NCJ Number
228864
Journal
Child & Youth Services Volume: 30 Issue: 3/4 Dated: December 2008 Pages: 145-163
Date Published
December 2008
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This introductory article for a series of articles on "Professional Issues in Child and Youth Care Practice" provides an overview of the features of a "professional issue," professional issues of a professional organization, and writing about the professional issues of child and youth care.
Abstract
As used in the articles in this series, a "professional issue" must meet some, most, or all of six criteria. First, it involves societal, cultural, and political issues that may impact the practitioners. Second, it is an issue that reflects the systems context in which child and youth care practitioners operate. Third, it reflects the employment context of child and youth care practitioners. Fourth, it involves the career development prospects of child and youth care practitioners. Fifth, it reflects the interactions of practitioners with professionals within the field or from other fields. Sixth, it is fundamentally about the practitioner, even if it arises in the context of the practitioner interacting with a child, youth, or family. Professional issues of professional organizations pertain to the organizational infrastructure of the profession. This article notes that the concept of a professional organization for child and youth care practitioners is impeded by the significant variations in preservice qualifications of child and youth care practitioners, differences in how and why these practitioners are given job assignments, and uneven levels of commitment to the discipline by practitioners. In addressing the topic of writing about the professional issues of child and youth care, this article argues that the single greatest professional issue facing child and youth care practitioners everywhere is their relatively low competence or interest in writing, communication, and articulation of conceptual themes. Related to this low competence is the failure of child and youth care professionals to engage in debates that are unfolding in journals and professional publications. 51 references