ORGANIZATIONAL ASPECTS OF SOCIAL WORK WITH YOUTH IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND UKRAINE: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The article presents the results of a comparative study, which aim is to analyze the organizational aspects of social work with youth in the UK (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) and Ukraine, based on the following parameters: definition of youth; youth policy and legislation; social work; youth and representation; youth work as a profession. The defined parameters are based on analytical materials from the Youth Policy Labs (Berlin, Germany).
The main research methods were identified as: comparative analysis of foreign and Ukrainian sources on social work; materials from official portals of international social work organizations (International Federation of Social Workers); regulatory documents on social work; generalization and systematization of data.
The research is based on youth social work strategies in the UK (Positive for Youth: A New Approach to Cross-Government Policy for Young People aged 13 to 19; Youth Policies in the UK (England) – 2019; Our Ambitions for Improving the Life Chances of Young People in Scotland: National Youth Work Strategy 2014-2019; Youth Work Strategy for Wales; Children and Young People’s Strategy 2020-2030; Children’s Services Co-operation Act (Northern Ireland)) and Ukrainian strategies and laws (Laws of Ukraine: “On the Basic Principles of Youth Policy”, “On Social Work with Families, Children and Youth”; “On Social Services”, National Youth Strategy until 2030).
It is summarized that social work with youth is an essential field in both countries, regulated by international and national normative documents that define the principles of social work, rights, and obligations of social workers. In social work with youth in Ukraine and the UK, youth organizations implementing youth policy play a significant role. At the same time, there are significant differences in social work between the two countries. Ukraine’s broader definition of youth (up to 35 years) represents a distinctive feature of social work in Ukraine. At the same time, the main difference is that social work in Ukraine adapts and responds to significant challenges caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war.