Critical Reflection and Cognitive Empowerment among Youth Involved in Community Organizing

2021 ◽  
pp. 074355842110621
Author(s):  
Brian D. Christens ◽  
Kathryn Y. Morgan ◽  
Erika Ruiz ◽  
Alicia Aguayo ◽  
Tom Dolan
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Psychological Empowerment ◽  
Youth Organizing ◽  
Simultaneous Development ◽  
Cognitive Components ◽  
San Bernardino

Through youth organizing initiatives, young people conduct research into social issues and build power to address these issues. This study examines the developmental interplay between the cognitive components of two of the most influential civic developmental constructs—critical consciousness and psychological empowerment—through analysis of interviews with 19 current and former participants in a youth organizing initiative in San Bernardino, CA, all of whom identify as Latinx. Most participants clearly articulated viewpoints consonant with the cognitive components of critical consciousness and psychological empowerment, but these were much more pronounced among those who had been involved for longer periods of time. Findings provide insights into distinctions and crosscurrents between critical reflection and cognitive empowerment, and into the settings and processes leading to their development. Cycles of action and reflection can support the simultaneous development of critical reflection and cognitive empowerment.

Zombies, Truants, and Flash Mobs: How Youth Organizers Respond to and Shape Youth Policy

2015 ◽  
Vol 117 (13) ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerusha O. Conner ◽  
Sonia M. Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Low Power ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
High Power ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Youth Organizing ◽  
Youth Policy ◽  
Negative Valence ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Positive Valence

Youth organizing groups combine strategies from the fields of youth development and community organizing in order to mobilize young people to take collective action. Significantly, organizing work acknowledges that youth are commonly blamed for social problems that are beyond their control and repositions these youth as agents of positive social change. This approach complicates policy scholarship, which understands stakeholders as “targets” of policy initiatives. In a seminal work on public policy, Schneider and Ingram identify four quadrants in which target populations can be placed by policy formulations: advantaged (those with high power and a positive valence), contenders (those with high power and a negative valence), dependents (those with low power and a positive valence) and deviants (those with low power and a negative valence). Schneider and Ingram point out that young people are generally positioned as “dependents.” However, this chapter draws on empirical data from one youth organizing group to demonstrate how youth assert themselves as powerful stakeholders in important decision-making processes, contradicting policymakers’ construction of them as passive and weak.

Justice Seeking is Joy Seeking: The Formation of Faith-Informed, Community-Focused, Critical Consciousness in Adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
David Anderson Hooker ◽  
Elizabeth W. Corrie ◽  
Itihari Toure
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Community Development ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Good Life ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Intentional Community ◽  
Game Of Life ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
Generational Identity ◽  
The Church

Abstract Seeking justice, understanding what makes for peace and pursuing it, these are integral aspects of the pursuit of the Good Life. In this chapter three youth and community development experts make the case that 1) a vital aspect of development is empowering adolescents with a faith-informed, community-focused, critical consciousness; 2) young people are formed in community and joy cannot be fully experienced except communally and in the pursuit of JustPeace; and 3) the church has opportunities to intervene at critical junctures in youth formation to help them see the importance of pursuing communal JustPeace for their own ability to live the Good Life. In support of these claims, a framework of radical Identity is postulated and two practices—the Eight Bowls of Life Ceremony for generational identity marking and the Game of Life, part of a three-week intentional community of the Youth Theological Initiative (yti) – are presented. Each practice contributes to formation of justice-seeking identities in adolescents as integral aspects of preparation for the life-long pursuit of God’s joy, God’s good life, and even God’s salvation.

scholarly journals Academic Rigor and Dedication to Competitive Sport in Young People 12-18 Years: Major Social Issues

2010 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 100-109
Author(s):  
Josep Santesmases
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Educational Institution ◽  
Competitive Sport ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Academic Rigor ◽  
General Group ◽  
Training Requirement ◽  
Weekly Training

Academic Rigor and Dedication to Competitive Sport in Young People 12-18 Years: Major Social IssuesQuantitative study with the aim of linking the academic performance of students who are high-level athletes in Catalonia (Spain) and who do not have any institutional support (high-performance centre, reduction of subjects, etc.) or belong to any educational institution with adapted curriculum (90-95% of households), compared to sedentary students who play sports only occasionally.The study divided students into two groups by age: 12, 14, 16 and 18 years old (secondary school). The general group (GG) was made up of students who did sports at school, did not participate in major competitions, and the weekly training requirement did not exceed 3 hours (N = 262). The group of athletes (AG) is made up of students who at least competed for the Championship of Catalonia (swimming and basketball) and the weekly training requirement exceeded 4.30 in younger students (N = 212). The questionnaires were constructed in order to gather academic information, highlighting the grades of the subjects for the second evaluation of the 2008-09 academic year and full-time sports data for training (day session, hours, competition) and schooling (public or private).We found a significant correlation (0.99) in comparing the evolution of differences between the grades of the groups. Supporting an extraordinary demand for training, and increasing with age, student athletes have better academic performance throughout secondary education. However, this trend is broken in high school, coinciding with the highest dedication to training.Two other important considerations are highlighted in the study: first, the GG presented inactivity levels which increase linearly with age and this is more prominent in females, and secondly, the enrolment of the school is basically AD private state-assisted and not public system, which can make us think about whether the family ideology also influences the sports options for children.

The Critical Language Reflection Tool

2022 ◽  
pp. 203-220
Author(s):  
Jennifer Miyake-Trapp ◽  
Kevin M. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Teaching Standards ◽  
International Teaching ◽  
Contextual Awareness

Critical reflection is an integral part of the teaching and learning process that requires educators to reflect on their assumptions and practices to promote equity in their classrooms. While critical reflection practices and frameworks have been proposed in teacher education, a TESOL-specific tool that engages with the unique complexities of world Englishes has not been developed. The current chapter, thus, engages in critical praxis by providing an evidence-based, step-by-step reflection tool for TESOL educators to enact inquiry. The reflection tool is called the critical language reflection tool, which offers open-ended questions surrounding assumption analysis, contextual awareness, and reflection-based action. Moreover, it applies a critical lens to the TESOL international teaching standards to help TESOL educators and teacher educators foster critical consciousness in TESOL classroom contexts.

scholarly journals A Novel Landscape for Understanding Physical and Mental Health: Body Mapping Research with Youth Experiencing Psychosis

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine M. Boydell ◽  
Jeffrey Ball ◽  
Jackie Curtis ◽  
Adèle De Jager ◽  
Megan Kalucy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Early Intervention ◽  
Young People ◽  
Physical Health ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
The Body ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Physical And Mental Health ◽  
Body Mapping ◽  
The Future

Estimates indicate the lifespan of individuals with psychotic illness is reduced by approximately 15-20 years. Consequently there is a need to address the physical health of those who live with a mental illness, like psychosis. The Bondi Centre provides an integrated model of care to young people with a first episode of psychosis. The Keeping the Body In Mind program focuses on prevention and early intervention of physical health issues and is offered alongside treatment for mental health and social issues as part of routine care. We used body mapping, an arts-based research method, to explore the complexity of this physical health intervention. Our aim was to develop an in-depth understanding of experiences of young clients of the early intervention centre, with a particular focus on the embodied relationship between physical and mental health. Six young people engaged in creating life-sized body maps depicting their experience of the physical intervention program over four 3-hour sessions, followed by an in-depth interview. Analysis of our body maps drew on thematic analysis and narrative inquiry. The narrative trope was one of recovery, highlighting the importance of the link between body and mind, individual and community, and the balance between light and darkness. There was an emphasis on developing feelings of connectedness (to self and others), hope and optimism for the future, a sense of having an identity, and a sense of meaning and empowerment. Recovery was conceptualised as an ongoing process rather than an end product or fixed state. Involvement in the body mapping process was consistently identified as therapeutic, offering an opportunity for reflection on the journey to recovery with a focus on past, present and imagined storylines of the future. 

Global Brands, Youth, and Cosmopolitan Consumption: Instagram Performances of Branded Moral Cosmopolitanism

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-137
Author(s):  
Sonia Bookman ◽  
Tiffany Hall
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Online Activity ◽  
Global Brands ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Moral Dimensions ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Ways Of Being

In this paper, we consider how global brands, through their growing involvement with corporate social responsibility, facilitate expressions of everyday, moral cosmopolitanism among youth. Focusing on the brands toms and H&M, we use a case study approach to examine how the brands establish contexts of consumption that support cosmopolitan performances – ways of being, feeling, or acting cosmopolitan with the brand. We also use Instagram research to explore how young people activate such cosmopolitan affordances through online activity. Focusing on the moral dimensions of cosmopolitan consumption, we contribute to existing work on aesthetic cosmopolitanism among youth by charting the different ways in which young people also express moral cosmopolitan ideals through their engagement with global brands. The paper provides a critical reflection on branded moral cosmopolitanism, outlining its contradictions, while drawing attention to the complexity of young people’s moral consumer cosmopolitanisms, as they emerge through entanglements of global brands, csr, consumption, and young people’s existing and aspirational orientations, interests, and lifestyles.

The Role of Social Networking in the Social Reform of Young Society

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emad Abu-Shanab ◽  
Mushera Frehat
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Young People ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Social Reform ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Intention To Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
Future Work

Social networks are virtual communication sites that allow its participants to connect, building relationships, and collaborate on social issues. It became part of our lives and spread rapidly among youth. Young people join these sites to keep strong relationships with friends and to make new ones. Therefore, it is important to investigate the factors that influence the intention to use social networking sites (SNSs) to gain better position in the social reform among young people. This study developed an integrated theoretical model which has five major factors that predict the intention to use SNSs. An empirical test was conducted, where a sample of 302 university students and an instrument containing 27 items was used. The results provide consistent evidence that all hypothesized positive associations exist except for the isolation variable. After taking into account different demographic and attitudinal variables, Facebook use still predicted respondents' social reform. The future work might focus on a specific context such as the effects of using social networks on education, and focus on students' environment in education and the influence of social network. Detailed results, conclusions and future work are stated in later sections.

Queer and Trans Youth Organizing

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Sinclair-Palm
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Youth Development ◽  
Sexuality Education ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Youth Organizing ◽  
Youth Organizations ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Civic Society ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Trans Youth

Youth organizing is a form of civic engagement and activism. It offers a way for young people to identify and address social inequalities impacting their local and global communities. Youth are provided opportunities to learn about power structures and pathways to create meaningful change to support their communities. In formal institutional approaches, youth organizing is understood as part of positive youth development and a strategy to train young people about civic society and democracy. Youth organizing is also seen as a way for young people to seek support, empowerment, and resources and to develop their leadership capacity. Central to the field of youth organizing are questions on the role of youth within youth organizing. Researchers examine the leadership structure within youth organizations, the acquisition of resources for the organization, the process for identifying issues that the organization will address, and how youth experience their involvement. Youth organizing has been especially important for young marginalized people who may feel isolated and face harassment and discrimination. Researchers have extensively documented how youth organizing by people of color and lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer and questioning (LGBTQ) young people in North America have played a large role in fights for social justice. However, it was not until the mid-20th century that queer and trans youth started organizing in groups connected by their shared experiences and identities related to their sexuality and gender. The development of Gay–Straight Alliances (GSAs) in schools and debates about sexuality education in schools provide examples for exploring LGTBQ youth organizing in the 21st century.

Do Finnish young people support the Nordic welfare state?

2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teemu Rantanen ◽  
Thomas Chalmers McLaughlin ◽  
Timo Toikko
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Welfare ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Government Responsibility ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
Welfare Attitudes

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine young people’s attitudes toward social welfare and their perceptions of who is responsible for providing social welfare benefits. Design/methodology/approach – Social welfare attitudes were examined related to three themes: government responsibility, trust in society, and individual responsibility. A sample of 725 students from 12 high and vocational schools in south Finland was used for analysis. Findings – The data suggest that young people have a high regard for the importance of the government’s role as a social support and a mechanism of social welfare for all citizens. In addition, the results show that women highlight government responsibility more than men, and that men highlight the individual’s own responsibility for social issues. According to the results, there is a weak relationship between cultural values and social welfare attitudes. Collective values relate positively to an emphasis on trust in government and government responsibility for social problems, and relate negatively to an emphasis on individuals’ personal responsibility. Originality/value – The study shows that the main principles of the welfare state are still accepted by the Finnish youth, although recent speculations about the future of welfare states.

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