The preventive Potential of Open Youth Work to protect against social and emotional Neglect in Adolescence.

Family socialization is in fact one of, if not the most important resource for children and adolescents' healthy growing up, well-being, and social-emotional development (Flaquer, 2014). At the same time, dysfunctional family dynamics, such as persistent conflicts, social or emotional neglect, or restrictive parenting, can have significant negative influences on youth development (Yendell et al. 2022). Chronic stress and anxiety, difficulties in building trust and developing healthy interpersonal relationships, or emotional instability are not uncommon consequences of stressful family situations.

The Luxembourg Youth Report in 2015 showed how important it is for young people in the adolescence phase to have points of contact and confidants outside their families to whom they can turn for help in coping with typical adolescent development tasks (Havighurst, 1948; Menje & Uni.lu, 2015). The institutions of open youth work, for example, are mentioned here, where young people find confidants and peers with whom they can interac and where young people experience social recognition and emotional support.

However, research on the preventive performance of open youth work is very limited. So far, there are hardly any studies describing everyday experiences with social-emotional support in this setting from the perspective of young people.

A 2022 study from the University of Luxembourg now addresses this research desideratum. The study uses data to investigate the extent to which young people from socially disadvantaged backgrounds find resonant spaces in youth centers for dealing with specific problems and developmental tasks and how this can promote their social-emotional development, the development of self-confidence and resilience.

The study is based on current empirical findings that show that children and adolescents from stressful families have a higher risk of developing a mental and/or social-emotional disorder (Lenz, T., Backes, S., Ugen, S., & Fischbach, A., 2021, Samuel, R., et.al, 2021, Yendell, et al. 2022). It is assumed that open youth facilities, due to their specific structural characteristics, have a considerable potential to support these young people in case of family conflicts or neglect, already in advance of a formal help or protection measure (Scherr, 2021; Krafeld, 2010, Böhnisch, 1998). In this sense, the offers of youth work can be interpreted as an early-acting, preventive component in the broad field of child, youth and family welfare .

The present paper provides a detailed introduction of the Luxembourg study conducted in the year 2022. In addition to the problem context and the theoretical embedding of the study, its mixed-methods design will be described. Empirically reconstructed cases are then presented, exemplifying and drawing on Koller's theory of transformative education (2018), the extent to which youth receive support in coping with social-emotional crises, family conflict situations, and neglect via low-threshold youth work approaches. The empirical cases show, among other things, how adolescents were able to gain emotionality, resilience, self-confidence, and social-emotional skills through low-threshold conversation, opportunities for supported articulation and self-reflection, and judgment-free practice spaces. This presentation aims to provide empirical support for the preventive potential of low-threshold and open youth facilities to support socially and emotionally disadvantaged youth.