The Nature of Youth Work in Northern Ireland: Purpose, Contribution and Challenges

This study investigated the role of youth work in Northern Ireland in combating social exclusion. The sample involved 44 youth work practitioners including four focus groups and two in-depth individual interviews with youth workers delivering non traditional youth work in inner city areas. Findings revealed that youth workers are dedicated and committed to working with young people they primarily perceive as marginalised, socially excluded or experiencing difficulties that mainstream youth provision struggles to deal with effectively. Findings also revealed that youth workers place huge significance on the nature of relationship building between a youth worker and a young person. While this is fundamentally important, youth workers experience difficulty measuring social progression or identifying outcomes beyond their initial work with young people. This paper raises important questions about ‘levels’ of youth work expertise, practice and training that impact upon the status of youth work as a profession. It also discusses the delivery of youth work in non traditional youth work settings such as school and communities experiencing political conflict.