Youth Work: Voices of Practice, carried out by Durham University and youth organisation Weston Spirit, found that when youth workers had to work with young people referred from other agencies such as schools and youth offending teams, they were forced into a policing role and were unable to gain young people's trust. Youth workers were more effective in more mixed groups. "Youth work is not the most appropriate approach for all groups of young people," states the report.
The researchers assert that youth workers must develop their own language to argue the effectiveness of generic youth work. The report says effective youth work lies in informal, everyday encounters and small steps, not recordable outcomes.
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