The validity of youth work approaches are based on whether they are educational, participative, empowering, promotes equality of opportunities, etc.
The basic principles of youth work are respecting young people, providing accessible and value oriented opportunities (genuinely useful) for voluntary participation, accountability, being anti-oppressive (e.g. social model of disability, unconscious bias training) in processes, confidentiality, reliability, trustworthiness, and being ethical in keeping boundaries.
In some circumstances, the term should be carefully distinguished from Child and Youth Worker which refers to therapeutic work in the USA and Canada.
Through participation the youth would be able to learn the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values that they have through the relational experience and reflective observation, this leads them to further their growth opportunities.
Main tasks and duties of direct practice's are:[4] Merton, et al. in 2004 through a research report delineated the following as primary functions of youth work.