Introduction

This website aims to enhance the value of the field of child and youth support practice and to act as a catalyst for expanding public understanding of its value.
Our focus is to consider child and youth support from a Youth Work perspective.

From a youth work perspective, our particular focus is on creating ‘places’（’ba’ in Japanese）. However, this does not mean neglecting the perspective of nurturing the human being as an individua’. In youth work, human dignity and human rights of each individual are also an irreplaceable value. What we emphasise is that it is essential for the development of each child and young person to be nurtured in a ‘place’ where they can live in peace.

From this background, our research group is working on the development of ‘media (methods)’ that can serve as a medium for learning for the field and practitioners, and at the same time for communicating the value of this work to society.
At the moment, we are working on the following two areas

（１）
An initiative in which practitioners talk and listen to each other’s ‘stories’ that best express the values of their practice (Storytelling), speakers record their stories, read each other and revise them (Documentation), and then share and communicate their expressions to the world of their peers and society.

（２）
An introduction to the work on ethics and evaluation in youth work that has been accumulated in the European countries/organizations. Ethics and self-discipline of professional communities are essential for developing good practice especially related to interpersonal assistance.
At the same time, it is also issue that needs to be addressed that the development of methods for reflection in the workplace and evaluation by professional communities, which are appropriate to the characteristics of the support of children and young people.

This website is run by the Research Group on Youth Support and Youth Work (represented by Maki Hiratsuka, Professor at Hosei University), funded by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research* from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) for three terms since 2012 (as of FY2021). The Group consists of the practitioners and researchers in Japan involved in youth support and youth work.
This website describes the outputs of the Group to date and will continue to keep you informed of the progress of its efforts. We plan to add more English-language pages in the future.
We look forward to your continued interests and supports.

March,2022