The role of youth work in strengthening young people's agency

Abstract

Youth work is a profession located at the intersection of the helping professions. Due to its low visibility and prestige, it is often unclear—both to the wider public and to young people themselves—that youth work is organized with and for young people. The aim of this paper is to clarify what we mean by youth work and to explore the empowerment-oriented approach that characterizes its professional practices. Drawing on the example of a civil society–run youth work service operating in a housing estate area of a district in Budapest, we analyze how the empowerment of young people can be realized as part of helping practices. The paper places particular emphasis on comparing the concept of empowerment with interpretations of agency, arguing that young people are not merely subjects of helping processes but, in certain situations, actively constitute themselves as capable and agentic actors.