Youth and Civic Engagement in the Americas: Preliminary Findings from a Three-city Study: Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, and Mexico City (original) (raw)
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Youth political development: An introduction
Journal of Social Issues, 1998
Research on political socialization during the 1950s focused on early precursors of political attitudes and treated children as rather passive participants in the process. A second wave of research in the 1960s considered youth a force creating social change and held that the transition between adolescence and adulthood was a period uniquely suited to examining political issues. Developmental research during the past two decades has emphasized lifelong plasticity and the importance of the sociohistorical contexts in which children grow up. This change in views of development has occurred at a time when populations in all societies are becoming more diverse and when there have been dramatic economic and sociopolitical upheavals throughout the world. Thus there is a renewed importance for research on the political development of young people and the potential for examining this topic in increasingly meaningful ways. This issue highlights a new generation of research in this domain, paying particular attention to international and comparative work and to those studies that bring a fresh and developmental approach.
In K. Tobin and A. Shady [Eds.] Transforming Urban Education. (pp. 377-387). The Netherlands: Sense Publishers., 2014
Spring 2012: Images of the "Occupy" encampments being cleared away trickled down media screens. More than a year has passed since that spring and the Occupy movement camps are long gone, but the consciousness of wealth inequity that they brought into popular focus has left its mark. Social class is no longer a taboo topic for today"s youth who believe that class trumps race as an explanation for inequity . The dialogues about "the 1%" who brutally exploit workers, the planet and political systems were full of passion and vitriol, they ignited a fire for justice in youth. Dylan Siry was one of those youth. For him the words and images of the movement were shared and reshared on social networking sites. Although just sixteen when the movement hit its fevered pitch he was keeping track. He recalls being an active participant in disseminating and analyzing the media that had finally decided that "Occupy" was worth noting. He was not alone. Media images reveal that children were making signs and bringing food to protestors. Beyond this, they were participating in blogs, marches and uprisings, while educating themselves on the issues that have led to brutal economic hardship and this moment of public uprising. Dylan Siry is the third author of this chapter. He is a young man who believed then, and believes now, that that the Occupy Movements are all about fighting for our collective future. Political engagement is not new to him. He recalls the night of November 4 th 2008, when he was thirteen-years-old and glued to the presidential election results that poured in from across America. He was too wired to be sleepy, that moment meant too much. He believed that the election would change the prospects of his life. He was not alone, texting back and forth with other barely teenage (and younger) friends, he joined thousands of young people who felt, and continue to feel, the need to be politically engaged. Too young to vote, but not too young to care, these children are not the self obsessed dupes of a shallow society (as the popular media claims about youth often asserts), instead they shared and continue to share an enthusiasm about the election as well as the issues that were highlighted during the election campaign. In recalling his zeal over the election, Dylan explains, the decisions made will effect me the most, however,
Civic and political engagement in youth: Findings and prospects
Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 2017
This paper reviews the research that has been conducted into youth civic and political engagement since 2010. We begin by noting the claim that youth are not sufficiently engaged either civically or politically. We argue that this claim is probably incorrect: rather than using conventional forms of political participation, youth today are often engaged through nonconventional and civic means instead. We also indicate at the outset some important cautions about the interpretation of research findings in this field, in particular the need to consider the kinds of political issues with which youth are involved, the moments in time at which they are involved, and the societal contexts in which their involvement occurs. We argue that these specificities mean that it might be difficult or even impossible to construct a unified model or comprehensive understanding of youth civic and political engagement. The review then considers recent research findings on the role of micro-, meso-, and macro-level factors in influencing youth engagement. Micro-level factors include political interest, efficacy, ideologies, values, and identity; meso-level factors include the family, school, peers, and the neighborhood; while macro-level factors include political, cultural, economic, legal, and institutional factors. We also review recent findings on the role of young people’s demographic positioning, the effects that social media might be playing in transforming youth engagement, and how political parties can actively mobilize youth. We conclude that young people are far from being apathetic and uninterested in politics, but that they need to find ways to be involved that are meaningful to them. We also indicate some possible future lines of research that could be profitably pursued.
Journal of Adolescence, 2012
Drawing on data from a longitudinal cohort-sequential project the present study examined developmental trajectories of adolescents" attitudes toward political engagement and their willingness to participate in politics from grade 7 to 11 while accounting for the influence of school track and gender. Moreover, stabilities on the dependent variables were assessed. The results revealed differential trajectories regarding adolescents" educational level. Increases were mainly shown for students attending the college-bound school track. Generally, both orientations toward political behaviors were shown to become more stable throughout the adolescent years.
Political Psychology, 2004
The recently completed IEA Civic Education Study collected data from 140,000 adolescent students in a total of 29 countries. A recent examination of the work of Nevitt Sanford shows that many aspects of the IEA Civic Education Study are parallel to methods and conclusions of his research from the 1950's through the 1970's and partake in the spirit of his work as well as extending it. These parallels include the use of a contextualized approach in the study of adolescents' socialization and the value of studying groups with extreme response patterns.
Political and civic engagement development in adolescence
Journal of adolescence, 2012
This study explored whether discussions about the media, when positively linked to interest in the news media, were related to adolescents' current and future civic engagement. A sample of 2638 adolescents (age M ¼ 17, SD ¼ 1.2), who participated in a school-based study on positive socialization, completed self-report measures on interest in the news media and discussions about the media with parents and friends. Current civic engagement was measured by involvement in volunteering and civic commitments. Future civic engagement was measured by intentions to participate in civic activities in the future. The results showed that more interpersonal discussions about the media and higher interest in the news media both predicted higher civic engagement. Positive links between discussions about the media and current civic engagement were partly mediated by interest in the news media. In addition, interest in the news media together with current civic engagement fully mediated a positive link between discussions about the media and future civic engagement. Moderating effects of gender were observed, with discussions about the media a better predictor of boys' interest in the news media, and current civic engagement a better predictor of girls' future civic engagement. Ó
Growing into politics? The development of adolescents’ views on democracy over time
Politics
This study focuses on how views on democracy develop during adolescence. A total of 40 Dutch adolescents were interviewed in their second and fourth year of secondary education. The study shows that the interviewed adolescents do become more familiar with politics but do not develop more nuanced views towards democracy. As the adolescents age, a one-dimensional perspective on democracy becomes more apparent. In the interviewees’ perspective, democracy increasingly equals majority rule. Other aspects, such as minority interests and finding consensus, are increasingly neglected. This study, therefore, suggests that adolescents do not ‘naturally’ develop more complex views on democracy when they age.
The authors surveyed Anglo, African American, Latino, and Native American eighth-grade students in six middle schools from one U.S. county in 2003 and 2004. The goal of the project was to compare the attitudes of young people about politics and government at an early age to determine whether differences existed before high school. The authors found that minority and Anglo children differ dramatically in their skills and information levels about politics and government. Anglo adolescents are more likely to have rudimentary information about politics and government, practice democratic skills in school and at home, and hold positive attitudes toward politics and government. Among minority students, Native Americans have the least information, fewest opportunities to practice democratic skills, and most negative attitudes toward the political system. The authors also found that children's political experiences, captured by their ethnicity and race, affect their levels of political information and attitudes about government, after controlling for students' family and school resources.
Local Characteristics Shape the Intended Political Behaviours of Adolescents
Social Indicators Research, 2021
Among the different factors that predict political participation, the characteristics of the local community are often described. The types and the intensity of political participation differ in urban and rural communities. The local community provides social and cultural resources for political participation and at the same time acts as a driver of political socialisation. The political attitudes of adolescents differ depending on the characteristics of the communities in which they live, i.e. the local context of their political socialisation. This paper describes the context of the political socialisation of adolescents in the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) in terms of geographical differences in socioeconomic, sociostructural, and sociocultural characteristics. The approach uses public databases to construct indicators that describe administrative districts in terms of their degree of urbanisation, degree of aggregated individual wealth, and variety of oppo...