Program Innovations and Character in Cub Scouts: Findings from Year 1 of a Mixed-Methods, Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Youth development programs seek to promote positive development through mentoring and engaging youth in opportunities for individual growth and community connectedness. We present findings from the initial phase of a mixed-methods, longitudinal study aimed at assessing the impact of one such program, Cub Scouts, on character development. We assessed if Scouting, and a recent innovation in Scouting focused on program quality, are associated with the development of character and other positive youth outcomes. Participants were 1,083 Scouts and non-Scouts, aged 5-12 years. At the start of the study, there was no difference in indicators of character between Scouts and non-Scouts, once matched through propensity score analyses. Through content analyses of interviews and short-answer questionnaires administered to leaders, we found that leaders' views of character and of their roles corresponded to those envisioned by Cub Scouts. Implications for character development, and for the role of program components in character development, are discussed.

“That’s Just a Part of Growing Up”: A Study of Non-formal Educators’ Lay Theories of Adolescence

“…BSA programmatic influences on leaders’ beliefs have previously been identified in research. For example, Hilliard et al (2014) found the BSA’s conception of character informed leaders’ beliefs and actions related to character-building. However, when this study’s participants identified challenges in working with adolescents, they framed these challenges as characteristics or attributes of their adolescent scouts.…”

“…Studies of BSA programs, particularly the BSA’s program for 6 to 10 year-olds called Cub Scouts, have highlighted leaders’ roles and perceptions of their influence on youth. Cub Scout leaders have been identified as positive role models who actively promote character development in youth (e.g., Hershberg et al, 2015; Hilliard et al, 2014; Wang et al, 2017). Participants in these studies offer explanations for how or why Scouting influences positive youth development for pre-adolescents, yet they seldom discuss their contributions beyond character development.…”

“…BSA’s core trainings, especially when taken in an online format, were not tailored to leaders’ needs, which might include knowledge and skill enhancement related to youth and adolescent development (Davis et al, 2021). When encountering such challenges without training that might inform their understanding of adolescence, non-formal educators may default to their existing beliefs about how young people grow up , as well as the structures and assumptions embedded within the NFE program in which they participate (see Hilliard et al, 2014).…”

The Promotion of Character through Youth Development Programs: A View of the Issues

“…In sum, developmental theories predicated on RDS metatheory-based ideas suggest that OST youth development programs may be an important context for character development and education because of the positive, mutually influential relations between youth and adult leaders found in exemplary instantiations of such programs (Hilliard et al, 2014;Lerner & Callina, 2014;Vandell et al, 2015). Accordingly, research about the role of OST youth development programs, including evaluations of specific programs, is burgeoning in relation to increased interest in RDS-based models of human development (Lerner, 2015), to the fact that each of tens of millions of American youth participate in several OST programs each years (Vandell et al, 2015), and to heightened emphasis among scientists, educators, and policy makers about the importance of promoting character among the diverse youth of the nation (Berkowitz, 2011(Berkowitz, , 2012.…”

“…Increasingly, attributes of character -for instance, moral virtues (e.g., integrity, justice, caring, and respect), performance character (e.g., effort, diligence, perseverance, grit, and self-discipline), civic character (e.g., the knowledge, skills, and commitments involved in being an active and positively engaged citizen), or intellectual character (e.g., attributes such as love of learning, seeking truth, creativity, and intellectual humility) -have been the focus of OST youth development programs, either wholly (e.g., through character education programs) or as outcomes of efforts to enhance other facets of thriving (Berkowitz, 2011(Berkowitz, , 2012Hilliard et al, 2014;Wang et al, 2015).…”