Sacred Building, Secular Club Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space Peter Hart 2 nd year PhD student School of Applied Social Science, Durham University

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Aim How does a youth club as ‘contested space’ affect conceptions of ‘good’ or ‘ethical’ practice.

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Methodology 8 month ethnographic study of four youth centres: Local Authority run centre Community run club Church based youth ministry Church based youth café Methodology based on Wolcott’s (1990) ‘micro-ethnography’

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Methodology Over 90 observations 23 interviews with workers and managers 6 focus groups with young people. Inductive analysis, using aspects of grounded theory, aided by Nvivo.

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. What is Youth Work? ‘Cultivation of Gifts in all Directions’ (Forrest 2010) (See also Young 2006, Morgan and Banks 2010, Jeffs and Smith 2010, Batsleer and Davies 2010) Youth Work SocialMoralPersonalSpiritual

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. What is Youth Work? ‘Cultivation of Gifts in all Directions’ (Forrest 2010) (See also Young 2006, Morgan and Banks 2010, Jeffs and Smith 2010, Batsleer and Davies 2010) Youth Work SocialMoralPersonalSpiritual Relationship

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Contested Space: Youth Café A contested space is (Schmelzkopf 1995, Valentine 2001): Differing ideologies on purpose Resources threatened Conflict over control Removal of groups from space Apprehension and insecurity Aesthetics mirror uncertainty

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Contested Space: Youth Café A contested space is (Schmelzkopf 1995, Valentine 2001): Differing ideologies on purposeDiscipleship v secular Resources threatenedChurch equipment locked away Conflict over controlMoney & meetings v ethos Removal of groups from spaceGreater sanctions on misbehaviour Apprehension and insecurityThreat of redundancy Aesthetics mirror uncertainty10 year old building, in disrepair.

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Ethical practice Local Authority Duty based ethics Fairness and consistency key to perceptions of good practice. (Banks 2010, Sercombe 2010) Youth Ministry Character or Virtue approach Integrity of worker key. Incarnational. (Banks 2010, MacIntyre 1984, Hauerwas 1997) Different ideas of ‘good practice’, but theoretically consistent within themselves.

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Ethical practice: Youth Cafe Workers use personal judgement, while management attempt to impose a rule-based ethic. No evidence that a ‘good character’ is the basis for making judgements. Rules used inconsistently. Spaces within the club not used for ‘moral philosophising’

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Conclusion Youth work = holistic development using relationships, therefore a moral exercise. Differences in practice in other organisations consistent with underpinning ethical philosophy. In a contested space differing ideologies create differences in perceptions of good practice.

∂ School of Applied Social Sciences Sacred Building, Secular Club: Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space. Selected References Banks (2010) Ethical Issues in Youth Work, 2 nd ed. London: Routledge Batlseer, J and Davies, B (2010) What Is Youth Work? Exeter: Learning Matters Forrest, D (2010) ‘The Cultivation of Gifts In All Directions’ in Jeffs, T and Smith, M. K. (eds) Youth Work Practice Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Jeffs, T and Smith, M. K. (eds)(2010) Youth Work Practice Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan MacIntyre, A. C. (1984) After Virtue, 2 nd ed. Notre Dame: Notre Dame Press Schmelzcopf, K (1995) ‘Urban Community Gardens as Contested Space’, Geographical Review, 85(3), Sercombe, H (2010) Youth Work Ethics Exeter, Learning Matters Valentine, G (2001) Social Geographies, Space and Society Pearson College

Sacred Building, Secular Club Negotiating acceptable youth work practice in a contested space Peter