The Resilient Community: Implications for Out of School Programming
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The Resilient Community: Implications for Out of School Programming Cassandra McKay
Published online: 15 May 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Abstract Out-of-school programs are often adult dominated, with minor involvement of youth in programming. Youth are seen as future citizens, not citizens of the present and expectations are set low for youth’s ability to lead. The combination of low expectations and lack of opportunities for youth to meaningfully participate fails to promote youth development and social responsibility. In contrast, out-of-school programs which act as resilient communities support youth autonomy, social competence, and problem solving skills. This article presents a case study of a resilient community. The findings from this cross sectional exploratory study suggest that this resilient community promotes positive youth development outcomes. Keywords Youth activism Out-of-school programming Resilient community Positive youth development
Introduction Many out-of-school programs have emerged from communities supported by federal and state funds to assist marginalized youth (Riggs and Greenberg 2004). Yet, some of these out-of-school programs have become youth warehouses. Unstructured programming and poorly planned activities have hindered the quality of experiences for participating youth. Often these programs lack direction other than providing a safe haven for youth in precarious urban neighborhoods. Although these safe havens are necessary, a mere protective approach to out of school programming does not capitalize on the opportunity to promote the development of youth and empower them as active participants in their lives and the lives of others. C. McKay (&) Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1040 W. Harrison St. (m/c 309), Chicago, IL 60607, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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Further, as youth enter middle adolescence (14–17 years) they become identity seekers and need more decision-making opportunities (Zeldin et al. 2005). Social workers who work within these settings should adhere to professional core values, which support youth’s meaningful participation in decision-making and the enhanced capacity to change and address their own needs (National Association of Social Workers [NASW] 2008). Yet many youth programs fit the traditional hierarchal structure of youth as receiver and adult as provider. This lack of sensitivity to the developmental needs of youth unfortunately discourages motivated youth by perpetuating an impression of adult authority that ignores the identity seeking nature of adolescents (Zeldin et al. 2005). In contrast out-of-school programs that promote strong youth engagement and educationally sound and well-delivered content are associated with positive outcomes in out-of-school settings (Grossman et al. 2009). Out-of-school settings that promote youth–adult relationships that support youth voice and choice, as well as encourage prosocial interactions with peers, contribute to a more conducive lea
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