Dave Wiles - Stories From The Edge -A practical resource for youth workers

This is a book of stories about young people at risk. It is instructive, inspiring, arresting and shocking. They are distilled from those who have lived for years on the frontier of youth culture. 

Some are drawn from Dave Wiles’s own background – he spent years on probation for drug dealing, vandalism and burglary – or from his experience as a youth and community worker. Some come from other youth workers. 

Each chapter follows a particular theme, such as ‘Dads and Lads’ or ‘Youth Culture and Gangs’, and ends with points to think about and discuss. Each story details a dramatic incident in a young person’s life, such as a 16-year-old on probation, who is on suicide watch; mediating between a rebellious youngster and his too-strict dad; a 21-year-old girl, with two children in care, who works the street to pay for the heroin her father deals.