Promoting Positive Youth Development Through Organized After-School Activities: Taking a Closer Look at Participation of Ethnic Minority Youth

This paper describes the configuration and changes in young adolescents’ participation in structured after school activities. Using data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development the 983 youth studied in both the first and the second waves of this research (fifth and sixth grade, respectively) were found to engage in structured after school activities at high levels. Fewer than 12% did not participate in any activities. Participation in multiple activities was the norm for these youth and the configuration of activities changed between grades. The breadth of participation in structured after school activities suggests, first, that it would be ideal to have broad community collaboration in regard to youth programming to ensure that youth receive excellent programming, no matter where they turn; and, second, that youth development researchers and practitioners need to consider new approaches to conceptualizing and evaluating the possible role of any one after-school program in promoting exemplary development.

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Actualizing Change with Roma Youth and Their Communities

10.1093/oso/9780190654061.003.0004 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 45-62

Author(s):

Carolyn Cass Lorente ◽

Laura Ferrer-Wreder

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Minority ◽

Youth Development ◽

Positive Youth Development ◽

Evidence Base ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Minority Youth ◽

Practical Consideration ◽

Ethnic Minority Youth ◽

Development Interventions ◽

Development Approach

This chapter summarizes how youth development, sometimes also called positive youth development, is defined and explained in the field of human development. The authors provide illustrations of how the youth development approach has been applied through descriptive and interventional research with non-Roma, ethnic minority youth in various parts of the globe. Lessons learned from the wider intervention evidence base with non-Roma, ethnic minority youth are then explored in relation to future directions and needed advances in intervention research with Roma youth. The chapter ends with a practical consideration of how existing, beneficial youth development interventions designed for youth with other ethnic minority backgrounds might be effectively adapted to improve the lives of Roma youth.

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Designing Culturally Responsive Organized After-School Activities

Journal of Adolescent Research ◽

10.1177/0743558416666169 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 11-36 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Sandra D. Simpkins ◽

Nathaniel R. Riggs ◽

Bic Ngo ◽

Andrea Vest Ettekal ◽

Dina Okamoto

Keyword(s):

Youth Development ◽

Culturally Responsive ◽

Racial Diversity ◽

School Funding ◽

The United States ◽

After School ◽

Organized Activities ◽

Developmental Needs ◽

School Activities ◽

After School Activities

Organized after-school activities promote positive youth development across a range of outcomes. To be most effective, organized activities need to meet high-quality standards. The eight features of quality developed by the National Research Council’s Committee on Community-Level Programs for Youth have helped guide the field in this regard. However, these standards have largely been defined in terms of universal developmental needs, and do not adequately speak to the growing ethnic and racial diversity within the United States, which is further complicated by issues of power and social class differences. Given U.S. population shifts and after-school funding priorities, the time has come to consider new ways to provide organized after-school activities that are responsive to youth’s culture and everyday lives. The goal of this article is to explore how we can help ensure that after-school activities are culturally responsive and address the specific needs of the youth who participate in these activities. Based on theory and empirical evidence, we provide proposed practices of cultural responsiveness for each of the eight features of quality for program structure and staff. The article concludes with future directions for research and strategies to implement culturally responsive practices and harness resources.

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Roma Minority Youth Across Cultural Contexts

10.1093/oso/9780190654061.001.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Ethnic Minority ◽

Youth Development ◽

Minority Groups ◽

Minority Group ◽

Theoretical Models ◽

Well Being ◽

Minority Youth ◽

Special Focus ◽

Ethnic Minority Youth ◽

Ethnic Minority Children

This book is about positive youth development (PYD) in Roma ethnic minority youth. Its main distinguishing features are (1) the focus on a large and underrepresented ethnic minority group and (2) a strength-based conception of adolescence (i.e., PYD) that sees all youth as having resources. The book stands apart from current edited books on PYD by focusing on the Roma ethnic minority (one of the most marginalized and oppressed minority groups in Europe) and on strengths and resources for optimal well-being. The international, multidisciplinary, and multisectorial expert contributors to this book address the complexities of Roma life in a variety of cultural settings and explore how key developmental processes and person–context interactions can contribute to optimal and successful adaptation. The conclusions clarify how the PYD of ethnic minority children and youth may be fostered based on the empirical findings reported in this volume. The book draws on core theoretical models of PYD and theories of normative development from the perspective of developmental science to highlight the applicability of these frameworks to Roma groups and nuanced cultural variations in how optimal developmental outcomes maybe come to pass in adolescence. A special focus is on cultural, contextual, and socioeconomic characteristics of Roma to provide a better understanding of what does and what does not contribute to the success of youth particularly in oppressed minority groups.

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