Policy Press
Five Responding at the community (C) level
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Abstract
This chapter explores how the community can become a part of a culture of violence, both resisting and exacerbating it. Members of the community have mixed feelings about whether to escape from, or try to work with, the violence in their communities. The authors demonstrate how the concept of ‘learned helplessness’ may be useful to explain the ‘habitus’ of some communities around violence and argue that initiatives aimed at preventing violence should focus on developing community self-efficacy and self-belief. Workers need to help communities explore their understanding of violence and the part it plays in their culture. The authors introduce the notion of home-grown workers as valuable assets within youth and community work and debate the pros and cons of such worker identities. The authors discuss the challenges inherent in multi-agency work, illustrating the need for other agencies to understand that there is a need for youth workers to professionally distance themselves from some aspects of partnership working where it facilitates the development and maintenance of relationships with young people involved in violence.
Abstract
This chapter explores how the community can become a part of a culture of violence, both resisting and exacerbating it. Members of the community have mixed feelings about whether to escape from, or try to work with, the violence in their communities. The authors demonstrate how the concept of ‘learned helplessness’ may be useful to explain the ‘habitus’ of some communities around violence and argue that initiatives aimed at preventing violence should focus on developing community self-efficacy and self-belief. Workers need to help communities explore their understanding of violence and the part it plays in their culture. The authors introduce the notion of home-grown workers as valuable assets within youth and community work and debate the pros and cons of such worker identities. The authors discuss the challenges inherent in multi-agency work, illustrating the need for other agencies to understand that there is a need for youth workers to professionally distance themselves from some aspects of partnership working where it facilitates the development and maintenance of relationships with young people involved in violence.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements v
- Foreword vi
- Introduction 1
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Literature review, theoretical frame and researching youth violence
- Youth work and youth violence in a European context 13
- Our theoretical frame 27
- Using participatory methods to research youth violence 47
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Meaningful responses to youth violence
- Responding at the personal (P) level 71
- Responding at the community (C) level 91
- Responding at the structural (S) level 109
- Responding at the existential (E) level 121
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Rethinking youth work practice and policy
- Rethinking some youth worker ‘tales’ 137
- Working with intersectional identities 149
- Creating policy for good practice 165
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Youth work responses in action: case studies of praxis
- Responding to structural and symbolic violence: a comparative case study 183
- A sports-based response to youth violence 195
- Exploring ‘confrontational pedagogy’ 209
- Embedding community work 219
- Ethnopraxis in action 227
- Imagining realistic alternatives 237
- References 247
- Index 269
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents iii
- Acknowledgements v
- Foreword vi
- Introduction 1
-
Literature review, theoretical frame and researching youth violence
- Youth work and youth violence in a European context 13
- Our theoretical frame 27
- Using participatory methods to research youth violence 47
-
Meaningful responses to youth violence
- Responding at the personal (P) level 71
- Responding at the community (C) level 91
- Responding at the structural (S) level 109
- Responding at the existential (E) level 121
-
Rethinking youth work practice and policy
- Rethinking some youth worker ‘tales’ 137
- Working with intersectional identities 149
- Creating policy for good practice 165
-
Youth work responses in action: case studies of praxis
- Responding to structural and symbolic violence: a comparative case study 183
- A sports-based response to youth violence 195
- Exploring ‘confrontational pedagogy’ 209
- Embedding community work 219
- Ethnopraxis in action 227
- Imagining realistic alternatives 237
- References 247
- Index 269
