An investigation into the potential role of youth work in youth crime prevention

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the role of youth work on youth crime prevention. It is a worthwhile task to research this specific area as there is little published research on the contribution of youth work in crime prevention in England. The research was conducted using a combined design of two case studies of two youth clubs in Hampshire and a small-scale survey of the young people who attended the two clubs and the youth workers who worked there. The data collected was a mixture of both quantitative and qualitative data, however the focus of the data collection was on qualitative data. The main findings from the study revealed that the majority of young people and youth workers felt that attending the youth club helps to keep young people out of trouble. It was confirmed that youth clubs play an important role in informing young people about crime and justice issues, and that young people are likely to approach youth workers for help and advice. The services deemed important by young people were highlighted, and differences have been recognised between the services deemed most important to provide by young people and youth workers. Issues regarding the training of youth workers were raised, as were the differing opinions of the role of a youth worker. It has been illustrated that young people have a very positive attitude towards both youth work and youth workers, which is very important if youth workers are to build and maintain good relationships with young people. It is hoped that this thesis will provide a valuable insight into the possible role of youth work in youth crime prevention to those who work in the field of youth work and crime prevention.