The concept of empowerment has become increasingly widespread in recent years. Its use is still, however, somewhat controversial and diverse, particularly when referring to young people. This article presents a systematic analysis of how empowerment has been conceptualized over the past 15 years and has been applied to young people. A systematic search of the major databases filtered by relevance provided 297 bibliographical references. The results confirm the ambiguous nature of the concept and the imprecision with which it is used, although they do link its use to three common concepts: power, participation and education. The concept of youth empowerment needs to be defined in order to highlight any nuances that distinguish it from the generic use of the term. The main dimensions associated with youth empowerment have been identified as: (a) that of growth and well-being; (b) relational; (c) educational; (d) political; (e) transformative; and, finally, (d) emancipativ

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Some characterizations describe social pedagogy as a broad, complex, ambiguous and problematic concept that applies to very different things. This is due to the simplicity of the tools used to approach such a complex area. A change of perspective to interpret social pedagogy as a hybrid and complex subject may transform the alleged deficiencies into strengths and promise. This paper provides elements that enable such a change. To this end, some misunderstandings regarding social pedagogy are presented. These misunderstandings are scenarios and factors that have contributed (1) to the generation of inaccuracies and confusions about what social pedagogy is, could, or should do, and (2) to the projection of an inconsistent and poorly defined image of social pedagogy, i.e. a discipline without method and an ineffective and inefficient practice for solving social problems. The social pedagogy that emerges from the six misunderstandings (cognitive, policy-related, scientist, action-related, normative and social) is complex. From the new perspective, it is more of a hybrid subject (a concept, a discipline and a practice) that is complex, open, dynamic and ever changing. Keywords: pedagogy, social pedagogy, educational theory epaa aape Explorando diferentes perspectivas acerca de la Pedagogía Social: hacia un enfoque complejo e integrado Resumen: En la actualidad, algunas caracterizaciones muestran a la pedagogía social como un concepto amplio, complejo, ambiguo y problemático que se aplica a cosas muy diferentes. Esto es debido a la simplicidad de las herramientas utilizadas para tratar con un área tan compleja. Un cambio de perspectiva, que permita interpretar la pedagogía social como un sujeto híbrido y complejo, puede transformar las supuestas deficiencias en fortalezas y posibilidades. Este documento ofrece elementos que posibilitan un cambio de estas características. Para conseguirlo se presenta lo que se caracteriza como "malentendidos" acerca de la pedagogía social. Con esta denominación se pretende recoger toda una serie de escenarios y factores que han contribuido a (1) generar imprecisiones y confusiones acerca de lo que es la pedagogía social, de lo que podría o debería hacer, y (2) proyectar una imagen inconsistente y poco definida de la misma, es decir, una disciplina sin método y una práctica que resulta ineficaz e ineficiente para resolver los problemas sociales. La pedagogía social que emerge de los seis malentendidos (cognitivo, político, científico, de la acción, de la normatividad, y social) es compleja. En la nueva perspectiva, la pedagogía social es entendida como un sujeto híbrido (porque es al mismo tiempo un concepto, una disciplina y una práctica), complejo, abierto, dinámico y cambiante. Keywords: Pedagogía social; pedagogía; teoría de la educación.Explorando diferentes perspectivas sobre Pedagogia Social: por uma abordagem complexa e integrada Resumo: Atualmente, algumas caracterizações mostram a pedagogia social como um conceito amplo, complexo, ambíguo, e problemático que se aplic...

The present paper is the result of a research project (EDU2013-42979-R) which investigated youth empowerment from different perspectives. The initial question was where, when and how youth empowerment takes place. The aim was to build an educational model that could serve as guidance for the organization and study of these spaces, moments and processes. The starting point was a previous extensive documentary analysis that formulated an initial conceptualization of youth empowerment. It was based on the review of 297 bibliographical references from the year 2000 onwards that addressed youth empowerment from a socio-educational perspective. The methodology consisted in the reflective analysis of the abovementioned documentary sources and the subsequent systematization of the data obtained, in order to build a reasoned and well-argued theoretical proposal. This paper provides its own definition of youth empowerment by focusing on previous studies carried out by the research team and on M. Nussbaum's capabilities approach. A general pattern was constructed in the form of an pedagogical model intended to offer a benchmark to describe, explain and interpret youth empowerment, as well as to plan and guide interventions intended to optimize it. We conclude with some final reflections on some possible-but undesirable-ways to understand and exploit these empowerment processes.

This study adopts a comparative perspective to present a descriptive analysis of the state of social pedagogy training at universities in different countries. It arises out of an interest to construct a global, current and integrated perspective of social pedagogy. The study uses a quantitative methodology to analyse the content of social pedagogy curricula based on the principal dimensions that shape them, which have been defined by academic experts in previous search (Janer & Ucar, 2016). Findings: The results indicate that in most of the universities analysed social pedagogy is a subject within other social and educational science studies rather than a degree or specialization in its own right. There is coherence between what the academic experts point out and the specific content of university studies in social pedagogy as regards the political, ethical and social dimension of the context and, regarding the varied scope of intervention and use of methodologies. However, the epistemological, professional, historical and functional dimensions have little presence in social pedagogy university studies. Applications: The theoretical and practical field of social pedagogy is complex and subject to multiple and varied interpretations. This study contributes to the theoretical debate on the nature of social pedagogy. This analysis is relevant from both a scientific and a social perspective. It's necessary to working towards building a common and