“Youth work as Social work - A Danish way of qualified social-pedagogy working" - Torben Bechmann Jensen, Ph.D
09 Mar 2007
Danish social work is characterised by being done by a variety of both professionals with an educational background ranging from 3 years pedagogical or social work educations to university degrees. But also volunteers with no educational background are “employed” as counsellors and assistants.
The subject of the lecture is besides giving an overview of the different people working in the field also to present how young people and social work is understood and which limitations and possibilities these understandings of the concept of both youth (young people) and “social” work give.
Danish social work done with young people could be seen as involving both a critical potential towards the established Society and its institutions as well as being a way to discipline and control young people in their individual living and transition processes.
During the lecture discourses of both the concept of youth, the frames from within social work is carried out as well as practical and theoretical discussions of both the relationship among young people and social workers and in between groups of social workers, is shown.
From a European level, Denmark is often seen as a welfare Society, being rich and well organised, but looking at the development nationally both advantages and problems quickly reaches the surface.
The intention with the lecture is to show and discuss how Social work with young people on the one hand present a possible solution and help to the single individual and on the other hand carries the potential danger of turning structural and societal problems into individual problems and thereby cover up some of the unfortunate consequences of how late modernity conditions to a still larger degree influences the quality of life among youth.
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