Perspectives for professional work with children and young people (SEPTEMBER)

Perspectives for professional work with the intercultural audiences:

I think that it is important in general in the social work to know and to understand the others cultures (even if the culture which can be similar with his/hers),and its functioning. As a social worker, I must not have prejudgements or/and prejudices. Because, these will be a hindrance to the help that I could bring.
The fact to understand and to have knowledge on the culture of my audience, I could adapt my behaviour, my language and my methods. This allows to give confidence to my public while the interviews or/and the meetings. If they have confidence, they could express freely. The communication between the professional and the children or the young people will be easier. Thus, I could bring them an appropriated and adapted help.
To understand the others cultures, it allows me to help people with different culture, to find their place in the society, and to feel integrated in the society. For example, the excision is considered like the normal custom in some African countries. But, in France or in the occidental countries, we are so shocking by this practice. But if we try to understand it, we remark that this practice allows the socialization of a girl within her tribe. Without the excision, the girl will be to reject by the rest of her tribe. After, it is necessary to explain them that this practice still is dangerous. And it is forbidden in France, because it opposes to the children and human rights.

The difficulties that I can meet if the person has another culture, are mainly the incomprehension. Because the barriers of the tongue, the difference between traditions or/and customs can be important. So the consequence is the incomprehension, the communication will be more difficult to establish. But, it is the aim of the social worker to find others methods to allow this communication.

Perspectives for professional work with children:

The work doing with the children is very important because it is during this work that the children learn and integrate the rules, the norms and the values conveyed by the society. This learning allows their socialization. Of course, the first factor of socialization is the family, but then it is the education system (by the school and the meeting with the social workers).
I think that the children need limits to grow up correctly and to be integrated in the society. I think that the role of the social worker is to impose these limits. For the learning of the children is successful, it needs that they try to do themselves the everyday life acts. It isn’t professional to do these acts, instead of the children. The work with the children is successful, it needs so to take into account the psychology of the children. For example, the professional must not say only « no ». It needs that he/she explains why this act is forbidden. And another example: instead of to say « Down, you'll hurt yourself », it needs to say « Down, because I fear that you're hurt ». It is necessarily  to take into account the children, it needs to be careful with them. It is important to consider the child like competent. For example, when we were diapering, it needs to talk with the child and not with the colleague who works next to. Because, this act can be to feel like a violence for the child. In France, it exists a book which deals with these violences ( Où commence la violence? Pour une prévention chez le tout-petit, written by DALLOZ in 2003).

Perspectives for professional work with young people:

The work doing with the young people is important, because it allows to show them that some of the behaviour can be dangerous for themselves and the others. It needs also, to show them that these behaviour can them exclude in the society. So, it needs to work together to try to challenge their system. Thus, then we could to find a new system where the young people will feel good to live within. And the work doing with them, it allows to help them to across this transition and difficult period.
At this age, the new factor of socialization appears, this is the friends (peer group). So they can have a negative influence on the young person. It is important that the social worker show his/her that the differences between the good and the bad values and to « back on trail » them .
It is the aim of a social worker to provoke, to help, to accompany the young people in the involvement in the society. So, the young people must be to integrate in the system, it is the system integration that is to say, they must have abilities to find a job, to take and to assume their responsibilities. Also, the young people must be to be integrate in the society, it is the social integration, that is to say, to find their place in their families, to have relationship with the others young people, to create and to have the social network, etc.
The most important in the work with the youth is the communication. To facilitate or/and to engage easier the communication with the young people, we can use different methods or activities (example: drama, music, sport, etc.) I think that the assistance to be successful, it needs that the professionals stays every time in contact with them by the debate, the dialogue, the listen, etc.
For my opinion, the integration is important, because this is the concept which allows to young people to blossom correctly and healthy, to become independent and to have more chance of having a better life. Because without the integration, they could be to marginalize and to stigmatize, and to live in one of these situation is very difficult.

For my opinion, to allow the integration and the socialization are the main aims of the social worker.