Anti-Oppressive Child and Youth Care Critical Conversations

Anti-Oppressive Child and Youth Care explores the meaning of anti-oppressive practice within the field of child and youth care. The contributing authors analyze the effectiveness of current systems in Canada through an anti-oppressive lens, examine the meaning of social justice within a child and youth care context, critically evaluate how child and youth care systems and policies perpetuate oppression, and offer strategies for redefining what best practices could be within the profession. The chapters discuss topics including systemic anti-Black racism and oppression, Indigenous relational ethics, intervention approaches, anti-oppressive practice in post-secondary classrooms, anti-fat bias in child and youth care practice, youth engagement, and toxic positivity. Equipped with critical reflective activities at the end of each chapter, the text aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by creating learning opportunities that support critical analysis and integration of anti-oppressive theory into child and youth care practice.

This fundamental resource is well-suited for colleges and universities within Canada whose child and youth care, social work, or education programs offer courses with a focus on anti-oppressive practice.