ABSTRACT
Youth work requires absolute absence of pressure over young people, creation of a friendly atmosphere, trust, a mutual understanding and freedom of self-realisation with no discrimination against any group or individual. Youth work settings were identified on the basis of having a reputation for attracting and working with older young people. In every setting, young people drew attention to the fact that there was ‘a lot of drugs and alcohol going round’, although this was not unanimously considered to be problematic. There was differential value placed upon the activities and events available to young people in different settings. More significantly, youth work offers a social space within which young people are able to congregate and socialise. Youth work has builtin limitations to its capacity to meet their expressed needs, both ‘vertical’ and ‘horizontal’. Youth work claims to be about ‘meeting the needs of young people’.
