Youth, Youth Development, and Youth Work: Key Concepts and Perspectives

Today's youth comprise of a significant percentage of the world's population and represent the future direction of society. Defining and understanding youth provide a forum for acknowledging the importance and role of youth in our current society. It also provides an opportunity for embracing youth perspectives and creating strategies for engaging youth in a productive manner. The question of defining youth has been interpreted from differing perspectives, depending on factors such as location, culture, and context. Despite the many definitions and terms for the identification of youth, challenges and concerns regarding youth remain global and connected. Youth habits globally lend insight into approaches and strategies for acknowledging and working with youth. Youth perspectives and experiences worldwide help create discussion points for focus and emphasis in youth work. Worldwide, youth are faced with a plethora of challenges which, if moved in the right direction and addressed through the appropriate medium, can be used as tools of innovation for addressing a youth centered agenda. This paper explores the varying definitions of youth and the many economic, Social, political, and cultural contexts which inform those definitions. Additionally, the articles identifies and acknowledges key elements and attributes that characterize youth development and impact on their effective navigation and interaction within society. It culminates with a view on perspectives and guidelines necessary in developing an effective youth programs, along with a model which provides an ecological view of youth development.