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Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices
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Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices

A special issue of Youth (ISSN 2673-995X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2024) | Viewed by 3998

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Parissa Jahromi Ballard

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston Salem, NC 27104, USA
Interests: adolescent development; increasing opportunities for youth voices; understanding how young people contribute to their communities and how their engagements shape their development; sociopolitical stress and coping; substance misuse prevention; youth voice; action civics; civic interventions
Dr. Lindsay Till Hoyt

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Psychology, Fordham University, New York, NY 10458, USA
Interests: adolescent health and health inequalities; sociopolitical stress and coping; civic development; youth participatory action research
Dr. Christopher M. Wegemer

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Social Welfare, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Interests: youth civic engagement; educational technology; global civil society

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Many adolescents and young adults are involved in a broad range of sociopolitical actions, from participating in large social justice movements to taking individual actions to fight for equality in their communities. Research from many fields of study has documented benefits of such critical civic engagement for communities and individuals. At the same time, the landscape for sociopolitical action is increasingly complex; the world is more interconnected, young people have many opportunities to be “online,” and politics are more polarized. It is increasingly apparent that there are also physical and mental health costs to sociopolitical action oriented toward social justice. Importantly, the costs and benefits are not equally distributed and depend on the different systems of oppression and privilege young people face based on their identities, their contexts, and how their identities and contexts interact. Societies and local communities benefit from the voices and engagement of diverse young people, perhaps especially those for whom the costs of sociopolitical action are higher based on their identities and contexts.

This Special Issue thus calls for papers that examine links between sociopolitical action and healthy development. We seek contributions that will help create a multi-disciplinary and multi-level conversation about how best to support young people in justice-oriented sociopolitical action that is constructive, sustainable, and health-promotive. Preference will be given to articles that simultaneously consider costs and benefits of social justice-oriented civic engagement for adolescent and young adult health; that consider how best to support young people in their civic engagement; and that draw on empirical studies, longitudinal data, and/or understudied samples.

Dr. Parissa Jahromi Ballard
Dr. Lindsay Till Hoyt
Dr. Christopher M. Wegemer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Youth is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sociopolitical action
  • civic engagement
  • social justices adolescents and young adults

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 522 KiB  
Article
Racism and Mental Health: The Moderating Role of Critical Consciousness for Black Adolescents
by Elan C. Hope, Alexandrea R. Golden and Nkemka Anyiwo
Youth 2024, 4(2), 647-660; https://doi.org/10.3390/youth4020044 - 10 May 2024
Viewed by 429
Abstract
This study examined experiences of individual, institutional, and cultural racism, along with critical consciousness (i.e., critical reflection, critical agency, critical action), and how they are associated with mental health outcomes for Black adolescents (N = 604; Mage = 15.4; 47.4% female). [...] Read more.
This study examined experiences of individual, institutional, and cultural racism, along with critical consciousness (i.e., critical reflection, critical agency, critical action), and how they are associated with mental health outcomes for Black adolescents (N = 604; Mage = 15.4; 47.4% female). Consistent with previous research, we found that more experiences of racism were associated with more mental health distress for Black adolescents. We also found that the relationship between racism and mental health varied by critical reflection and critical action, in a three-way interaction effect. The positive association between racism and mental health distress was weaker for the Black adolescents in our sample who reported higher than average critical reflection and lower than average critical action. This evidence suggests that the reflection and action components of critical consciousness, together, can serve as an adaptive coping strategy to guard against the harm racism can cause to mental health. Black adolescents experience less mental health distress when they have a deep understanding of oppression, but do not engage heavily in actions to dismantle those unjust systems. These findings have implications for how youth researchers and practitioners can support critical consciousness development in ways that do not compromise adolescent mental health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices)
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19 pages, 315 KiB  
Article
Black Youth Rising: Understanding Motivations and Challenges in Young Adult Activism
by Alexis Briggs
Youth 2024, 4(2), 628-646; https://doi.org/10.3390/youth4020043 - 8 May 2024
Viewed by 583
Abstract
Black young adults participate in activism to challenge and transform oppressive systems. In this qualitative study, we employed thematic analysis and used the framework of sociopolitical development (SPD) to explore their motivations and challenges to participation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the summer [...] Read more.
Black young adults participate in activism to challenge and transform oppressive systems. In this qualitative study, we employed thematic analysis and used the framework of sociopolitical development (SPD) to explore their motivations and challenges to participation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the summer of 2020 in the United States. Semi-structured interviews with 22 Black young adults in early 2022 revealed that social identities, sense of legacy, impact, and morals drove their participation. Further, contending with systemic oppression, impact, harm, and working with others challenged their participation. This study holds valuable insights for stakeholders as they support and empower young Black activists navigating social justice efforts in our dynamic and evolving sociopolitical landscape. Further, this work highlights the enduring tradition of activism within the Black community and emphasizes the need to empower young Black activists as change agents in the pursuit of a more equitable society. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices)
24 pages, 310 KiB  
Article
“We Can Transform This, We Can Change This”: Adolescent Sociopolitical Development as a Catalyst for Healthy Life-Span Development
by Elena Maker Castro, Brandon D. Dull, Chantay Jones and Johnny Rivera
Youth 2024, 4(2), 582-605; https://doi.org/10.3390/youth4020040 - 26 Apr 2024
Viewed by 448
Abstract
In the late 1970s, adolescents in East Harlem, New York, participated in a program called the Youth Action Program where they worked collectively to address systemic issues causing inequities in their communities (e.g., inequities in housing and education). In the current study, we [...] Read more.
In the late 1970s, adolescents in East Harlem, New York, participated in a program called the Youth Action Program where they worked collectively to address systemic issues causing inequities in their communities (e.g., inequities in housing and education). In the current study, we integrate the sociopolitical development framework with life-course health development to explore how participation in the program shaped adolescents’ skills and capacities for social transformation in ways that were health-promotive and informative for life trajectories. Data included retrospective interviews and member-checking focus group data of 10 former Youth Action Program members (current Mage = 63; 45% female; 55% male) from predominantly Black and Latinx backgrounds. We used reflexive thematic analysis and adopted a case study approach to highlight how participants’ adolescent experiences of sociopolitical development and resistance against oppressive circumstances propelled healthy life-course development. Specifically, participants were able to establish healthy lives through four health-promotive sociopolitical developmental processes: questioning the system not the self; carving out alternative spaces and pathways; building agency in a dehumanizing society; and finding purpose through committing to social change. Our study suggests that contemporary youth organizing programs can incorporate sustaining practices including the careful vetting and training of adult staff, pursuing tangible opportunities to create change, and embedding youth voice and leadership into programmatic structures to encourage healthy development via sociopolitical development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices)
16 pages, 317 KiB  
Article
Sociopolitical Development among Latinx Child Farmworkers
by Parissa J. Ballard, Stephanie S. Daniel, Taylor J. Arnold, Jennifer W. Talton, Joanne C. Sandberg, Sara A. Quandt, Melinda F. Wiggins, Camila A. Pulgar and Thomas A. Arcury
Youth 2024, 4(2), 540-555; https://doi.org/10.3390/youth4020037 - 18 Apr 2024
Viewed by 390
Abstract
The objectives of the present study were to describe civic attitudes and behaviors among Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina, examine civic outcomes across relevant demographic characteristics, and discuss the implications for research on sociopolitical development among Latinx child farmworkers and for developmental [...] Read more.
The objectives of the present study were to describe civic attitudes and behaviors among Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina, examine civic outcomes across relevant demographic characteristics, and discuss the implications for research on sociopolitical development among Latinx child farmworkers and for developmental theory. Descriptive statistics (count, percent, or mean, standard deviation as appropriate) were calculated for demographic and civic variables. Associations between the demographic variables and the four civic summary variables were calculated using Generalized Linear Models, the Kruskal–Wallis test, t-tests, or Chi-Square tests. Latinx child farmworkers in North Carolina (N = 169; ages 11–19, Mage = 15.8, 62.7% boys) endorsed relatively high levels of beliefs that society is fair and connections/efficacy in their communities. They reported relatively low involvement in volunteering and political activity. Future work should examine how the daily lives and experiences of child farmworkers inform their developing ideas about civic life in the US and their behavioral participation as they mature. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices)
24 pages, 770 KiB  
Article
A Quantitative Investigation of Black and Latina Adolescent Girls’ Experiences of Gendered Racial Microaggressions, Familial Racial Socialization, and Critical Action
by Taina B. Quiles, Channing J. Mathews, Raven A. Ross, Maria Rosario and Seanna Leath
Youth 2024, 4(2), 454-477; https://doi.org/10.3390/youth4020032 - 1 Apr 2024
Viewed by 769
Abstract
As Black and Latina adolescent girls experience race and gender discrimination, they may turn to their families to explore their beliefs about and responses to systemic injustice and oppression. Familial racial socialization is a likely entry point for critical action (like community activism), [...] Read more.
As Black and Latina adolescent girls experience race and gender discrimination, they may turn to their families to explore their beliefs about and responses to systemic injustice and oppression. Familial racial socialization is a likely entry point for critical action (like community activism), linking ethnic–racial identity and critical consciousness in youth development. We used hierarchical linear regression to investigate whether familial racial socialization moderated the relationship between experiences of gendered racism and community activism. We analyzed survey data for 315 Black (n = 158) and Latina/Afro-Latina (n = 157) girls (n = 282) and gender expansive youth (age 13–17) from the southern United States. We found that girls who received more familial socialization and were more frequently stereotyped as being angry participated in more low-risk and formal political activism. Also, Black and Latina girls who were more frequently stereotyped as angry and received more messages about racism from their families engaged in more high-risk activism, while girls who were more frequently perceived as angry and received less racial socialization engaged in less high-risk activism. We discuss the implications of our results for families, educators, and scholars who support Black and Latina girls’ sociopolitical development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices)
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Review

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21 pages, 951 KiB  
Review
Examining the Intersection of Sociopolitical Development and Transformative Social and Emotional Learning Outcomes: An Integrated Approach in Youth Participatory Action Research
by Amia Nash, Heather Kennedy, Michelle Abraczinskas, Ahna Ballonoff Suleiman and Emily J. Ozer
Youth 2024, 4(2), 679-699; https://doi.org/10.3390/youth4020046 - 15 May 2024
Viewed by 194
Abstract
Young people need opportunities that support their well-being while enabling them to take meaningful action. There has been strong interest in youth participatory action research (YPAR) as a form of sociopolitical action for marginalized youth seeking to address inequities that undermine individual and [...] Read more.
Young people need opportunities that support their well-being while enabling them to take meaningful action. There has been strong interest in youth participatory action research (YPAR) as a form of sociopolitical action for marginalized youth seeking to address inequities that undermine individual and community well-being. The rapid growth of the YPAR literature in the last decade has involved studies analyzing the impact of YPAR on dimensions of youth empowerment, sociopolitical development (SPD), and well-being. The relatively new framework of Transformative Social Emotional Learning (tSEL) is potentially fruitful in identifying relevant constructs, skills, and strategies to support well-being during the YPAR process. This article seeks to advance our integrative conceptualization and analysis of the impact of YPAR by (1) considering the overlapping and unique dimensions of SPD and tSEL: agency, belonging, collaborative problem solving, curiosity, identity, societal involvement, and worldview and social analysis; and (2) applying this integrative lens to the analysis of novel data from an updated systematic review of U.S. and international YPAR studies (2015–2022). We summarize youth outcomes reported in 25 studies to assess the evidence for YPAR as an approach for promoting youth SPD and tSEL outcomes, identifying limitations and next steps for advancing our understanding of these impacts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Youth Sociopolitical Action: Costs, Benefits, and Supporting Sustainable Sociopolitical Practices)
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