NCJ Number
242340
Journal
Child & Youth Services Volume: 33 Issue: 3-4 Dated: July - December 2012 Pages: 206-236
Date Published
December 2012
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This article examines deconstruction as a way to think about the questions that are currently being asked in Child and Youth Care (CYC).
Abstract
The intent of this article is to follow deconstruction as a way to think about the questions that are currently being asked in Child and Youth Care (CYC). As a graduate student in the School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria (SCYC), the author is challenged to think his position and identity in terms of his location within, or on the borders of, a CYC community. In this article the author brings together deconstruction and contemporary issues in CYC to propose a way forward in terms of conceptualizing CYC identities. The first part of this follows deconstructive thinking through an analysis of CYC as a context and the practice of "contextualizing" in CYC. The second movement of the article weaves in the notions of community, community identities, tradition(s) and relationships to demonstrate how linguistic representations may limit our possibilities for theory and practice. The author ends by proposing hospitality (Derrida, 2000) as a way to negotiate the borders of CYC and open toward a "Child and Youth Care To-Come." This article is specifically engaged with the conversations sparked at the Child and Youth Care in Action III Conference and the subsequent special issue of the International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies, 3(2-3). The author situates this critical analysis within the current conversations of his local CYC community and explores how deconstruction can help to open ones community to its own future. Abstract published by arrangement with Taylor and Francis.