English A children's rights approach to social work might have adverse consequences for children and parents when it ignores a view on rights as a lever for commitment and the question of how these rights can be realized in different contexts and with respect for the rights of other actors involved. French Une approche de travail social centrée sur les droits des enfants peut avoir des conséquences négatives auprès des enfants et des parents lorsqu'elle ne considère pas les droits comme un levier pour l'engagement et lorsqu'elle ne tient pas compte de la façon dont ces droits peuvent s'exercer dans différents contextes et en regard des droits des autres acteurs concernés. Spanish Abordar el trabajo social desde el punto de vista de los derechos de los niños puede tener consecuencias negativas para los niños y los padres cuando ignora una visión de derechos como palanca de dedicación y compromiso, y cuando ignora el cómo los derechos pueden realizarse en distintos contextos respetando los derechos de otros actores.

On the basis of extensive research, we turn a critical eye on often unnoticed processes of marginalization at play in current youth work policy and practice in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium). Although the historical situation seems different from that in the UK, current policies show similar results: vulnerable youth is increasingly monitored into particular target categories and separated into distinct and professionalized youth work initiatives. Inspired by critical class theory, we raise the veil of youth work as a hidden civilization strategy that empowers the yet powerful and has served the often unconscious agenda of enforcing social control on vulnerable youth to create order in late capitalist societies. The perspective of the critical social theorist Hermann Giesecke who perceives youth work as ` politische Bildung' (a process of political socialization) allows us to explore strategies for inclusion which can be implemented to energize future youth work praxis.

Since anti-poverty policy-making in Belgium is embedded in a logic of user participation, social policy has shown interest in employing users with experience of poverty as experts in public policy units in order to implement and monitor anti-poverty policies. In this article, we discuss this recent development as a relevant case for contemporary public service delivery in the European context. In the light of the ambiguous practices of user participation in Belgium, the enacted logic of involving service users in public service delivery is discussed, and potential risks and opportunities identified: do these individuals function as pawns or as pioneers? In search of opportunities for the implementation of anti-poverty policies, we explore different ways in which public policy units can act upon the participation of employed service users in public service delivery. On the level of public service delivery, we argue that the participation of expert users risks their use as a mere blind, de-responsibilizing those who work in public policy units in providing high-quality services and being responsive to all service users including those living in poverty. On the level of these individual experts, we argue that the employed service users risk becoming pawns, acquiring a tragic-optimistic outlook on life. We conclude that enabling service users to participate as pioneers requires the joint and mutual responsibility of the employed service users and those who work in public policy units for implementing and monitoring anti-poverty strategies rather than exclusive responsibility assigned to individual service users.

In this contribution the development in action research of a participative care practice in youth care is discussed. The study was prompted by the intention of the Flemish government to reform youth care. The initial research-question was how youth care can be organized in such a way that it (also) represents an added value for the client(s). The aim was to find out to what extent the reorganization of youth care could contribute to a social service that enhances a dignified existence for their clients and contributes to a participative care. Hence, the aim of the research was not just to reorganize youth care, but also to develop a participative care practice. The research findings highlight the tension between a reorganization that takes as its starting point an expert way of thinking, and the realization of participative care in which the clients' perspective is taken as central point of departure. Against the background of this tension, the question to what extent care workers actually have room to realize a participative care practice turned out to be one of the most important issues within the research.