Listen to thisIt seems unclear when exactly the expression “the use of everyday life events" first entered the Child and Youth Care literature. Probably, like many things in Child and Youth Care, it snuck in through the back door (the same one the kids tend to sneak out of) when nobody was paying close attention. What is important, however, is that the expression has succeeded in capturing the heart of Child and Youth Care, for it speaks to the essence of this field.
Similar expressions have appeared from time to time, as various authors have tried to express the idea that Child and Youth Care involves, as Fritz Redl (1959) said, “exploiting" the events that occur during the daily life of a child in care, for the benefit of that child (Fox, 1995). Redl’s expression has not readily been incorporated into the field, probably because of the political associations attached to the word “exploiting." Redl, of course, was talking about taking advantage of (another politically sensitive expression) events, as they occur in the life space of the child. While the words may not have caught on, the intention certainly did.
The little things
Maier (1987), for example, encourages us to attend to and use “the
minutiae of everyday life,” the little things, the small, seemingly
unimportant events, out of which the days of our lives are constructed:
things like waiting for meal-times, occasions of leave-taking, or just
coming into contact with one another. Followers of Redl suggest the use
of life space interviews in which the Child and Youth Care worker takes
advantage of an event (such as an argument between two youth)
immediately after it occurs, specifically entering into the immediate
life of the child. Peterson (1988) suggests watching for “naturally
occurring therapeutic opportunities" that present themselves in the
course of daily living: reflective states when a young person has “gone
inside" and is “accessing other than conscious and present situation
experiences" (p. 22). More recently, Guttmann (1991) has suggested that
Child and Youth Care workers must enter into the flow of immediacies of
the child's experiencing. In this way they can use interventions which
are congruent with the flow of that experiencing (Fulcher, 1991).
Entering into this flow of experiencing as it is occurring, and helping
the child to live differently in the context within which the child and
worker find themselves (Fewster, 1990), is central to impactful Child and Youth Care practice. This joint experiencing between child and
worker, and the facilitation of the opportunity for change within this
joint experiencing, is the major difference between our work and other
intervention efforts that rely upon interpretative insight, alteration
of value orientation, behaviour modification, education, and so on.
In impactful Child and Youth Care practice, the worker becomes, with the child, the co-creator of a contextual therapeutic environment (Durrant, 1993; Maier, 1994; Peterson, 1988) within which the child might experience the opportunity for change. The emphasis on impactful joint experience is the essence of contemporary care work.
Requirements
Child and youth care practice has evolved over time, and the expression “the use of daily life events" might be rephrased as “the entering into,
and caring use of, daily life events, as they are occurring, for the
therapeutic benefit of the child, youth or family." Such practice
involves numerous skills, knowledge and ability on the part of Child and Youth Care workers. They must, for example, have knowledge of child
development (Maier, 1987), understand how to access and use that
knowledge (Eisikovits, Beker, &Guttmann, 1991), know about the process
of change, possess an active self-awareness (Ricks, 1989), which allows
the worker to distinguish self from other (Garfat, 1994), be able to
enter into an intimate caring relationship (Austin & Halpin, 1987, 1989)
that involves attachment (Maier, 1993), understand the process of
meaning-making (Bruner, 1990; Garfat, 1995; Krueger, 1994; VanderVen,
1992) and have a framework for organizing their interventive actions
(Eisikovits, Beker, & Guttmann, 1991; Garfat & Newcomen, 1992).
All of this is necessary for recognising and using those opportunities that occur as the events of a child's, youth’s or family’s life unfold through daily living. This use of daily life events as they are occurring is one of the characteristics that distinguishes Child and Youth Care practice from other forms of helping – which may also use daily life events, but at a distance removed from the immediacy of the experience itself.
References
Austin, D., & Halpin, W (1987). Seeing “I to I": A phenomenological analysis of the caring relationship. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 3(3), 37-42.
Austin, D., & Halpin, W (1989). The caring response. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 4(3), 1-7.
Bruner, J. (1990). Acts of Meaning. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Durrant, M. (1993). Residential treatment: A cooperative, competency-based approach to therapy and program design. New York: WW Norton.
Eisikovits, Z., Beker, J., & Guttman, E. (1991). The known and the used in residential Child and Youth Care work. In J. Beker & Z.
isikovits (Eds.), Knowledge utilization in residential Child and Youth Care practice (pp. 3-23). Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Fewster, G. (1990). Being in child care: A journey into self. New York: Haworth Press.
Fox, L. (1995). Exploiting daily events to heal the pain of sexual abuse. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 10(2), 33-42.
Fulcher, L. (1991). Teamwork in residential care. In J. Beker & Z. Eisikovits (Eds.), Knowledge utilization in residential Child and Youth Care practice (pp. 2 15-235). Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Garfat, T. (1994). Never alone: Reflections on the presence of self and history on Child and Youth Care. Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, 9(1), 35-43.
Garfat, 1 (1995). The effective Child and Youth Care intervention: A phenomenological inquiry. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC.
Garfat, T., & Newcomen, T. (1992). AS*IF: A model for Child and Youth Care interventions. Child and Youth Care Forum, 21(4), 277-285.
Guttman, E. (1991). Immediacy in residential Child and Youth Care work: The fusion of experience, self-consciousness, and action. In J. Beker & Z. Eisikovits (Eds.), Knowledge utilization in residential child andyouth care practice (pp. 65-84). Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
Krueger, M. (1994). Rhythm and presence: Connecting with children on the edge. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Problems, 3(1), 49-51.
Maier, H.W (1987). Developmental group care for children and youth: Concepts and practice. New York: Haworth.
Maier, H.W (1993). Attachment development is “in". Journal of Child and Youth Care, 9(1), 35-52.
Maier, H.W (1994). A therapeutic environmental approach. Research and Evaluation, 3(2), 3-4
Peterson, R. (1988). The collaborative metaphor technique: Using Ericsonian (Milton H.) techniques and principles in child, family and youth care work. Journal of Child Care, 3(4), 11-27.
Redl, F. (1959). Strategy and technique of the Life-Space interview. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 29, 1-18.
Ricks, F. (1989). Self-awareness model for training and application in Child and Youth Care. Journal of Child and Youth Care, 4(1), 33-42.
VanderVen, K. (1992). From the side of the swimming pool and the evolving story of Child and Youth Care work. Journal of Child and Youth Care Work, 8, 5-6.
