Youth Program Quality Survey: Youth Assessment of Program Quality

The Youth Program Quality survey, a 24-item survey of youth participant perceptions of program quality, based on program elements identified by the National Research Council (NRC) and Institute of Medicine, was developed and piloted with 614 younger teens (ages 10–13 years) and 486 older teens (ages 14–17 years) who attended 4-H camps and conferences. Evidence is presented for content and construct validity. In addition, the overall instrument demonstrated high reliability, as measured by Cronbach's alpha, generally ranging from .70 to .96, and moderate subscale reliability of .60 or higher on four factors in the younger sample (α=.60 or higher on four factors in the older sample). Results are discussed in terms of goodness of fit to the National Research Council model, the significance of youth voice in assessment of program quality, developmental differences in perceptions of quality, and programming design. Recommendations are offered for practice, research, and policy.     

Youth evaluating programs for youth: stories of Youth IMPACT

Youth evaluators describe their findings from an extensive evaluation of forty youth programs in San Francisco. Interviews with current youth and the former program director provide insight into the promise and challenge of youth participation.     

Positive Youth Development and Foster Care Youth: A Digital Perspective

The virtual world of the Internet may be used to support positive youth development. Accessing resources in educational, employment, health, and social domains is enhanced by the ability to effectively use digital technology. Foster youth are at risk for poor developmental outcomes and may face barriers to competent use of the Internet. We discuss the benefits and risks of Internet use and the importance of digital literacy to protect against risks, and we offer suggestions on ways that child welfare agencies, case managers, and foster parents can work with youth to support safe and effective use of digital technology.     

Gay and Lesbian Youth:

Social policy tends to reflect community standards regarding a population's individual rights, expected conduct, and entitlement to public services. Populations, therefore, must be defined and acknowledged by their communities and by their policy makers if they are to be included in these codified standards Lesbian and gay youth have yet to be clearly defined as a population. The origins and subsequent development of the current lesbian and gay movement offer a framework in which to consider future efforts to change social policy regarding lesbian and gay youth. The lesbian and gay community, despite the significant loss of leadership and experience as the result of AIDS, have continued its development as a force for social change. Organizations such as Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, and other groups focused on combating bigotry and expanding civil rights, are of crucial importance to the future of lesbian and gay youth and to the development of enlightened policy. The sooner enlightened policies are developed, the sooner these youngsters will be able to lead happier, healthier, and more productive lives.     

Gay and Lesbian Youth:

No abstract available for this article.     

Promoting Empowerment Among LGBTQ Youth: A Social Justice Youth Development Approach

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer-identified (LGBTQ) youth are a population with a unique set of service needs. Existing research on effective service methods with LGBTQ youth is limited. Youth empowerment holds potential as an approach that can impact well-being among youth who face discrimination. The current study explores the relationship between the social justice youth development framework (Ginwright and James, New Directions Youth Dev 96:27–46, 2002) and youth empowerment in a sample of LGBTQ youth. Multiple regression analysis of data collected through a community-based youth program identified critical consciousness and community engagement as significant predictors of empowerment. Findings suggest that programs that promote these factors among LGBTQ youth using the social justice youth development framework may enhance empowerment thereby increasing other aspects of well-being.     

Speaking Out: Youth Led Research as a Methodology Used with Homeless Youth

Participatory action research is well documented with marginalized groups, but less is known about participatory action research with homeless youth. The use of youth led research as a methodology was examined among a population of homeless youth. Peer researchers (n = 10) reported on their experience utilizing youth led research methodology. Results indicate that youth led research is a promising methodology for use among homeless youth. Participants reported that the approach positively impacted the quality and quantity of data that could be collected from participants. Further, peer researchers reported individual benefits of feeling that participating in the project mattered, that people listened to them and that they had a voice.     

21世纪主题：青年发展与发展青年

如果说20世纪青年研究主题是“青年教育”,21世纪青年研究主题则将扩展至“青年发展”。研究青年发展,首先应研究影响青年发展的内在动力与维度取向。新世纪青年的发展,不再像以往几代人,仅在某一维度追求发展。而是希望在三个维度(价值、技术、效用)上都得到发展。青年已从“边缘”走向“主流”;青年从成人“接受”转向对社会“反哺”。因此,要关注青年发展中的“新白领”与“后现代”现象。改善青年的生存和发展环境。加强对未来的青年政策的研究。     

自反性青年亚文化——青年文化的空间属性与情感转向

“青年文化”具有“亚文化”属性,不仅仅指“青春叛逆”这一特质,在新媒体时代更涉及到“网络媒介”对“青年文化”的形塑。通过当代大学生阅读调查、网络使用习惯调查以及实际社交状况的深描,探讨青年群体在虚拟空间与现实空间中不同的身份表达,可以发现当下“赛博空间”中的青年自我表征与现实身份认同的关系具有“自反性”,一方面“次元壁”的区隔显示出青年身份认同的焦虑,另一方面从“网络—现实”空间的二元对立中又生产出身份认同的路径,即通过“自我对抗”最终生产出青年的主体性。     

Youth Style: Articulating cultural anxiety

In their everyday efforts to put together how they “look,” adolescents visually capture and articulate complex issues that society finds difficult to express verbally. In this paper we explore these “looks” as one example of youth appearance style and as a reflection of, and an impetus for, cultural anxieties. In doing so we draw on a series of multi‐method field studies conducted over the last ten years. A key feature of these studies has been the involvement of young people themselves as key informants and co‐investigators. Data from these studies can help clarify relationships between youth appearance style and cultural themes of sexuality and violence.     

Youth prostitution: a literature review

This article reviews the academic literature on young people involved in prostitution. The prevalence and aetiology of youth prostitution and its links with drug use and criminal careers are explored. It argues that whatever the power of personal experiences which incline a person towards prostitution, prostitution can still only be possible in specific cultural conditions. The phenomenon of prostitution has the sexual double standard, poverty and an unequal labour market as prerequisites. We should not expect prostitution to either disappear or occur with equal frequency in men and women while these aspects of inequality continue. This article reviews debates on the particular challenges for service delivery and working together with this vulnerable group. In a civilized society, we should organize that the burden of inequalities which underlie prostitution should not be carried by children. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Street Youth: Coping and Interventions

A literature review of research into interventions among street youth is presented along with the results of a qualitative analysis of interviews with 80 street youth on the topic of coping. Themes arising from the qualitative analysis include street youths' negative and positive experiences with social support; and attitudes and beliefs such as self-worth, decreased reactivity to other's opinions, hope for the future, pride in self-reliance, anger/non-conformity, and spirituality. Recommendations of this study include the need for outcome research and programme evaluation, inclusion of sociocultural factors as variables, and accessing the experiences of street youth.     

Youth masculinities: compelling male heterosexuality

This article seeks to extend understandings of heterosexual masculine identities through an examination of young men's constructions of what motivates young men to engage in heterosexual practices and relationships, and what not having sex might mean for them. Using the masculinity literature and work on heterosexuality to frame the discussion and to contextualize the findings, it explores the complex dynamics that frame the relationship between masculinity and heterosexuality. Specifically, how dominant or 'hegemonic' discourses of heterosexuality shape young men's identities, beliefs and behaviour. It considers these questions using empirical data from a qualitative study of young people living in close-knit working-class communities in the North East of England, with a specific focus on cultural and social attitudes towards sexuality and sexual practices. Peer group networks are a key site for the construction and (re)production of masculinity and, therefore, an important arena within which gendered social approval and acceptance is both sought and gained. In this article, I explore the reasons why young men engage in specific types of heterosexual practice in order to gain social approval. A central question is the extent to which heterosexuality is compelling for young men. That young men do feel compelled to behave in certain ways sexually, behaviours that they may be uncomfortable with and/or dislike, and the fact that they feel they are restricted in terms of how they can talk about their experiences within their peer group networks, demonstrates the power of dominant discourses of masculinity in everyday life. This is addressed through an examination of the restrictive effects of normative discourses about male heterosexuality, including their privatizing effects, which suggest that youth masculinities are often experienced in ways that are highly contradictory requiring young men to adopt a range of strategies to deal with this.     

青年文化:诠释与批评

青年的定义随着一定社会的经济、政治、文化、环境的变化相应地发生着变化。从青年文化的概念、青年文化的结构和文化批评范式入手,理解青年、理解青年文化,自觉反思青年文化的现代性困境。     

Contemporary Youth and Youth Culture in Japan

Abstract  This paper begins with a profile of Japanese youth which compares them statistically and sociologically with those of other nations. Next, I attempt to differentiate between "adolescent" and "youth," and explain the adolescent as a consequence of industrial society. I also try to divide youth culture into three types: partial culture, sub-culture. and counter- culture. Finally, I discuss the history of Japanese youth culture, primarily since the coming of the industrial age after World War 11. As examples of adolescent cultures, I refer to "Taiyo-zoku." "Zenkyoto," "Hippie," "New Young," and "Shin-jinrui." Among these, "Zenkyoto" and "Hippie" are important as counter-cultures; they reject the prevailing society and actively seek a new post-industrial society. Adolescent sub-culture. on the other hand, has dwindled since the decline of the "Zen- kyoto" around 1970. Since 1980, Japanese youth can be grouped into three main categories. The majority enjoy affluence and consumer goods, like the "Crystal-zoku," who are obsessed with famous brands. They are in the partial culture, and are oriented to super-industrial society. The second group is made up of those who have unique adolescent cultures. like the "Shin-jinrui," who are sensuous and highly responsive to information. They are in the sub-culture, and are oriented to the modified industrial society. Minority groups who take action to protect their interests and human rights, like ecological groups derived from the counter-culture movement, comprise the third category. They are in the counter-culture, and are oriented to post-industrial society.