@article{0897b4e8e6b64ced87aa34e5fc789512,
title = "Social justice or social control? An ethnographic study of detached youth work in Scotland",
abstract = "This article examines the experiences of a newly formed detached youth workproject in Scotland and its relationship to neo-liberal ideology. The growth ofneo-liberalism has, as with other social professions, made detached youth workvulnerable to a deficit-based approach. This has come hand-in-hand withmanagerial practices focused on efficient, targeted interventions deliveredthrough short term budgets. The article, drawing on ethnographic data,describe a team of youth workers challenged with reconciling their deepcommitment to delivering a programme of relational youth work with thetargeted focus of the project on {\textquoteleft}risky{\textquoteright} youth and associated local apparatus ofcommunity safety. Throughout youth work{\textquoteright}s history the dividing line betweenyouth work and mechanisms of social control has been slippery to navigate. Thearticle argues that emergent neo-liberal ideology presents a furtherprofessional challenge to youth work. In the context of austerity and awidening neo-liberal policy agenda from Westminster, Scottish youth workersare being required to work harder to demonstrate that the service is not simplythere to target {\textquoteleft}risky{\textquoteright} social groups or {\textquoteleft}plug the gaps{\textquoteright} that the state can nolonger provide. Youth workers, in this context, must continue to make the casein defence of well-resourced, universal youth work and its potential tocontribute to tackling social injustice and inequality.",
keywords = "youth work, community safety, antisocial behaviour, neo-liberalism, austerity",
author = "Emma Davidson",
year = "2020",
month = may,
day = "1",
doi = "10.3366/scot.2020.0318",
language = "English",
volume = "29",
pages = "254--276",
journal = "Scottish Affairs",
issn = "0966-0356",
publisher = "Edinburgh University Press",
number = "2",
}