“…The resistance narrative maintained that offender‐labeled youth had uninterrupted potential. That is, even though these youth displayed problematic behaviors, they were not “damaged” in that they could no longer engage in prosocial behaviors and meaningfully contribute to their community (Lavie‐Ayaji & Krumer‐Nevo, ). Jamie, from a programmatic viewpoint, highlighted this ideological stance when talking about the goal of PA: It [PA] helps shape a different narrative….…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…We suspect the answer is no and that future studies will show that roles, resources, belief systems, and relational processes differ across counterspaces. What is important is that these setting mechanisms promote what Lavie‐Ayaji and Krumer‐Nevo () refer to as “narratives of worth” among offender‐labeled African American youth (p. 1701). Narratives of worth, like the resistance narrative, assert that though offender‐label youth have engaged in problematic behaviors, they are capable of citizenship and deserving of consideration.…”
Through narrative identity work, offender‐labeled African American youth craft positive self‐concepts in the face of denigrating societal messages about their personhood. While past research suggests narrative identity work is largely intrapersonal, recent theory posits that it may also arise through individuals’ participation in counterspaces. This 9‐month ethnography explored how a group of offender‐labeled African American youth engaged in narrative identity work through participation in an intervention program that functioned as a counterspace. Findings from observations and interviews suggest youth engaged in narrative identity work by interfacing with the program's unique belief system, and roles, resources, and relationships within the program. These findings highlight specific interpersonal/setting mechanisms that facilitate the narrative identity work of offender‐labeled African American youth, while suggesting important implications for intervening with this population.
“…The resistance narrative maintained that offender‐labeled youth had uninterrupted potential. That is, even though these youth displayed problematic behaviors, they were not “damaged” in that they could no longer engage in prosocial behaviors and meaningfully contribute to their community (Lavie‐Ayaji & Krumer‐Nevo, ). Jamie, from a programmatic viewpoint, highlighted this ideological stance when talking about the goal of PA: It [PA] helps shape a different narrative….…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…We suspect the answer is no and that future studies will show that roles, resources, belief systems, and relational processes differ across counterspaces. What is important is that these setting mechanisms promote what Lavie‐Ayaji and Krumer‐Nevo () refer to as “narratives of worth” among offender‐labeled African American youth (p. 1701). Narratives of worth, like the resistance narrative, assert that though offender‐label youth have engaged in problematic behaviors, they are capable of citizenship and deserving of consideration.…”
Through narrative identity work, offender‐labeled African American youth craft positive self‐concepts in the face of denigrating societal messages about their personhood. While past research suggests narrative identity work is largely intrapersonal, recent theory posits that it may also arise through individuals’ participation in counterspaces. This 9‐month ethnography explored how a group of offender‐labeled African American youth engaged in narrative identity work through participation in an intervention program that functioned as a counterspace. Findings from observations and interviews suggest youth engaged in narrative identity work by interfacing with the program's unique belief system, and roles, resources, and relationships within the program. These findings highlight specific interpersonal/setting mechanisms that facilitate the narrative identity work of offender‐labeled African American youth, while suggesting important implications for intervening with this population.
“…Constituting a conceptually optimistic orientation, PYD recognizes the role of plasticity in human development to recover from past early‐life stress experiences (Lerner, ). As an ecological approach, PYD research on resilience centers attention upon the young person in their socioecological context (Lavie‐Ajayi & Krumer‐Nevo, ) acknowledging that diverse outcomes arise through the interplay of resources and risks. In particular, relationships are viewed as critical to adolescent development (Lerner, ; Lerner et al., ) and mutually beneficial relationships between youth, peers, parents, and institutions are associated with positive adjustment (Heinze, ; Theokas & Lerner, ).…”
Maltreated children are a vulnerable population, yet many of these youth follow positive developmental pathways. The primary aim was to identify social skills growth trajectories among at-risk youth to understand processes underlying resilience. Nationally representative, longitudinal data from 1,179 families investigated for child maltreatment (M = 12.75) were obtained from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Four trajectories were identified-stress-resistant, emergent resilience, breakdown, and unresponsive-maladaptive. Protective resources from multiple levels of the youth ecology (individual, family, school, and social service) predicted positive growth social skills trajectories. Resilience process and attendant positive outcomes in multiple domains of functioning were evident among the stress-resistant and emergent resilience trajectories. Results underscore the saliency of social skills development for resilient outcomes in youth.
“…Lavie-Ajayi and Krumer-Nevo (2013, p. 1770 argue that if workers wish to prove themselves as 'relevant, reliable and trustworthy', they must 'take an on-going social and political position of standing by the youth in the face of their hardship, even in times it involves conflict with other professionals or institutions'. The fact that BLT staff members stood alongside young people to the extent that youth could trust that they would be consistent and reliable made a huge impact on the youths' ability to trust them.…”
The utility of social pedagogy as an approach to building resiliency and developing positive relationships with children and youth is currently underdeveloped in North America. However, there are signs of growth in this field. For example, one youth project in British Columbia, Canada, employs relationship building, collaboration and creativity in terms of music-or art-based community interventions as part of its programme. The findings from a recent evaluation report on this youth project will be used to explore the potential for a social pedagogical approach being deployed more widely, and possibly more effectively, than current youth-focused practice. Specifically, the importance of relational practice, underpinned by aspects of attachment theory will be used to explore the utility of social pedagogical practices and examine the possibility of its development within a number of professional contexts.
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