Disrupting the cycle of youth violence: The role of social support for youth in a Northern Irish Youth Work Programme.

Youth violence is a significant concern and previous research has found that violence is both trauma inducing and violence inducing. Meta-analyses have demonstrated that peri-trauma contextual factors such as the presence or absence of social supports following the onset of trauma may be predictive of the onset and duration of psychological stress. The aim of this study is to build upon the existing research evidence to clarify the links between social support, psychological stress and physical violence among a cross-section of youth living in high-violence areas of Northern Ireland. Participants were a sample of 10-25-year-olds (N = 635) who participated in a targeted youth work programme in Northern Ireland. This study conducted a mediation analysis, entering social support as the independent variable, psychological distress as the mediator and self-reported violence as the outcome variable. Violent victimisation was entered as a covariate in the analysis. After controlling for violent victimisation, social support operates through psychological stress to influence the risk of physical violence. Social support may contribute to reductions in psychological stress and thus buffer against the risks of living in areas of elevated community violence. Specialist youth work approaches may provide an opportunity to reduce psychological stress and thus help to mitigate the risk of further violence. Combined, these insights provide opportunities for harm reduction and prevention. At the same time, these findings advance our understanding of the distinct mechanisms of change involved in youth work-led violence prevention efforts.

When opinions differ: the development of a reflection tool for youth professionals to support shared decision-making with parents.

The importance of shared decision-making (SDM) in youth care is increasingly emphasised. Professional reflection on the decision-making process is an important means to improve the use of SDM in practice. In this study, we report on the development of a reflection tool for youth professionals primarily to use when they hold a different opinion then parents about referral to specialised youth care services. In co-creation with local youth professionals and parent representatives from the South of the Netherlands, the tool was developed and tested in practice. This process was guided by a three-stage cyclical research project. First, reflective group discussions provided an initial understanding of professionals' needs, interests and experiences. This input then was analysed and documented into a draft tool with reflective questions. Next, this tool was tested on fictive and real life cases and adjusted with input from youth professionals and parents. This process resulted in an online reflection tool covering 16 overarching reflective questions to support youth professionals' reflection on their shared decision-making in practice. The tool can be used and adapted by others in the field of youth care to improve the process of making shared decisions with parents in complex cases.

Design Thinking for Health Disparities and Interdisciplinary Knowledge Translation: An LGBTQ+ Youth Health Literacy Project.

This article discusses the use of codesign, design thinking (DT), and design jams in collaboration with interdisciplinary scholars, service providers, and community-based stakeholders as an approach to social work intervention development-specifically, to tackle health inequities and timely knowledge translation (KT). An application of these methods to the problem of sexual health disparities and lack of access to inclusive sexual health education in school-based settings for LGBTQ+ youth is discussed. LGBTQ+ Youth HeLP (Health Literacy Project) is a holistic online sexual health resource providing evidence-based information to LGBTQ+ youth in an accessible and age-appropriate format. This article considers potential opportunities and obstacles for utilizing DT to develop responsive solutions to health inequities and health-related KT learned from the project. Codesign offers effective options for generating collaborations that may increase cross-stakeholder perspective taking in group settings and produce high-quality outputs with increased likelihood of uptake.

New actors and new learning spaces for new times: a framework for schooling that extends beyond the school.

Taking the 'breakdown' in regular schooling as a result of the Covid pandemic as a catalyst to reimagine education, this article formulates a theoretical framework, using design research, that enables a fundamental reconceptualization and introduction of new actors into the space of schooling, which is a learning environment that traditionally has maintained rigid boundaries. Recommendations are proposed for bridging formal and nonformal education for practitioners and policymakers, bringing together teachers and youth workers to co-construct a learning environment. In creating a prototype for learning that involves a more joined-up and connected paradigm in education, as well as bridging the gap between learning in formal and non-formal contexts, we create a shift towards reimagining and recognising the importance of a holistic view of education by re-evaluating and supporting a broader range of actors who can participate in the education of children and young people.

Exploring young people's perspectives on mental health support: A qualitative study across three geographical areas in England, UK.

Improving young people's (YP) mental health and well-being is a global public health priority. Despite continued commitment within the UK policy agenda to improve the mental health and well-being of YP, the incidence of mental health issues continues to rise. This has been further compounded by the outbreak of COVID-19 which has disproportionately affected YP in the most socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Understanding YP's perspectives on what supports their mental health is important to develop policies that meet their needs. We conducted focus groups (n = 18 with 42 YP aged 13-21) in three geographical areas with high levels of deprivation in England, UK. Recruited through six local youth organisations, each group of YP took part in three interlinked focus groups designed to explore their perceptions of what impacts their health in their local area, and their understandings of health inequalities through participatory methods. Throughout their discussions, YP foregrounded the significance of mental health and mental health support structures. YP perceived challenges to accessing mental health provision and an unmet need for support within their local communities. Alongside this, YP consistently highlighted the importance of youth groups for promoting good mental health and mitigating challenges to poor mental health. However, ongoing cuts to the voluntary sector and universal services continue to impact areas and individuals in the greatest need. In the face of deficits in formal mental health support, our findings highlight the pressing need for increased investment in services focused on prevention (such as youth groups) in areas of high deprivation.

Delivery of alcohol brief interventions in community-based youth work settings: exploring feasibility and acceptability in a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Alcohol Brief Interventions (ABIs) are increasingly being delivered in community-based youth work settings. However, little attention has been paid to how they are being implemented in such settings, or to their feasibility and acceptability for practitioners or young people. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the context, feasibility and acceptability of ABI delivery in youth work projects across Scotland. METHODS: Individual, paired and group interviews were conducted with practitioners and young people in nine community projects that were either involved in the delivery of ABIs or were considering doing so in the near future. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyse data. RESULTS: ABIs were delivered in a diverse range of youth work settings including the side of football pitches, on the streets as part of outreach activities, and in sexual health drop-in centres for young people. ABI delivery differed in a number of important ways from delivery in other health settings such as primary care, particularly in being largely opportunistic and flexible in nature. ABIs were adapted by staff in line with the ethos of their project and their own roles, and to avoid jeopardising their relationships with young people. Young people reacted positively to the idea of having conversations about alcohol with youth project workers, but confirmed practitioners' views about the importance of these conversations taking place in the context of an existing trusting relationship. CONCLUSION: ABIs were feasible in a range of youth work settings with some adaptation. Acceptability to staff was strongly influenced by perceived benefits, and the extent to which ABIs fitted with their project's ethos. Young people were largely comfortable with such conversations. Future implementation efforts should be based on detailed consideration of current practice and contexts. Flexible models of delivery, where professional judgement can be exercised over defined but adaptable content, may be better appreciated by staff and encourage further development of ABI activity.

Bridging the gap: Using Veerman and Van Yperen's (2007) framework to conceptualise and develop evidence informed practice in an Irish youth work organisation.

While there is considerable support among the policy, practice and academic communities for the idea that practice in youth work should be based on evidence, Veerman and Van Yperen (2007) highlight the fact that little practice in the area of youth care is actually evidence based due to the paucity of experimental studies in the field and the difficulties associated with evaluation of non-standardised interventions such as youth work. They propose a model consisting of levels of evidence, the aim of which is to 'bridge the gap between evidence based and evidence informed practice' (p. 218). In order to address the dearth of examples in the international literature of how organisations have dealt with these complexities in practice, this article provides a case study of how a large Irish youth organisation, Foróige, has endeavoured to adopt an inclusive approach to evidence, working towards both evidence based and evidence informed practice. Drawing on Veerman and Van Yperen's (2007) framework, the case study shows that Foróige committed itself to gathering different types of evidence, including logic models and theoretical understandings at the foundation level and experimental design studies of key programmes at the advanced level. The case study focuses in detail on the intermediate level, whereby practitioners were trained to evaluate aspects of their own work, with a view to embedding evaluation and reflection in day to day practice. The process is described and key lessons emerging are discussed.

Jóvenes inmigrados en Lleida-Cataluña, España: transiciones escolares y laborales en un contexto de crisis / Migrant Youth in Lleida-Catalonia, Spain: School and work transitions in a context of crisis

El artículo analiza las experiencias migratorias y las transiciones en el sistema educativo y en el mercado laboral de un grupo de jóvenes inmigrados, en la ciudad de Lleida (Cataluña, España). La principal técnica de investigación fueron diez entrevistas orales a jóvenes inmigrados de distintas nacionalidades, complementadas por la observación y por entrevistas a profesores. Para los jóvenes, la escuela se convirtió en la principal institución de aprendizaje y reconstrucción de las relaciones de amistad y convivencia grupal en el país de acogida, pero también un espacio de tensiones, conflictos, violencias y discriminaciones. En un contexto de crisis, los jóvenes inmigrantes enfrentan problemas para llevar a cabo las transiciones laborales, causados por las restricciones legales a la inmigración, prejuicios raciales, precarización de las relaciones de trabajo y elevadas tasas de desempleo. Finalizamos esta investigación concluyendo que los sueños de estos jóvenes coinciden con los sueños de sus familiares adultos y de la mayoría de sus coetáneos: poder construir un proyecto de vida autónomo.

Juventude e educação profissionalizante: dimensões psicossociais do programa jovem aprendiz / Youth and professional education: the psychosocial dimensions of the young apprentices program

Este artigo pretende analisar os impactos psicossociais da relação entre educação e profissionalização na ótica dos jovens participantes de um Programa de Aprendizagem (PA). Aplicaram-se questionários a 99 jovens do PA buscando compreender: as razões do ingresso e permanência; a importância atribuída; as contribuições para o futuro profissional e a formação educacional. A análise qualitativa das respostas indicou forte influência de amigos/colegas de trabalho. Os jovens sugeriram melhorias e indicaram paradoxos na relação trabalho-formação. Utilizando aportes da psicologia social comunitária e visando a uma formação cidadã, foi proposta uma reflexão sobre juventude e educação profissionalizante, as contribuições para uma formação ampliada dos jovens, e sobre a dinâmica "estudante que trabalha" e "trabalhador que estuda".(AU)

This paper aims to analyze the psychosocial impacts of the relationship between education and professionalization in the view of young people participating in a Learning Program (PA). Questionnaires were applied to 99 young people from the PA aiming to understand: reasons for admission and permanence; estimated importance; contributions to professional future and educational background. The qualitative analysis indicated a strong influence from friends/co-workers. The young people suggested improvements and indicated paradoxes in the work-training relationship. Applying contributions from the Community Social Psychology and aiming at a civic formation, it was proposed a reflection about the relationship between youth and vocational education, contributions to an extended formation of young people and about the dynamics involving the "student who works" and the "worker who studies".