Abstract
This study examined adult workers’ conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, urban region in the northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 youth workers from various organizations, affiliated with a community coalition focused on substance abuse prevention, we explored how adults viewed their role of working with youth. We were particularly interested in whether these workers saw youth empowerment and collaboration with youth for community change as part of their role. Our data suggested that while workers in this study were very supportive of youth, the support and actions they provided were on behalf of rather than with them and that, in general, partnering with youth for community change was not a part of what they envisioned their work to be. While a few of the adults attempted to work more collaboratively with youth, they were clearly in the minority.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1029-1044 |
| Number of pages | 16 |
| Journal | Journal of Youth Studies |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 14 Sep 2018 |
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Keywords
- Youth workers
- prevention-intervention work
- urban communities
- youth-adult partnerships
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Adult youth workers’ conceptions of their work in an under-resourced community in the United States. / Lardier, David T.; Herr, Kathryn; Garcia-Reid, Pauline; Reid, Robert.
In: Journal of Youth Studies, Vol. 21, No. 8, 14.09.2018, p. 1029-1044.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Adult youth workers’ conceptions of their work in an under-resourced community in the United States
AU - Lardier, David T.
AU - Herr, Kathryn
AU - Garcia-Reid, Pauline
AU - Reid, Robert
PY - 2018/9/14
Y1 - 2018/9/14
N2 - This study examined adult workers’ conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, urban region in the northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 youth workers from various organizations, affiliated with a community coalition focused on substance abuse prevention, we explored how adults viewed their role of working with youth. We were particularly interested in whether these workers saw youth empowerment and collaboration with youth for community change as part of their role. Our data suggested that while workers in this study were very supportive of youth, the support and actions they provided were on behalf of rather than with them and that, in general, partnering with youth for community change was not a part of what they envisioned their work to be. While a few of the adults attempted to work more collaboratively with youth, they were clearly in the minority.
AB - This study examined adult workers’ conceptions of their work with youth in a large, underserved, urban region in the northeastern United States. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 youth workers from various organizations, affiliated with a community coalition focused on substance abuse prevention, we explored how adults viewed their role of working with youth. We were particularly interested in whether these workers saw youth empowerment and collaboration with youth for community change as part of their role. Our data suggested that while workers in this study were very supportive of youth, the support and actions they provided were on behalf of rather than with them and that, in general, partnering with youth for community change was not a part of what they envisioned their work to be. While a few of the adults attempted to work more collaboratively with youth, they were clearly in the minority.
KW - Youth workers
KW - prevention-intervention work
KW - urban communities
KW - youth-adult partnerships
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85042219316&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/13676261.2018.1442563
DO - 10.1080/13676261.2018.1442563
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042219316
VL - 21
SP - 1029
EP - 1044
JO - Journal of Youth Studies
JF - Journal of Youth Studies
SN - 1367-6261
IS - 8
ER -