6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
6 Country Reports on Youth Work - Jugendpolitik in Europa
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In Austria, <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>al youth work is youth work carried out by state or municipal youth<br />
departments. Each <strong>on</strong>e of the n<strong>in</strong>e states of the Austrian federati<strong>on</strong> has its own youth<br />
department, which coord<strong>in</strong>ates youth work <strong>in</strong> the state, offers services and organises<br />
activities for young people.<br />
With regard to youth <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong>, there are Internet portals affiliated with the federal<br />
government that provide <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> various topics related to young people. Mak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
youth-relevant <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> available is a c<strong>on</strong>cept encouraged by European Commissi<strong>on</strong>´s<br />
White Paper <strong>on</strong> youth. The aim is to provide young people as well as youth workers and<br />
parents with helpful <strong>in</strong>formati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> different issues 15<br />
.<br />
One of the most important fields of acti<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> Austrian youth work of all k<strong>in</strong>ds is the field of<br />
preventi<strong>on</strong> of social problems. Not <strong>on</strong>ly do many youth organisati<strong>on</strong>s identify preventi<strong>on</strong> as<br />
their ma<strong>in</strong> focus, but there is also a lot of preventi<strong>on</strong> work d<strong>on</strong>e without even recognis<strong>in</strong>g it as<br />
such. N<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> ten youth organisati<strong>on</strong>s offer activities to help young people ga<strong>in</strong> more selfc<strong>on</strong>fidence<br />
and more self-c<strong>on</strong>trol – someth<strong>in</strong>g which is generally perceived as a preventative<br />
measure. The topics covered by preventi<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> youth work are ma<strong>in</strong>ly <strong>in</strong> the fields of drug<br />
abuse/addicti<strong>on</strong> and violence, followed by sexual abuse and AIDS/HIV. Other areas of<br />
preventative youth work are racism, crim<strong>in</strong>al behaviour, sexuality and hazardous leisure time<br />
activities. 16 A lot of youth work takes the form of activities such as parties or sport<strong>in</strong>g events.<br />
There are also workshops cover<strong>in</strong>g a wide range of issues and educati<strong>on</strong>al offers. Most<br />
youth organisati<strong>on</strong>s give their target public the opportunity to work creatively <strong>in</strong> different<br />
areas such as youth, envir<strong>on</strong>ment or drugs and addicti<strong>on</strong>. The latter topics <strong>on</strong>ce aga<strong>in</strong> fall<br />
<strong>in</strong>to the category of preventative youth work 17 . In additi<strong>on</strong>, youth work <strong>in</strong> Austria <strong>in</strong>cludes<br />
counsell<strong>in</strong>g for young people. Over 70% of youth <strong>in</strong>stituti<strong>on</strong>s offer counsell<strong>in</strong>g services to<br />
assist young <strong>in</strong>dividuals with issues such as occupati<strong>on</strong>al choices and work-related<br />
questi<strong>on</strong>s as well as problems perta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g to drugs and addicti<strong>on</strong> <strong>in</strong> general. Other areas<br />
covered by this type of counsell<strong>in</strong>g are school-related issues, family problems and questi<strong>on</strong>s<br />
about relati<strong>on</strong>ships and sexuality. There is also counsell<strong>in</strong>g <strong>on</strong> the issue of community work<br />
<strong>in</strong> lieu of military service 18 . Some youth work <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g recreati<strong>on</strong>al activities can be<br />
described as educati<strong>on</strong>al. The Austrian m<strong>in</strong>istry resp<strong>on</strong>sible for youth matters has also<br />
commissi<strong>on</strong>ed research to study new trends <strong>in</strong> youth culture. The objective of these studies<br />
was to ga<strong>in</strong> more <strong>in</strong>sight <strong>in</strong>to new developments <strong>in</strong> order to apply the newly found knowledge<br />
<strong>in</strong> future c<strong>on</strong>cepts of youth work.<br />
15 http://www.jugend.bmsg.gv.at<br />
16 4. Bericht zur Lage der Jugend <strong>in</strong> Österreich (2003b)<br />
17 4. Bericht zur Lage der Jugend <strong>in</strong> Österreich (2003b)<br />
18 4. Bericht zur Lage der Jugend <strong>in</strong> Österreich (2003b)<br />
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