Engaging children and youth in research and evaluation using group concept mapping

Group concept mapping is a systematic methodology that recognizes participants’ expertise in their own experiences. In this approach, participants share their diverse knowledge and interpret the data generated by all group members. This approach uniquely blends quantitative and qualitative techniques to create illustrative, structured conceptualizations. In this article, we describe the steps in group concept mapping and report feedback on this method from 37 children and youth who participated in group concept mapping studies. We recommend group concept mapping as an engaging way to involve children and youth in research and evaluation activities.     

浅析新时期高校共青团的功能

高校是培养人才之地,高校共青团组织作为高校的有机组成部分,应立足育人实际,立足党中央、团中央对新形势下共青团职能的定位,充分发挥自身特点,着力履行好"政治思想引领"、"服务"和"保健"三项功能。     

Youth studies,citizenship and transitions: towards a new research agenda

A key goal in youth studies is to gain holistic understandings of what it means to be young. However, a significant impediment to achieving this has been the tendency of youth studies to develop along siloed and stratified subfields. In keeping with the goal of creating more productive dialogue between subfields in youth studies, this paper examines the intersections between research in youth citizenship and youth transitions to consider the fresh insights and cross fertilisations that such an analysis may yield. This examination reveals a sense of dissatisfaction in both subfields with traditional normative and linear models of citizenship and transitions which rely on step-wise and sequential notions of time. In response, the paper advances a new research agenda which posits more temporally, spatially and relationally-sensitive understandings of youth citizenship and transition. Drawing on Ingold (2007. Lines: A brief history. London: Routledge), this agenda proposes the use of three alternative metaphors – genealogical, wayfaring and threads – which could hold the potential to unsettle the normativity and linearity of previous youth transitions and citizenship frameworks, and thus provide deeper insights into what it means to live and to be young citizens in times of transition.     

“中国梦”语境下青年价值观的整合

中国正处于社会发展与转型的快速时期,青年价值观呈现出前所未有的多元化态势。青年价值观的整合,需要多维的视角,而"中国梦"的提出,则为青年价值观的整合提供了现实的途径。作为主导价值观的表现,"中国梦"可以引导青年自觉地将个人发展与国家富强、民族复兴结合起来,从而达到青年价值观整合的目的。青年应在"中国梦"的引领下,成为身负责任感和使命感的社会发展的中坚力量。     

农业社会学:经典命题及其延续

作为一门新兴学科,农业社会学近年来在中国呈现出良好的发展势头。一门学科的发展,需要通过不断的知识积累和经验研究进行一砖一瓦的建设,其中理论建设尤其重要。同其他社会科学一样,经典文本在农业社会学的理论建设中具有核心位置。 本专题选取了三个(对)农业社会学中的经典命题:农业的生产时间与劳动时间、农业技术变迁中的占取主义与替代主义,以及技术采用中的“农业跑步机理论冶。按照时代背景、原典阐释、学术延续以及启发意义的思路撰写,尝试为农业社会学的入门者提供一种理论梳理的路径。     

场域转换与文化反哺:青年群体与变迁社会的信息互动

以布迪厄场域理论来考察不同社会形态下青年与社会的信息互动实践,发现青年与社会的信息互动在具有“位置-权力”关系的场域中展开,“位置-权力”关系通过信息资本的占有而建构。社会形态随技术变革更迭,青年与社会信息互动的场域逻辑与运行机制发生相应转变。从农耕社会到工业社会再到信息社会,青年与社会的互动场域变得多样,并且发生着从家庭向学校再向网络空间的偏向性转换,场域运行的推动力量也从时间权威向结构权威再向认同权威转换。可以说,青年与社会信息互动场域的转换,正是人类在不同社会形态下对“用时间消灭空间”的信息传播时空观的生产实践与社会表征。     

Wilderness adventure therapy effects on the mental health of youth participants

Adventure therapy offers a prevention, early intervention, and treatment modality for people with behavioural, psychological, and psychosocial issues. It can appeal to youth-at-risk who are often less responsive to traditional psychotherapeutic interventions. This study evaluated Wilderness Adventure Therapy (WAT) outcomes based on participants’ pre-program, post-program, and follow-up responses to self-report questionnaires. The sample consisted of 36 adolescent out-patients with mixed mental health issues who completed a 10-week, manualised WAT intervention. The overall short-term standardised mean effect size was small, positive, and statistically significant (0.26), with moderate, statistically significant improvements in psychological resilience and social self-esteem. Total short-term effects were within age-based adventure therapy meta-analytic benchmark 90% confidence intervals, except for the change in suicidality which was lower than the comparable benchmark. The short-term changes were retained at the three-month follow-up, except for family functioning (significant reduction) and suicidality (significant improvement). For participants in clinical ranges pre-program, there was a large, statistically significant reduction in depressive symptomology, and large to very large, statistically significant improvements in behavioural and emotional functioning. These changes were retained at the three-month follow-up. These findings indicate that WAT is as effective as traditional psychotherapy techniques for clinically symptomatic people. Future research utilising a comparison or wait-list control group, multiple sources of data, and a larger sample, could help to qualify and extend these findings.     

The praxis of ethnic studies: transforming second sight into critical consciousness

This article focuses on a youth participatory action research (YPAR) program called the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP) that fostered young people of color’s critical consciousness. Their critical consciousness emerged through praxis (reflection/action) while focusing on preserving ethnic studies in Tucson, Arizona. Because the SJEP home was in ethnic studies, the youth also struggled to keep their program alive. The Arizona Department of Education claimed the program bred ‘radicals’ who wanted to overthrow the government and therefore lobbied the state legislature to ban K-12 ethnic studies in public schools. In January 2012, the ban went into effect, shutting down ethnic studies classes as well as the SJEP. Young people’s qualitative research on their struggle led to action to save the education that gave them hope for a more equitable and just world. The article addresses the praxis of YPAR, which sparks a thought process leading to the drive to take action. Observing and documenting educational injustices inspire the need to seek radical change of Self and schools. Through the reflection and action facilitated by YPAR, young people of color construct a message about the importance of ethnic studies for individual as well as social transformation.     

On Youth＇s Value Structure Roots of the Rise of Social Network Sites

青年价值结构反映了青年在价值观念变迁中现代化维度和后现代化维度中的转变程度。目前社交网站覆盖人数众多，用户以高学历、年轻化、城市分布规律化和交际现实性为主要特点。社交网站发展与青年价值结构变迁具有内在的密切关联。社交网站技术引进国内却丧失了原有的“意义图景”，说明我国青年在价值理性方面的缺失和对工具理性的追逐：接受社交网站说明“熟人社会”结构在青年社交活动中仍然延续．社交网站也能为青年实现个人成就提供可能性：社交网站馈赠型社会化模式有效改进了青年“相对被剥夺感”严重、幸福感低迷的现状，这是社交网站进一步发展壮大的功能基础。     

Strategies for fostering basic psychological needs support in high quality youth leadership programs

Youth leadership programming has become an increasingly common context to foster basic psychological needs and promote youth development. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore strategies involved in fostering youth needs support within six leadership programs. Two leaders and 30 youth participated in semi-structured interviews to better understand the strategies used to foster needs support. Findings revealed that leaders were able to foster a sense of relatedness among youth through building trusting adult-youth relationships and nurturing an inclusive environment. Maximizing choice and negotiating youth voice helped to foster youth’s autonomy. Finally, creating a task-oriented climate and providing intentional opportunities for skill-building helped to foster youth’s competence. Findings suggest that training for leaders is critical in understanding what, and how strategies should be employed to help foster youth needs support in leadership programming. Limitations and future directions are outlined.