Action Civics for Promoting Civic Development: Main Effects of Program Participation and Differences by Project Characteristics

Ballard, Parissa J.; Cohen, Alison K.; Littenberg-Tobias, Joshua

doi:10.1002/ajcp.12103

Cited by 37 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Approaches to more active civics education—also termed action civics —focus on engaging youth in meaningful political actions. The idea is that youth learn and practice commitments to political engagement by participating directly in political processes (Ballard, Cohen, & Littenberg‐Tobias, ). Action civics usually occurs in schools and involves young people identifying and researching a problem of interest and engaging in efforts to create change, a process similar to community‐based youth participatory action research (YPAR).…”

Section: Opportunities To Practice Being Politicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Action civics usually occurs in schools and involves young people identifying and researching a problem of interest and engaging in efforts to create change, a process similar to community‐based youth participatory action research (YPAR). Through action civics and YPAR, youth develop increased political efficacy, knowledge, critical reflection skills, and commitments to future political engagement (Ballard et al., ; Kirshner, ). Yet creating political change can be arduous and does not always succeed, so for some youth, action projects may lower political efficacy.…”

Section: Opportunities To Practice Being Politicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How Do Young People Become Politically Engaged?

Wray‐Lake

2019

Child Dev Perspectives

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Despite the importance of examining how adolescents and young adults contribute solutions to society's pressing problems, gaps in the literature leave unanswered the question of how young people become politically engaged. Research suggests that youth learn to be political by forming attachments to their communities and accessing opportunities in the settings of their everyday lives. Settings operate as mini-polities through which youth develop a sense of what it means to be a member of a collective. Meaningful opportunities to practice political skills and behaviors can be fostered in schools and communities, via social media, and through policy change. Historic events, particularly elections, can also influence political attitudes and behaviors in lasting ways. Cultural and contextual variability in experiences, access to opportunities, and reactions to historic events shape youth's political developmental pathways. Research that is developmentally and culturally informed and that uses rigorous study designs can identify more effectively what determines the formation and growth of youth political engagement.

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Section: Opportunities To Practice Being Politicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Opportunities To Practice Being Politicalmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Do Young People Become Politically Engaged?

Wray‐Lake

2019

Child Dev Perspectives

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“…Although YPAR has the potential to impact individuals, organizations, communities, practices, and policies, most of the empirical literature has focused on first-order change with respect to YPAR's effects on individual youth participants. This burgeoning literature has reported positive youth development outcomes in domains such as cognition, leadership, academics, social, and civic engagement (e.g., Anyon et al, 2018;Ballard, Cohen, & Littenberg-Tobias, 2016;Shamrova & Cummings, 2017;Voight & Velez, 2018). There is a smaller but growing literature that goes beyond first-order change: A recent systematic review identified 36 studies that reported effects of YPAR and related youth inquiry approaches on setting-level outcomes such as practitioner growth, programs, and policies (Kennedy, DeChants, Bender, & Anyon, 2019).…”

Section: Overview Of Literature and Key Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Research Evidence Generated by Youth: Conceptualization and Applications in Diverse U.S. K‐12 Educational Settings

Ozer

Abraczinskas

Voight

et al. 2020

American J of Comm Psychol

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Youth‐Led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) is a social justice‐focused approach for promoting social change and positive youth development in which youth conduct systematic research and actions to improve their schools and communities. Although YPAR is oriented to generating research for action, with evidence‐based recommendations often aimed at influencing adults with power over settings and systems that shape youths’ lives, we have little understanding of how YPAR evidence influences the thinking and/or actions of adult policymakers or practitioners. In general, the participatory research field lacks a theoretically informed “use of research evidence” lens, while the use of evidence field lacks consideration of the special case and implications of participatory research. To start to address these gaps, this paper presents a conceptual linkage across these two fields and then provides six illustrative case examples across diverse geographic, policy, and programmatic contexts to demonstrate opportunities and challenges in the use of YPAR evidence for policy and practice. Our illustrative focus here is on U.S. K‐12 educational contexts, the most‐studied setting in the YPAR literature, but questions examined here are relevant to YPAR and other systems domestically and internationally, including health, educational, and legal systems. Highlights The use of research evidence (URE) field identifies characteristics of research and conditions that strengthen URE. Youth‐led Participatory Action Research is a special case for factors that influence research use. Six case examples across diverse K‐12 contexts illustrate facilitators and barriers for YPAR use. We propose next steps for community psychology research and action to promote the study and use of YPAR evidence.

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“…While community violence is inherently negative, civic engagement involves prosocial behaviors that enrich the broader community and address public issues (e.g., volunteering, voting, attending meetings) (Balsano, 2005;Chung & Probert, 2011;Cohen & Chaffee, 2013). Civic engagement can take many forms, such as joining community groups, working with bureaucrats, helping neighbors, or signing petitions (Fitzgerald, 2016); such activities can be grouped more broadly within grassroots activism, civic participation, dialogue across groups, and sociopolitical development (Checkoway & Aldana, 2013;Hope & Jagers, 2014). There are also diverse forms of civic activities more relevant today (Zaff, Boyd, Li, Lerner, & Lerner, 2010), given the changing social, political and technological contexts youth experience (Leventhal & Brooks-Gunn, 2003).…”

Section: Youth Civic Engagementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Civic Engagement Among Youth Exposed to Community Violence: Directions for Research and Practice

Jain¹,

Cohen

Kawashima-Ginsberg

et al. 2019

JYD

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Historically and contemporarily marginalized youth who are disproportionately exposed to community violence are often the same youth who are less likely to be civically engaged. However, the community violence and civic engagement literatures have not yet fully explored how these experiences may be linked in young people's lives and in relation to what other forces. Using developmental assets and ecological-transactional frameworks, we review the emerging literature on civic engagement among youth exposed to community violence and how external developmental assets and neighborhood collective efficacy may create opportunity for their increased civic engagement. We present numerous conceptually-and empirically-based hypotheses to further examine the intersections between exposure to community violence and youth civic engagement. Ultimately, we identify opportunities for intervention.This literature review explores if and how youth civic engagement experiences vary by exposure to community violence (ETV), and suggest future directions for research and practice. We begin by justifying why this work is warranted, providing examples of violence exposures that youth experience, and describing the development of civic engagement across adolescence and into adulthood. We then review theoretical and empirical evidence that demonstrates how civic engagement can be part of resilience expressed by violence-exposed youth and be leveraged in youth-led actions to mitigate that violence. We follow by reviewing the literature on inequalities in civic engagement and exposure to community violence, documenting how structurally marginalized young people are often both less civically engaged and more exposed to community violence. We proceed to explore possible interventions that can support civic engagement among youth exposed to violence. We conclude by offering recommendations for future research and implications for policy and practice to enhance opportunities for civic engagement among youth exposed to community violence.

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Action Civics for Promoting Civic Development: Main Effects of Program Participation and Differences by Project Characteristics

Cited by 37 publications

References 54 publications

How Do Young People Become Politically Engaged?

How Do Young People Become Politically Engaged?

Use of Research Evidence Generated by Youth: Conceptualization and Applications in Diverse U.S. K‐12 Educational Settings

Civic Engagement Among Youth Exposed to Community Violence: Directions for Research and Practice

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