Youth in Context : Frameworks, Settings and Encounters

′The series Youth: Perspectives and Practice provides a distinctive and rare combination of expert commentary, new research, original theorising and critical reflection on how we should understand youth and work with young people. These books deserve a wide readership … the way they are written and organised will make them particularly appealing to students′ -

Professor Robert MacDonald, University of Teesside

′I have found that these books have enlightened and further developed my understanding of young people and are an excellent point of reference to support my work in this field′ - Carolyn Moore, youth worker

Youth in Context: Frameworks, Settings and Encounters offers a critical and up-to-date overview of the theoretical and practical issues involved in work with young people. It helps readers situate current practice issues within the context of a rapidly changing field, and demonstrates how critical reflection can be used as a tool to transform individual and collective practice.

The book is divided into three parts:

"Part 1 provides conceptual tools for understanding changing policy and practice in relation to young people.

"Part 2 considers the changing contexts in which work with young people takes place.

"Part 3 explores the diverse ways in which services for young people are planned and organised.

The book offers a holistic and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the changing experience of work with young people, presenting complex issues in an accessible and interactive way. It will be essential reading for students on courses in youth work, youth studies, education, social work and social policy, and for professionals working with young people in a wide range of settings. Together with its companion volume, Understanding Youth: Perspectives, Identities and Practices it is a core text for The Open University′s third level undergraduate course Youth: Perspectives and Practice (KE308).

Martin Robb is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Health and Social Care at The Open University. He is co-editor of Relating Experience: stories from health and social care (Routledge, 2005); Communication, Relationships and Care (Routledge, 2004); and Understanding Health and Social Care (SAGE, 1998), and has published articles and book chapters on a wide range of topics, with a recent focus on issues of fatherhood, masculinity and childcare. Before joining the OU he worked in informal and community education projects with adults and young people.