Introduction: Although adolescent risk-taking is often characterized as negative, more recent work focuses on risk as a spectrum of negative to positive behaviors. We propose inclusive behavior as a new category of positive risk-taking focused on helping and facilitating social belonging for those who are marginalized or excluded. We use a qualitative approach to explore adolescents' perceptions of the risks involved in inclusive behavior and the factors that motivate acting inclusively at school. Methods: 30 focus groups were conducted at 16 middle and high schools across the United States. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 194 students in grades 6-12 (11-19 years old). Students were majority female (61%) and self-identiied as white (68%). Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. Results: Students often perceived the decision to act inclusively as risky because it involved weighing uncertain outcomes, including potential costs (e.g. peer rejection) and rewards (e.g. friendship). Students primarily focused on the role of peer group inluence, but also discussed how school norms, the identity of the peer they were trying to include, and their own motivations affected the perceived risk involved in acting inclusively. Conclusions: This study provides an exploratory look at adolescents' experiences of inclusive behavior. Findings support the current conceptualization of positive risk-taking behavior and suggest a multi-level framework for inclusive risks. Exploring the factors that make inclusive behavior differentially risky across individuals and contexts is a irst step towards understanding how inclusive behavior its within the positive risk-taking framework and designing interventions to reduce the risks involved.
Understanding students’ perspectives on inclusive behavior is important for addressing the bullying, victimization, and exclusion that many middle school and high school students, particularly marginalized students, continue to face at school. This study explored how students give meaning to inclusive behavior at school and the conditions that support inclusive behavior. Using data from 30 focus groups conducted with students, the findings expand on three primary themes: students’ broad descriptions of inclusive behavior, their understanding of the qualities and characteristics of an inclusive person, and their beliefs about what makes a school inclusive. Findings from this study can inform organizational practices to facilitate inclusive behavior in schools in a manner consistent with how students themselves view inclusivity.
Background
Identity development in individuals with disabilities is often negatively impacted by exclusion, marginalisation, and stigma. However, meaningful opportunities for community engagement can serve as one pathway towards establishing positive identity. This pathway is further examined in the present study.
Methods
Researchers used a tiered, multi‐method, qualitative methodology consisting of audio diaries, group interviews, and individual interviews with seven youth (ages 16–20) with intellectual and developmental disabilities, recruited through the Special Olympics U.S. Youth Ambassador Program.
Results
Participants' identities incorporated disability while simultaneously transcending the social limits of disability. Participants viewed disability as one aspect of their broader identity, shaped by leadership and engagement experiences such as those offered by the Youth Ambassador Program.
Conclusions
Findings have implications for understanding identity development in youth with disabilities, the importance of community engagement and structured leadership opportunities, and the value of tailoring qualitative methodologies to the subject of the research.
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