A critical case for participant action research in youth work

This paper presents a critical case for participant action research in youth work. Drawing on reflections from a doctoral study that explored the everyday experiences of youth workers and marginalised young people the paper demonstrates a number of benefits to be drawn from participative research engagement, alongside outlining some key ethical and methodological challenges. Centrally, this paper considers the value of developing a stronger and more participative research community in youth work, bringing practitioners and academics closer together in the pursuit of needed innovation in practice.