The use of curfews is a practice employed in youth centers to instill discipline and control unwanted behavior among young people. However, it can have very negative effects, as excluded young people are pushed away, isolated, and left without access to additional support. My master’s thesis will therefore deal with the study of the prohibition of entry to or the exclusion of young people from youth centers and explore how youth workers understand the meaning and consequences of such exclusion. It will also focus on the importance of this type of exclusion in the work of youth workers and on the possibilities of developing alternative measures and more inclusive practices.
In the theoretical part of my master’s thesis, I will review the literature in the fields of youth work, youth centers, punishment and discipline, and the consequences associated with the imposition of such punishments. The purpose of the empirical work will be to examine the reasons for excluding young people from youth centers in Slovenia, how youth workers within youth centers view such an approach, and what the possibilities and needs are for developing more inclusive practices. A qualitative group interview method will be used on a sample of six youth centers. The data will be analyzed using the inductive coding method. The significance of the expected findings will be the review of existing punishment practices in youth centers, thus opening up space for the development of new, better practices.
The results of the research show that behavior deemed “outstanding” or “potential” is often punished by banning entry. Mutual relationships, knowledge of individuals’ backgrounds, and personal beliefs of youth workers should play the biggest role in decision-making. Although youth workers have different opinions about exclusion, they often recognize it as an ineffective sanction that they still resort to in their work. The participants recognize the various impacts of these exclusions, both on themselves and their working environment, as well as on the other participants in the youth center. In their work, they use different types of bans, and the length of the entry ban ranges from a day to a lifetime ban. The results show that they often justify their decisions based on the behavior of young people and as a concern for others, and the justifications are also strongly in line with the general opinion of the interlocutors about prohibitions and exclusion. Before banning entry, youth workers use gradual exclusion mechanisms, but they also try to act preventively and use other alternative sanctions. However, there is a lack of strategies and ideas in the field of increasing inclusivity.
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