ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that international comparative research on the recognition of, and response to, vulnerable young people can offer insight into the nature of social work practices within and between different nations. Youth vulnerability gets different descriptions due to time and contextual framework. One challenge is the different ways of defining youth within a life course framework. Another challenge is the context-bound youth vulnerability. Context sensitive research seeks to recognise, and decentre, cultural assumptions through which social phenomena are understood. Vulnerable young people occupy an uncertain place in the social policy regimes and social work practices of many nations. The chapter discusses how to build a framework for comparative research to create knowledge for practice with vulnerable young people. Comparative research to build knowledge for practice is complicated by the hierarchical categorisation of international comparative research projects. The chapter focuses on the methodological challenges and solutions in undertaking context-sensitive international comparative research with, and for, vulnerable young people.
