Promoting radical empathy: Changes in empathy and perspective taking at a youth summer camp that centers restorative practices

Abstract

Empathy is crucial to promoting positive intergroup relations; research suggests engaging in restorative practices, autonomy granting, and creativity support empathy development. The current study uses a daily diary to evaluate changes in empathy, creativity, feeling in control/empowered in a small sample (N = 41) of adolescents during a two‐week session of summer camp that centers restorative practices. The results suggest participants increase significantly in emotional empathy, perspective taking, and creativity during their time at camp. The results also suggest that on days participants feel more in control and have expressed more creativity, they report more empathy and perspective taking. These findings provide important evidence using intensive longitudinal data that youth programming that centers restorative practices, autonomy support, and creativity may support empathy development.