This book, now available in paperback, explores the development of youth policy and youth work in Ireland from the mid-nineeenth century to the present day.

Based on original research, funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS), it looks at the social construction of youth, the emergence of the early youth movements and the nature and scope of contemporary youth work. Key issues include: the shift from mainstream to targeted provision, the professionalisation of the sector and the increased partnership between the state and voluntary sector.

A second major theme is the treatment of young people in industrial and reformatory schools, with particular reference to the findings of the Ryan Report on child abuse (2009).

This is the only book which combines an exploration of the history and current scope of youth work and youth policy, and which is based on comprehensive original research. It will be essential reading for lecturers and students in youth work, social sciences, social history and related fields.

Introduction
Part I: Youth narratives and youth Movements
1. The search for an Irish youth narrative: minor citizens or urban tribe?
2. Remoralising working class youth: women, religion and morality in nineteenth and early twentieth century Ireland
3. Constructing imperial man: uniformed youth movements in Britain and Ireland
4. Building national identity: youth movements and nationalism in twentieth century Ireland
Part II: Youth policy and practice
5. The co-production of a service: active citizenship, youth work and the State
6. Mapping the contemporary youth work landscape: models, objectives and key issues
7. Negotiating tensions and contradictions in youth crime prevention initiatives in Ireland
Part III: Disadvantaged young people, institutionalisation and human rights: The Ryan Report in perspective
8. Outcast youth and public policy: institutionalisation, social genetics and charity
9. Child abuse, youth policy and human rights: contextualising the Ryan Report
10. In search of truth and reconciliation: The Ryan Report from the survivors' perspective
References
Index

Authors

Fred Powell is Professor of Social Policy and Dean of Social Science, National University of Ireland, Cork

Martin Geoghegan is a Lecturer at the School of Applied Social Studies, National University of Ireland, Cork

Margaret Scanlon is a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences in the 21st Century (ISS21), National University of Ireland, Cork

Katharina Swirak is a Lecturer at the School of Applied Social Studies at University College Cork