Youth Work: A Deconstructive Approach for Those Who Work with Young Refugees

The authors contend that in an Australian institutional context that is shifting under the influence of corporate liberalism, not only has social justice lost some of its leverage as a framework for achieving change, but the constitution of youth work as a profession has also altered. They suggest that these two factors have implications for how we educate and train those who work with young people. In the context of a training workshop for workers who engage with young refugees, the paper proposes employing a deconstructive approach to youth work practice as an alternative to using a social justice framework.