes the experience of working in neighbourhoods where there are major structural issues. Davies reflects on his experiences of being a part-time worker and paints a vivid picture of the young people he encounters - and his own responses. Crucially, he theorizes these encounters.