The Dilemmas Youth Workers Face Regarding Families of Participants

Griffith, Aisha

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/18525 Copy

Description

Title

The Dilemmas Youth Workers Face Regarding Families of Participants

Author(s)

Griffith, Aisha

Issue Date

2011-01-21T22:44:26Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Larson, Reed W.

Department of Study

Human & Community Development

Discipline

Human & Community Development

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• youth workers
• youth development programs
• positive youth development
• out-of-school time programs

Abstract

The objective of this qualitative study was to gain preliminary knowledge of the nature of youth workers’ dilemmas involving families and the underlying issues they entail. This study used grounded theory methods of analysis to explore the dilemmas youth workers face regarding families of participants in twelve high quality youth programs serving high school aged youth. The two questions explored were: What categories of dilemmas do youth workers face regarding families? What considerations do youth workers have when faced with such dilemmas? Four dilemma categories with distinct considerations were identified that specifically focused on the parents of participants. The dilemmas youth workers faced included being concerned about a participant with family problems, having the parent of a participant make demands on the program, having a parent not support their child’s participation, and needing to share information with parents. This study suggests that effective youth workers engage in a reflective process as well as a strategic balancing of interests to best serve youth when such dilemmas arose.

Graduation Semester

2010-12

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/18525

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2010 Aisha Griffith

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