Youth work in
the context of public Space
By: Joe Frankel
2013
When working with young people a common context that youth workers will
find
themselves in is working within public space. When working with young
people within
public space there can be some unique issues arising that a worker must be equipped to
deal with. These include issues of perceptions of young people by other
groups; young
people’s own fears in public space; alcohol and drug issues, anti social
behaviour and
preventing boredom in public space (Hatzopoululos & Clancey, 2007 ).
Public space work
with young people is unique in that it can encompass other fields of
practice and still have
people who work in public space should employ. These include concepts
such as consultation
processes, correctly identifying problems, facilitating participation of
stakeholders, inclusive
responses, skill development and pooling of resources.
Before there is a definition of where community space
practice can be practiced there must be
a definition of public space. Simply put, public space
is any place people can
meet and socialise. Places that could be considered
public space include parks, malls,
shopping centres skate parks, bike paths, railway
stations/bus stops and car parks
Hatzopoululos & Clancey, 2007 ). White and Wyn (2011) go further not just
describing public space as areas where young people
congregate without purpose rather
describing them as places where young people
congregate to make visible their identity by
showing the world who they are. This shows that public
space is more than just a place to
hang out it is a place where young people express
themselves and they develop their identify
which is an important part of human development. This
makes public space practice an
essential field of practice in youth work broadly
(White & Wyn 2011).
Identifying public space is not simply a list of the above areas. There
are many
grey areas that also define what a public space is (White & Wyn,
2011). As Hatzopoululos
and Clancey (2007) correctly identify shopping centres are accessed and
used
as public space by many young people and are seen to be public places for the sole
purpose
of consumption (Shields, 2003) but in fact shopping centres are not
considered public
space by definition as they are mostly privately owned (Lowe &
Lovejoy, 2000).
As such young people accessing
the space need to have fit into the mould of
consumption within the shopping centre or risk being excluded (White
& Wyn, 2011).
Shopping centres can offer good space to socialise with peers however
because of this clash
between occupying space for socialisation and consumerism young people
can often be
excluded from shopping centres because of they are not contributing
financially to the
shopping centre (Nilan, Juilan & Germov, 2007).
Because of media & moral panic in the
public domain concerning young people accessing public space, young people
rarely get to tell their side of the story (White and Wyn, 2011). A young male who frequents Westfield
Parramatta a shopping centre in Greater Western Sydney (GWS) explains that
people label his peers as criminals when in fact the issue is that people don’t
understand they just want to a place to have fun (Ahmed cited in Butcher &
Thomas, 2003). This experience is also
highlighted by Crane (2010) that young people who have had negative experiences
within their community feel that they have been negatively stereotyped and have
had negative experiences in the way that people treat them (Crane, 2010). Although these negative experiences of young
people within public space are commonplace, it is important not to stereotype
young people as there is diversity within this demographic as with any age
bracket. Due to this, the experiences that young people will have in public
space will reflect this diversity (Crane, 2010). It is said that public space can have a huge
role in young people shaping their identify therefore it is important that
young people can positively engage with public space. As a youth worker it is
important to help positively foster young people’s engagement with different
public spaces (White & Wyn 2011).
When young people are excluded from public space however, it as almost
always ideologically driven. An example of this occurred in 1997 at the Myer
Centre in Brisbane’s CBD. A 14 year old male with a mohawk hairstyle was
ejected not for behavioural concerns but
due to the ideological constructions others place on him due to his
appearance (White & Sutton, 1995;
Crane, Adkins & Marsden,
2000).
It is important that
young people are included in public space for many reasons. These include the
need to use them as meeting points, socialising areas, to sustain friendship
networks, as an alternative to paid entertainment and also to strengthen
friendship networks and meet new friends (Hatzopoulos & Clancey, 2007).
In the Myer Centre example, this young person was denied this opportunity.
There is clearly a lack of programs, activities and services occurring within
public space even though it provides an opportunity to reach young people often
at times when they most need it, such as the weekends when traditionally youth
work organizations are closed (Hatzopoulos & Clancey, 2007). One of the most effective service delivery
models in public space practice is outreach which can engage young people where
they meet, outside of normal business hours. Therefore it is important that
services participate on all levels of practice from micro, the direct work with
young people; to the mezzo, consultation, focus groups and issue
identification; to the macro level, including local governments, state governments
and federal governments participating in the planning and the funding of public
space work (Hatzopoulos & Clancey, 2007).
Public space practice can occur in various
non-government organisations (NGOs), local,
State and Federal government contexts however the way
it is delivered can be different
depending on the context of the agencies. For example
an NGO may have a more direct
approach to working in a public space context than a
state government body which means
practitioners would need a flexible professional skill
set to suit the context in which they are
working. An
example of a service delivery program in the context of public space is
National
Youth Week which involves various Federal, State,
local government bodies and non-
government agencies.Youth week in New South Wales is
funded and sponsored by the
Department of Education and Communities and sponsored by Transport
NSW, and the NSW
Health's Sexually Transmitted Infections Programs Unit and Beyond
Blue and it is
recommended that local Councils jointly fund events see attachment
1. These events are
examples of soft entry points because they engage young people and
youth services in a
less formal domain than would otherwise be available in normal
youth services settings
(Youth week NSW, 2013).
Another aspect of public space practice with young
people is that it provides opportunities to
gauge broader community insights than those of just
the young people accessing
public space areas. Over the past decades people who
are working in public space contexts
have seen public space become more contested (Nilan,
Julian & Germov, 2007). Because
of this underlying contest, a good practice principle
is engagement and strategic planning
with stakeholders which include young people (White
& Wyn, 2011). Although this is a good
practice principle, engagement with all stakeholders
can be difficult especially when they
have opposing values and cultural norms this can
hinder engagement (Hill, 1988 ). Another
principle that workers should engage with in this context
is to define and reflect on the role
they have taken on this. Some of the points they could
reflect on include forming an
understanding of the role, how they will undertake it,
how they will continue to improve
processes within that role and how they measure
achievements (Knott & Scragg, 2010).
As already discussed, the role of youth workers in the
context of public space varies
greatly, therefore it is important to define roles when
working in the context of public
space. There are however some principles that should
be employed when working with young
people. These include such things as inclusive
consultations which is done to gain insights
and understandings of what the issues in that
particular area are. Also it allows the
stakeholders of a particular public space to have a
voice when looking at what is happening in
this public space. Problem identification skills are
important as considering data gathered in
consultations and analysing it to make meaningful
contributions help calm any issues that are
going on at that particular time. The ability to
facilitate participation is also a very important
skill as it helps engage stakeholders with the issues
and makes sure that marginalising the
concerns of people within that public space does not
occur. Inclusive responses are important
because many responses to issues within public space
practice can unknowingly marginalise
people and whilst an immediate response may fix some
of the problems it can unknowingly
have consequences on other stakeholders. The pooling
of resources is effective because it can
help achieve results that would not have been possible
if a response was developed in
isolation.
Skills development is important for all industries who work within the
domain of
public space because there are inconsistencies in how
different agencies and sectors work
within public space. Skills development can help
provide consistency and makes sure that
people working within public space can be consistent
when responding to issues. Whilst these
principles are listed separately for clarity it is
suggested that these principles should be
considered together in the development of any response
relating to young people accessing
public space (Hatzopoululos & Clancey, 2007).
Attachment 2 describes key policy and legislation relevant to public space practice. These are relevant to all age groups however it would be essential for a youth worker to be aware of current legislation affecting public space practice because legal issues arise constantly within public space work. However it is not just legislative law that interfaces with public space practice. Local government policy also affects public space practice for example in the area of planning guidelines. Common law also interfaces with public space, with issues such as duty of care being relevant (White and Wyn, 2011). This table outlines legislation and key policy and State based legislation that regulates public space including the Security industry Act 1997 (Nsw). This impacts on young people as the legislation gives security guards the power to guard, watch, or protect property with reasonable force s2(8). However what this legislation lacks is any specificity to what reasonable force looks like. Two other key legislations in NSW that impact on a youth workers practice and the experience young people have in public space are Law Enforcement (Powers And Responsibilities) Act 2002 (Nsw) and the Crimes Act 1990 (Nsw) these pieces of legislation both interface with young people’s experiences of policing in public space however both have two separate functions. The Crime Act 1990 (NSW) s8 outlines that any offence, conduct or language made in an open or public place makes a person liable to apprehension. So therefore this act outlines broadly what is not acceptable in a public place. The Law Enforcement (Powers And Responsibilities) Act 2002 (Nsw) on the other hand outlines what the police can do within public spaces. It states that they have the ability to move people on without justification s197 (1). It does outline some examples of why people could be moved on for such as obstructing traffic or drinking in a public space. This act also allows police officers to disperse groups of people s198a (1). This may be of particular relevance as it is well documented in the literature that when young people access public space it is generally about connecting with peers and social networks (Hatzopoulos & Clancey, 2007). An example of common law that interfaces with public space practice with young people is duty of care however it may not interface as one may think it often is used as way of excluding young people from spaces such shopping centres. The argument is often made that it is about public liability or duty of care obligations to customers but is used to exclude particularly indigenous and homeless young people and rather than being in response to illegal activity it seems more often than not that is judged on what can be described as annoying behaviour (Crane, 2000). Youth Action, the peakbody for youth organisations in New South Wales describes duty of care as a holistic approach where the worker considers the safety of the young person and others, maintains confidentially, considers the needs of the client and remembers that each situation is different and needs to be assessed accordingly (Youth Action Duty of care guidelines, 2013). Examined against what Crane (2000) is implying, it would seem that duty of care is being used as a way to exclude young people without question based on what could be considered offensive behaviour.
One of the ethical
issues about public space practice with young people is how to police public
space. There is a tension between young people accessing public space and
socialising and the way that it is viewed by the rest of society (Butcher &
Thomas , 2003). This intensifies the
issue of how to fairly police public space. Police describe it as being under
siege caught between the fears of the community and the needs of young people
to have access to public space (Butcher & Thomas, 2003). White (1990) explains that there is an
underlying tension between young people and other generations that is fuelled
by various media and political outbursts and there is a tension of what is
acceptable and what is not in regards to public space. Another ethical issue arises
because of the diversity of young people and their subcultural groups. The
argument is that workers should either be agents for fostering individualism or
acting as social control agents (White, 1990). Both of these clashing
ideologies are problematic when it comes to public space practice. Firstly
promoting individualism between different cultural subgroups can inadvertently
create a division between different young people’s sub cultural groups that can
inadvertently create spatial barriers, causing young people who are not in
those particular subgroups to be excluded from different areas of public space
(Butcher & Thomas, 2003). An example of this is comes from Sydney where two
different sub cultural groups inadvertently defined areas that young people
could hang out based on what kind of pants they were wearing. The wearers of
Addidas tracksuit pants and Billabong board shorts would often clash over
spatial areas which created some discomfort within the community (Butcher &
Thomas, 2003). The competing paradigm of youth workers as social control agents
is not superior in its premise that certain ideas should be fostered to mediate
what is seen as various forms of youth rebellion (White, 1990). The social
control paradigm is also not ideal as it can lead to disengagement as it shown
that young people who are socially included are more likely to participate
within their communities (France, 2001). When working with young people White
(1990) explains that there are two paradigms when working in the context of
public space but each is not independent and that both of these should be taken
into account.
As previously mentioned the unique aspect of
working within a public space context is that it can encompass a variety of
other fields of practice in the youth work sector Hatzopoululos & Clancey,
2007 ). One of the areas that intersects
with public space practice is drug and alcohol work with young people. One of
the main drug and alcohol programs in NSW is SOS (Street Outreach Service). The
main goal of SOS is to reach young people outside the context of an office
space and to connect to people who may be marginalised by society by a pre
existing drug habit. It aims to empower young people with information and
referral pathways to make positive decisions about unhealthy lifestyle habits
(Drug Arm, 2011). When conducting outreach
work within this sector two important practice principles outlined by Drug Arm are‘client centred service delivery’ and ‘respecting clients’ (Drug Arm, 2011).
These practice principles are in line with what Dovetail considers good
practice for youth workers working in this sector however Dovetail go into more
detail about the approaches they use such as harm reduction, supply reduction and demand reduction but essentially
they are backed up by the same
principles outlined by drug arm (Dovetail, 2012; Drug Arm, 2011).
As a human service worker how I conceive my
role is centred upon Crane’s (2003) diagram which is based around service users’
rights, however I currently use this model more broadly to reflect on my own practice.
The diagram offers a starting point for the first skill that I think is very
important in public space work with young people and that is reflection.
Reflection is important to practice because it help you integrate your own
moral compass, organisational policy, broader socio-political issues to form some idea of how you are going
to proceeded with your public space work (Fisher & Somerton, 2010). I believe that contextualising the space you
working in is essential because the nature of public space is a complex issue encompassing who owns the space, who is allowed to
accesses and are there ideologies used to exclude people. When I look at public
space I like to think of it as the plain where many systems interact with one
another, coexist and sometimes clash. For these reasons I think systems theory
can be employed to give an understanding of how people can interact with other
systems within their environment (Payne, 2005).
The other theory that I think is of particular relevance to public space
practice is structural theory as this can give a worker and understanding of
how different structures within society can use their power to marginalise
people (Payne, 2005). This can be seen in the case of shopping centres using
their powers to exclude people based on ideological assumptions (Crane,
Adkins & Marsden, 2000). It is essential that people reflect on their
moral compass in this field of practice as so often the morals of young people
in public space are often questioned by media and political bodies (White and
Wyn, 2011). I believe that based on what
I have read and work I have done within public space it is essential for young
people to develop social skills, sources of entertainment and a sense of
freedom that can help develop their identity (Usien & Clancey, 2007). Some of the key values that youth workers in
public space should take into account include partnerships between young people
and others when accessing public space; the involvement of young people in or
having input into the management of public space; the establishment of a safe
open forum where young people and other stakeholders of public space can voice
their concerns; participation in the public space and understanding that young
people aren’t just in a transient stage of development “...
just at that age’ but instead that young people are unique within our
society and their culture deserves to be fostered (Usien & Clancey, 2007).
This essay discussed the concept of public
space providing definition of the concepts an
challenges faced by youth workers in this
field. It has outlined the major service types
available and models of service delivery. A discussion
was provided of good practice
principles including the importance of ;
inclusivity, problem identification, participation
facilitation, pooling of resources and skills
development and recognition given to the fact that
these principles should be applied in an
holistic response. There were two ethical concerns
identified. Firstly notions of community
safety in public space and secondly dilemma for
youth workers of choosing appropriate practice
strategies in order to either foster
individuality or act as social control agent
fitting young people into society. It was concluded
that workers should apply these principles and
use them in a complementary manner
according to the situation rather than viewing
them as competing paradigms. Analysis was
also provided showing that public space is a
unique practice context as it an arena where
other complicating practice context such drug
and alcohol work can occur. Finally a
reflection was provided which outlined my
philosophy underpinning my practice within the
context of public space.
