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Empowerment Research with Children &
Adolescents
Methodologies for a new era summer school
School of Applied Social Studies, University College Cork
24 June 2011
Matt Morton
Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention, University of Oxford
Aims
Conceptualize youth emp’t (frameworks & defining features)
Review theory & evidence on youth emp’tReview tools & approaches to measuring emp’t
processReview tools & approaches to measuring emp’t
outcomes/impacts
Growing interest
UNCRC (Art. 12) UK Youth Matters African Union, Afr. Youth Charter World Bank (World Dev’t Rep., ‘07) Jordan, Nat’l Youth Strategy
Conceptualizing Empowerment
Defining youth emp’t
"Empowerment is the expansion of assets and capabilities of young people to participate in, negotiate with, influence, control, and hold accountable institutions that affect their lives.”
- used by World Bank & UNICEF
Model 1: Lofquist’s ‘Spectrum of Attitudes’
RecipientsObjects Resources
Done to… Done for… Done with…
Exercise on Social Work Practice
Social workers…
Treated as…Objects
Treated as…Recipients
Treated as… Resources/Partners
Examples
Feelings/responses
Youth emp’t in context
Model 2: Hart’s Ladder of Children’s Participation
Model 3: Wong et al’s Typology of Youth & Empowerment (TYPE) Pyramid
Vessel- Lack of youth
voice & participation- Adults have total control
Symbolic- Youth have
voice- Adults have most control
Pluralistic- Youth have
voice and active
participant role- Youth and adults share
controlAutonomous-Youth have
voice and active participant role- Youth have total control
Independent- Youth have
voice and active participant role- Adults give youth most
control
Shared control
Empowerment
Empowerment
Adult control Youth
control
Considerations for studying youth emp’t
Emp’t is defined by process, not contentModels increasingly emphasize role of adults in
facilitating emp’t processMultiple degrees of participation at multiple
levels of analysis Evaluations of youth emp’t programs emphasize
setting-level processes
Youth emp’t in cross-cultural context
Beyond ‘WEIRD’ (Western, educated, industrialized, rich & democratic) societies (Henrich et al 2006)
Context collectivist/individualist, hierarchical/horizontal? Roles and conceptions of youth in the cultural context?
(empowered via ‘natural’ society roles)Males & females have dif’t opportunity structures?Practical impediments to youth participation (e.g.,
transportation, working, safety, etc.)
Theory & evidence on Youth Empowerment
Passive interventions don’t work
• Drug education-only (e.g., DARE)
• “Scared straight”
• Short-term/one-off interventions w/o follow-up
Theory
Empowerment theory (Zimmerman 2000)Strengths perspective theory to social work
practice (Healy, 2005)Social learning/cognitive theory (Bandura 1986)Self-determination and choice theory (Glasser
1999)Role theory (Biddle 1986)
Supportive evidence for youth emp’t theory
Top factors related to out-of-school program participation with teens (Deschenes et al 2010) Many leadership opportunities & Relevance of program agenda
Higher program empowerment related to higher youth outcomes (Smith & Akiva 2008)
Qualitative research indicating benefits for youth, programs, and communities from emp’t (Foster-Fishman et al 2005)
Note: these studies do not demonstrate causality
Neurobiological perspectivesRisk-reward seeking
Ernst et al., 2006
Effects of youth empowerment programs (YEPs) on self-efficacy & self-esteem of adolescents (10-19)
Systematic review
Search results
From search: 8,789 citationsIncluded: 3 studies (including Jordan RCT)Excluded school-based: 3 studies
Main reasons for exclusion: Intvn: Lacked regular youth participation in decision-making Study: Not experimental/quasi-experimental controlled
design
With School-based Excluded Studies (k=6)
Findings
Very few studies; more neededLargely null results on developmental assetsMore favorable results from (excluded) school-
based YEP studies, but evidence v limitedResearch concentrated in USA
Measuring Process in youth empowerment
Implementation considerationsStaff preparation
Level and quality of training? Clarity & understanding of Th of Chg across staff? Org culture of emp’t (including for staff)?
Youth emp’t Involvement in decision-making (What extent? All or some youth?) Safe and flexible setting? Opportunities for mastery experiences? Feelings of engagement & meaningfulness? Support & preparation?
Example research tools
Involvement & Interaction Rating Scale (Survey on Youth-Adult Partnerships) – Jones & Perkins (2005)
Learner Empowerment Survey – Fymier et al 1996
Youth Program Quality Assessment (PQA) (quality settings, observer rating) – Blazevski & Smith 2007
Qualitative research needed…
Better understanding of how concept “youth emp’t” is socially constructed in dif’t contexts (see Hart 2008)
Deeper understanding of the context and conditions in which youth emp’t is supported or hindered Investigating youth emp’t in terms of ‘diffusion of
innovation’Exploring ‘active ingredients’ and explaining outcomes
Hypothesis generating for quantitative studies
Measuring Impacts in youth empowerment
Example outcomesPsychological emp’t (Walker et al 2010)Youth assets (Oman et al 2010)Self-efficacy (specific & general)Social supports (peers, family, school, community)Prosocial (empathy, helping)Civic engagement (service, advocacy)Academic performance (grades, attendance)Antisocial behavior (e.g., conduct problems, delinquency,
substance abuse)
Involving youth in Research & Evaluation
Approaches to youth participation in research
Youth-led research projectsYouth staff help design and implement research
projectsYouth representatives on stakeholders advisory
boards for research projectsSeparate youth advisory boards for research
projects
Jordan Youth Action Committee
Out-of-school youth graduating from NFE
Committed & trained staff8-week trainingSmall groups with adult (univ student)
facilitatorsYouth determined own research
questions & methodologies
Thank you!
References
Bandura, A. (1986). Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Biddle, B. J. (1986). Recent Development in Role Theory. Annual Review of Sociology, 12, 67-92. Deschenes, S. N., Arbreton, A., Little, P. M., Herrera, C., Baldwin Grossman, J., Weiss, H. B., et
al. (2010). Engaging older youth: Program and city-level strategies to support sustained participation in out-of-school time. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Family Research Project and Public/Private Ventures.
Ernst, M., Pine, D. S., & Hardin, M. (2006). Triadic model of the neurobiology of motivated behavior in adolescence. Psychological Medicine, 36(03), 299-312.
Foster-Fishman, P., Nowell, B., Deacon, Z., Nievar, M., & McCann, P. (2005). Using Methods That Matter: The Impact of Reflection, Dialogue, and Voice. American Journal of Community Psychology, 36(3), 275-291.
Glasser, W. (1999). Choice Theory in the Classroom. New York, NY: Harper Collins. Hart, R. (2008). Stepping Back from ‘The Ladder’: Reflections on a Model of Participatory Work
with Children. In A. Reid, B. Jensesn, J. Nikel & V. Simovska (Eds.), Participation and Learning. New York: Springer Netherlands.
References continued
Healy, K. (2005). Social work theories in context: Creating frameworks for practice. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 61-83.
Oman, R., Veseley, S., Tolman, E., Aspy, C., & Marshall, L. (2010). Reliability and validity of the youth asset survey: An update. American Journal of Health Promotion, 25(1), e13-e24.
Smith, C., & Akiva, T. (2008). Quality accountability: improving fidelity of broad developmentally focused interventions. In M. Shinn & H. Yoshikawa (Eds.), Toward Positive Youth Development: Transforming Schools and Community Programs. New York: Oxford University Press.
Walker, J. S., Thorne, E. K., Powers, L. E., & Gaonkar, R. (2010). Development of a Scale to Measure the Empowerment of Youth Consumers of Mental Health Services. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 18(1), 51-59.
Zimmerman, M. (2000). Empowerment theory: Psychological, organizational and community levels of analysis. In J. Rappaport & E. Seidman (Eds.), Handbook of community psychology. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.