Full Description
This volume from the Adolescence and Education series explores how we conceptualize and approach equity-oriented positive youth development (PYD) today, both in theory and practice. PYD is a prosocial approach that leverages youth's assets to organize programs, services, and supports to maximize their development. It can occur in afterschool programs, community organizations, families, peer relationships, and school interventions. Recognizing PYD as both an approach and a set of outcomes, this volume systematically examines how youth-serving organizations infuse equity into their design and participation strategies, joining other research that enhances engagement with diverse communities.
Bringing together researchers and practitioners, this book explores contexts where youth have the agency to co-author their life narratives. The chapters illustrate how specific contexts and participation structures can foster youth voice, leadership, and expertise without sacrificing best practices in contemporary PYD scholarship. The six main studies highlight the tenets of high-quality youth programs and offer insights into designing for equity and access in meaningful youth participation. The authors critically examine the spaces and social structures that shape youth engagement, focusing on PYD for LGBTQ+ youth, military-involved youth, and Black youth in predominantly rural contexts.
The latter chapters analyze the essential role of youth workers in development and the importance of youth-adult relationships. This book emphasizes that youth engagement in PYD contexts should not be confined to a single model, offering a comprehensive look at how to support diverse youth populations effectively.
Contents
Foreword; Ben Kirshner
Introduction to the Volume; Daniela DiGiacomo and Erica Van Steenis
Chapter 1. Complexifying Positive Youth Development in the context of an LGBTQ+ and Allied Youth Group; Suraj Uttamchandani and Barbara Dennis
Chapter 2. Building Equity and Authentic Engagement with Military-Connected Youth Through a Research-Practice Partnership; Barry A. Garst and Benjamin J. Parry
Chapter 3. Supporting positive youth development for youth workers: A proleptic process of becoming; Naomi Thompson, Kay E. Ramey, Wade Berger, Sydney Simmons, and Nichole Pinkard
Chapter 4. Thunder Fellows: An Origin Story Centering Equity-oriented Positive Youth Development; Helen Douglass, Lindsey Cain, and Jolly Meadows
Chapter 5. From Performative to Authentic Contribution: Facilitators' Critical Self-Reflection on Equity-Oriented Positive Youth Development; Eleni Duret and Sierra Fisher-Daniel
Chapter 6. Positive Youth Development from an Equity Perspective: Challenges Facing the Field and the Equity Journey of an Applied Research Organization; Nanyamka M. Redmond, Ta-Yang Hsieh, Jennifer Shubert, Lex Nappa, Miray D. Seward, Mara Schanfield, and Peter C. Scales
Conclusion; Femi Vance and Deepa S. Vasundevan
