“Power in Numbers”: Youth Organizing as a Context for Exploring Civic Identity

Kirshner, Ben

doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00601.x

Cited by 102 publications

(80 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Considered from this perspective, the current findings suggest that strategies for improving developmental outcomes should consider both how to improve the quality environmental supports in the lives of young people and how to involve young people themselves in transactional community improvement processes (e.g., Christens and Dolan 2011;Kirshner 2009), thus starting a chain reaction of sociopolitical development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Role of Empowerment in Youth Development: A Study of Sociopolitical Control as Mediator of Ecological Systems’ Influence on Developmental Outcomes

Christens

Peterson

2011

J Youth Adolescence

185

179

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Empowerment has become an influential concept and theoretical framework for social policy and practice. Still, relatively little is known about the roles that empowerment plays in the ecology of human development, particularly among young people. This article reports results of a study of psychological empowerment among young people, using data from 629 high school students (65.8% female; 96.5% non-white). Using a path analysis, we examined the role of perceived sociopolitical control--an indicator of the intrapersonal component of psychological empowerment--as a mediator between ecological support systems and developmental outcomes. Findings confirmed that social support in family, peer, and school settings, and family cohesion positively predict self-esteem and perceived school importance, which, in turn, have protective effects on psychological symptoms, violent behaviors and substance use. Sociopolitical control was found to mediate the relationships between ecological supports and risk factors and developmental outcomes, leading to the conclusion that perceived efficacy in the sociopolitical domain, and youth empowerment, more generally, should be considered as core elements of the ecology of human development. Policy and practice aimed at promoting positive developmental outcomes and preventing risk behaviors should take their relationship to sociopolitical control into account.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The Role of Empowerment in Youth Development: A Study of Sociopolitical Control as Mediator of Ecological Systems’ Influence on Developmental Outcomes

Christens

Peterson

2011

J Youth Adolescence

185

179

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“…Scholars of applied human development (Camino & Zeldin, 2002;Zeldin, Petrokubi & Camino, 2008), social work (Checkoway & Gutierrez, 2006;Delgado & Staples, 2008), education (Ginwright, 2010;Kirshner, 2009), sociology (Warren, Mira, & Nikundiwe, 2008), community health (Peterson, Dolan, & Hanft, 2010), and psychology (Christens & Dolan, 2011;Watts & Flanagan, 2007) have published recent studies of youth organizing efforts. In addition, foundations and intermediary groups have taken notice, resulting in a proliferation of publications on the practice (e.g., Fletcher & Vavrus, 2006) and impacts of youth organizing.…”

Section: Putting the Elements Togethermentioning

confidence: 97%

Taking stock of youth organizing: An interdisciplinary perspective

Christens

Kirshner

2011

New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development

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Youth organizing combines elements of community organizing, with its emphasis on ordinary people working collectively to advance shared interests, and positive youth development, with its emphasis on asset-based approaches to working with young people. It is expanding from an innovative, but marginal approach to youth and community development into a more widely recognized model for practice among nonprofit organizations and foundations. Along the way, it has garnered attention from researchers interested in civic engagement, social movements, and resiliency. A growing body of published work evidences the increasing interest of researchers, who have applied an assortment of theoretical perspectives to their observations of youth organizing processes. Through an appraisal of the current state of this still-emerging area of practice and research, including case examples, the authors identify common elements of the practice of youth organizing--relationship development, popular education, social action, and participatory research and evaluation--and conclude with a discussion of promising future directions for research and practice.

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“…There is, then, a process of social give-and-take which accompanies service that is political. It potentially blends realism and idealism together in annealing the identity process (Kirshner 2009;Youniss 2009). …”

Section: Theoretical Framework To Explain Outcomes Of Servicementioning

confidence: 97%

Youth and community service

Youniss

Reinders

2010

Z Erziehungswiss

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We discuss findings and issues regarding community service by youth in the United States, for example: Is school-based required service as effective as voluntary service, and if increasing numbers of youth are doing service, why has political engagement not increased? We next present a theory proposing that certain kinds of service can contribute to the development of social identity. Such service would be challenging, bring youth into direct contact with the strange "other," and engage youth with organizations which represent moral and political traditions. We conclude with speculations on ways community service might benefit identity development in German youth and help to resolve tensions in contemporary German society.Zusammenfassung: Wir diskutieren Forschungsergebnisse und Folgerungen hinsichtlich gemeinschaftförderlichem Engagement von Jugendlichen in den USA, z. B. die Frage, ob Dienste, die die Schulen vorschreiben so wirksam sind wie freiwilliges Engagement, oder die Frage, warum die zunehmende Zahl von Jugendlichen, die Dienste leistet, nicht zu einem zunehmenden politischen Engagement führt. Als nächstes schlagen wir eine Theorie vor, derzufolge bestimmte Dienste zu einer Entwicklung der sozialen Identität von Jugendlichen beitragen können. Solche Dienste stellen eine Herausforderung dar, indem sie Jugendliche mit fremdartigen "Anderen" zusammenbringen, und dies im Rahmen von Organisationen, die moralische und politische Traditionen repräsentieren. Wir schließen mit Spekulationen über Wege, wie freiwilliges Engagement möglicherweise der Identitätsentwicklung deutscher Jugendlicher zugutekommen und helfen kön-nte, Spannungen in der gegenwärtigen deutschen Gesellschaft zu lösen.

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“Power in Numbers”: Youth Organizing as a Context for Exploring Civic Identity

Cited by 102 publications

References 43 publications

The Role of Empowerment in Youth Development: A Study of Sociopolitical Control as Mediator of Ecological Systems’ Influence on Developmental Outcomes

The Role of Empowerment in Youth Development: A Study of Sociopolitical Control as Mediator of Ecological Systems’ Influence on Developmental Outcomes

Taking stock of youth organizing: An interdisciplinary perspective

Youth and community service

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