University of San Carlos

P. Del Rosario Street

Cebu City

Department of Business Administration

School of Business and Economics

A Book Review on:

Youth Work Ethics by Jonathan Roberts

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of

BA 102A Business Ethics
9:00AM-10:30AM - TTh - GR344 – 2nd Semester AY 2018-2019

Submitted by:
SEVILLENO, ANDREI B.

Submitted to:
MARIA ANGELITA RAMONA L. VALLES
Faculty Adviser

March 23, 2019

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 BOOK REVIEW PAPER #: 1

Name of Student: Sevilleno, Andrei B. Date: March 18, 2019

A. GENERAL FEATURES OF THE BOOK

Title of the Book: Youth Work Ethics

Name of Author/s: Jonathan Roberts
Place of Publication: 33 Southernhay East, Exeter EX1 1 NX, UK
Name of Publisher: Learning Matters Ltd.
Copyright 2009
Date: June 16, 2009
Total No. of Pages: 176

B. SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE BOOK

Preface: It is not found in the book.

Foreword from the Series Editors: This part of the book introduces the history and the current
situation in a working environment especially to those workplaces that involve youth work. The
series editors introduced this book as part of a series of texts called “Empowering Youth and
Community Work Practice.” It is published with the intention to help the youth understand their
value in the workplace and it is aimed for students in youth and community work courses.
Author’s Background: Jonathan Roberts has been involved in youth work for many years and
currently is a Principal Lecturer leading youth work courses at the University of Teesside.
Amongst his previous roles, he has been Church of England National Youth Officer, Company
Secretary for Sutherland Youth Employment Project and regional coordinator for the
Community Work Assessment Consortium for North East England. He has been working in
Middlesbrough at the University of Teesside since 2003, and has developed the Msc Youth
Work Course, the BSc Youth Studies and Youth Work, and the Foundation Degree Working
with Young People and Young People’s Services.
Table of Contents: The Table of Contents is very brief and it consists of only one page
containing a foreword from the series editors and 9 chapters. The titles are identified by using
phrases and is arranged in a way that it starts from the background of the book then the concepts
involved and then in application.
List of Figures: It is not found in the book.
List of Tables: It is not found in the book.
Glossary: It is not found in the book.
Index: The index consists of three pages which is composed of a listing of both subject and
author. The subjects and the authors listed in the index are found in the pages that are given in
the index.
Appendix: It is not found in the book.
Bibliography: It is not found in the book.
Others: I actually prefer books that are lightweight and easy to carry and contains important
information and is presented in a concise way which is on of the reasons why I picked the book
in the first place and I also got the feeling that it’s relevant to me because of its title.

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C. SUMMARY
The book “Youth Work Ethics” by Jonathan Roberts gives description about the nature of
youth work and how ethics is integrated in it. It talks about the things that are evident in the
workplace where there are youths involved. In chapter one, he explained the background of
youth work ethics and gave a brief summary of the succeeding chapters of the books which
contains the way the book looks at the areas of ethical debate listed below:

 Chapters 2, 3, 4 looks at the major values of youth work: association, listening, equality
and taking part in society.

 Chapter 5 addresses the ways in which the groups of young people we work with are the
settings for learning about right and wrong by young people.

 Chapter 6 focuses on the NYA code of practice for youth workers.

 Chapter 7 reflects on the way projects are developed and managed by stakeholders, and
the way that purpose can be maintained and developed.

 Chapter 8 looks at the central issue of finding evidence and using it.

 Chapter 9 draws together the elements of the discussion and looks at effective ways of
balancing contradictory demands.

The author emphasized the role of youth individuals not just in the society that we live in but
also in the workplace that they are in. He also elaborated on the rights that the youth have but it
may have been overlooked, abused or misinterpreted by both youths and older professionals in
the workplace. He also gave insights on how the youth can handle and resolve ethical issues in
the workplace and how youth workers can aid the youth in achieving this goal.

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 The topics that I understood well were the values discussed in the books which the author
perceives to be a major values of youth work and the ethical principles involved in the National
Youth Agency’s (NYA) ethical code which was discussed in chapter six.
The values mentioned in the book are association, listening equality and participation. I
believe that these values are very much important for youths because youth work expresses value
in our society. They give contributions that are essential to the society. Learning these values
will give the youths a feeling that they have a say in the society. People need association so that
they can fell that sense of belongingness. Listening is a very important tool especially for youth
workers because of these reasons: it puts young people center stage, it allows for nuanced
understanding, it enables power to be exercised by young people and can have therapeutic
results. Equality is also essential because it gives the people and experience of being equal and
recognizing another people’s equality. Participation shows a young person’s free membership of
society. These values are very important especially for young individuals who are joining the
workforce so that they can have a say into what is happening in the society.
The book discussed the NYA ethical code which contains eight principles that the author
divided into two types, namely:
 Ethical principles that focus on the young person
o Respecting young people
o Promoting young people’s choices
o Ensuring the welfare and safety for young people
o Seeking social justice for young people
 Ethical principles that focus on the workplace
o Keeping professional boundaries in your work
o Being accountable for your work
o Achieving competence in your work
o Promoting ethical practice in your work.
These principles are very important for young individuals in order to help resolve the ethical
issues in the workplace and how to conduct things in the workplace professionally.
I understood these topics very well because the author explained the very thoroughly. For
example, in listening, he gave further explanations to the reasons why listening is very important.
He also listed the principles in the NYA ethical code which I think is very helpful in
understanding the ethical principles involved and he further reinforced it with more information
for each principle. The author has written it in a way that he starts with the basic definition of the
topic, the history that is relevant in the topic if applicable, the basics of the topics with
reinforcement for case studies and activities and other pertinent information that is relevant to the
topic.

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“We are so used to a management of youth work that talks about ‘excellent practice’ and
‘appropriate behavior’ that we could assume the whole area is already sorted out and only needs
addressing to keep philosophically minded academics on course happy and occupied”- Chapter
1, Youth Work Ethics by Jonathan Roberts

This line is what struck me the most because we all have our own set of ethics and moral
standards and yet we all have to conform to a single practice and set standard behavior to keep
either our supervisors satisfied. This causes us not to speak up about some things that we are
currently practicing are wrong or that it needs improvement. This is not just evident in the
workplace but also in the society. It not just young individuals who are being caged by this type
of mentality but also adults who already knew that this is happening.
I remember when I was a kid, I was disciplined by my mom and dad to behave this way.
They always say do this, do that and don’t do this one. Although I appreciate how my parents
disciplined me, I do feel that sometimes I get suffocated and I would just want to rebel against
them because they’re not listening to what I’m trying to say. It’s like I’m very much sheltered
from the outside world. Right now, I believe that this is one of the reasons why I’m scared to
take risks and I can’t easily think creatively. I always try to conform to the set standards in the
environment I live in which makes me very scared if I even deviate from the norms just a little
bit.
This is also evident in our society today because people would want to follow the current
trends. They want to follow what’s in and sometimes just do it without even thinking what might
happen to them if they do it so that they feel that they belong somewhere. Even though
association is important, we need to also recognize its boundaries that we do not need to
associate with someone all the time. Just like in politics, when someone right now tries to prove
a point which defies the principles of the government, they are automatically branded as
‘dilawan’ like they say that it is a bad thing to speak up. When it comes to ideas that are opposite
to their ideals, they are always shunning it out without even thinking it through. I get that people
are scared of the unknown because I’m also guilty of this. However, if this fear is the thing that
would hinder the improvement of an organization, then I would go for facing this fear head on to
achieve improvements rather that just saying it without even doing it.
Young individuals think that they don’t have a say because of the age and generation that
they are in. However, I believe that they have the potential to do amazing things if the older
generation would let them. After all, why would Jose Rizal believe that the youth is the future of
the society right?

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D. REACTION/REFLECTION

I believe that this book is really beneficial in understanding the youth workplace. It is really
helpful in understanding the method and procedure in handling youth work issues. Although I
admit that some parts were a bit confusing and difficult to understand, it is really helpful once
you’ve understood what it really means. This book also helps in engaging a discussion with
regards to youth work ethical issues and helps in facilitating on resolving these types of issues. I
like it because it’s really handy and light but it contains helpful information regarding ethics.

New things that I have learned from the author:

1. A cycle that explained how youth work dilemma is resolved
2. The NYA ethical code
a. Its principles
b. The two divisions of it.
3. How youth work is resolved

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The better understood lessons learned from the author:
1. Kohlberg’s model of moral development
2. Equality
3. Association
4. Listening
5. Participation