Publication year
2005
Citation Title
A comparison of youth-driven and adult-driven youth programs: Balancing inputs from youth and adults.
Journal Name
Journal of Community Psychology
Journal Volume
33
Issue Number
1
Page Numbers
57-74
DOI
10.1002.jcop.20035
Summary
In-depth qualitative data of both youth and adult experiences in two youth-driven and two adult-driven programs for high school-aged youth were examined. Specifically, the authors explored how the degree of youth and adult influence over program activities in youth programs impacted both youth and adult experiences.
Key Findings
In the youth-driven programs, youth reported greater empathy with other peer groups and feeling more empowered.
Youth in the adult-driven programs reported developing self-confidence, interpersonal skills, and a sense of responsibility.
Adults in the youth-driven programs used the techniques of guiding questions, providing intermediate structures, and monitoring to keep youth on track. Adults cultivated a culture of fairness and opportunity to encourage the youth to strongly identify with the program.
Implications for Military Professionals
Encourage youth to more actively participate in youth programs possibly through leadership roles and community service projects
Collaborate with youth to develop the goals and curricula of youth programs
Implications for Program Leaders
Create youth-led support groups so that youth gain experience with supporting and governing each other
Offer trainings to youth workers of youth programs about how to integrate adult-driven and youth-driven goals and objectives
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend training for professionals in adult-driven and youth-driven programs to offer a holistic approach to youth programs
Promote youth development programs that encourage youth to participate in leadership positions
Methods
Data were gathered from four programs for high school-aged youth. Programs were selected based on recommendations from youth development professionals and the authors’ assessments that the programs were youth-centered and that youth participants were enthusiastic.
Biweekly interviews with youth participants and adult observers were conducted over a four month period.
For each program, 10-13 youth and one or two adult advisors were interviewed. There were 279 total youth interviews, 50 adult interviews, and 38 program observations.
Participants
In the youth-driven programs, participants were from a chapter of the National FFA Organization, a rural youth program, or from Youth Action, a program dedicated to youth development in an urban area.
For the adult driven programs, participants were either from a “small city” high school production of Les Miserable, or Art First, an organization providing urban underserved youth opportunities to develop and improve art skills in a variety of mediums.
There were no data on the number of participants from sites, their ages, or their racial/ethnic composition.
Limitations
Limited information was presented about the characteristics of the four programs, limiting the generalizability of the results of this study to other programs.
While the authors described the programs and some of the participants’ experiences of the programs, they did not effectively discuss the themes and patterns of the coded responses from the interviews, which made the presentation of the data appear incomplete.
There were no data on the demographic characteristics of the participants for each group, which does not allow for exploration of additional factors (e.g., age, race, gender) that may impact results.
Avenues for Future Research
Examine relationships between youth- and adult-driven programs and youth outcomes
Explore what kinds of personality traits of leaders are associated with successful youth- and adult-driven programs
Examine differences between outcomes of youth in youth- and adult-driven programs for youth in military famlies
Focus
Civilian
Target Population
Population Focus
Abstract
This article examines the unfolding of experiences in youth programs that differed in the degree of youth and adult influence over program activities. In-depth qualitative data were obtained over a three- to four-month cycle of activities in two “youth-driven” and two “adult-driven” programs for high-school–aged youth. All had been identified as high quality, and in all of the programs, the adults were sensitive and respectful to the youth. Rather than finding that one approach was categorically better than the other, our analyses suggested that each provided distinct developmental experience and that each presented somewhat different day-to-day challenges to the adults. In the youth-driven programs, the youth experienced a high degree of ownership and empowerment, and they reported development of leadership and planning skills. In the adult-driven programs, the adults crafted student-centered learning experiences that facilitated youth’s development of specific talents. Across both approaches, youth also gained self-confidence and benefited from the adults’ experience in other ways. The article highlights balancing techniques that adults in both programs used for keeping youth’s work in the program on track while keeping youth invested.
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