ABSTRACT
At the end of the New Labour period a greater emphasis had been placed upon the importance of structured activities and targeted support, and although the delivery of this policy agenda brought political recognition and funding, this shift in focus increasingly polarised the field. Some (often managers) argued that youth work was far better off than it had been in 1997, in a position of strength with genuine recognition from central government for the unique role it plays in the lives of young people. Youth work, it was argued, was now regarded as a professional service which could clearly display its benefits and was located at the heart of Children’s Trusts. However, there were also many (often practitioners) who saw youth work as a peripheral ‘bit-part’ player in a complex web of integrated services, under pressure from more powerful interests. More importantly, it had had its core values and its legitimacy eroded, and had been infected by a ‘case work approach’, ‘accreditation targets’ and ‘positive activities’.
