the right to participate is not just for young people, but for all people, and is anchored to the conviction that participation is a good thing. Youth workers want to involve young people in decision-making processes to support their right to participate (or not) and to promote young people’s personal development, enhance civic and community... See more

In most countries young people under the age of majority are ‘disenfranchised’, that is to say, they have limited opportunities to engage with the political process and governance structures of their country, state or province by virtue of their age and thus are often excluded from political and civic decision-making (Corney 2004, 2014a, 2014b;... See more

Ideally, youth workers will facilitate and/or use models of participation that are developed by and/or with young people for use by them and with them, assisting youth workers to include young people in the organisational processes of doing youth work, rather than only as a way of measuring how involved young people are in the decision-making of an... See more

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 12 (2009), outlines nine essential requirements for effective, ethical and meaningful participation; fully implemented, these provide a complete ethical code for facilitating participation with young people.

It is important to be reminded of the ‘voluntary association’ principle in youth work (UN Committee on the Rights of the Child 2009) and that as soon as young people are mandated or obliged to participate, this undermines the point of participation as well as a key principle of youth work.

as critical dialogue is central to youth work practice, so youth workers must be open to dialogue with young people who hold different views. Working with diverse voices and elevating those voices that are often silent are important and crucial to good participation.

A measure or rationale for making difficult decisions with young people can be found in the UNCRC ‘best interests’ principle. It is important to ask what the benefits for all young people are, what the direct outcomes or consequences will be for those who participate in the decisions and who will be affected by them – be these effects moral,... See more

literature confirms that the participation of young people in decision-making is useful in the development and evaluation of policy, programs and services. It improves the quality and informs the effectiveness of service delivery and the meeting of young people’s needs (Shtebunaev 2020)

Critical dialogue is a common practice within youth work. Youth work literature agrees on the importance of ‘dialogical conversations’ as a key part of youth work practice and youth participation and empowerment processes (Beck & Purcell 2010; Coburn 2010; Cooper, C. 2011). In relation to the concept of empowerment, a key method used in youth work... See more