Becoming a Professional

The professional socialisation of graduating youth workers is a crucial issue to consider. The transition from education to full-time employment is a difficult enough process. The difficulties are magnified for youth workers because they are immediately expected to manage teams effectively, interact with government and religious agencies, represent the needs of young people in their locality, keep abreast of new legislation, put together funding bids - and so much more. All this as well as minister to the needs of the young people they serve! In this book, Joanne Griffiths considers the issues around becoming a professional youth worker. Drawing on case study research, she examines the fears of graduating youth workers alongside the comments of those who have recently graduated. Griffiths draws conclusions that have profound impact for the self-understanding of youth workers. This is also a crucial piece of research for all those who train youth workers and for those employing graduates.