Youth Work Education: Is the Voluntary Principle no Longer Reliable in Defining Youth Work?

Abstract

At a time when traditional orthodoxies are open to challenge, it is useful to critically reflect on changing youth work practice contexts. Asserting the voluntary principle and free choice in open access youth work helps us to distinguish educational youth work methodologies from types of work with young people across a range of disciplinary areas where young people are required to attend. Yet, the context in which the voluntary principle became established in the UK, has changed. New roles are emerging for youth workers in contexts where the voluntary principle may be compromised