Positive youth development and inner city youth: A contextual approach

Date of Completion

January 2006

Keywords

Sociology, Individual and Family Studies|Sociology, Public and Social Welfare

Degree

Ph.D.

Abstract

A contextual research model derived from Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Bioecological Model was used to evaluate levels of youth adjustment in a sample of 1050 inner city minority youth in Connecticut. These youth were studied to assess the connection between participation in Neighborhood Youth Centers, family involvement and positive youth development outcomes. It was found that higher levels of family and program involvement were connected to better youth outcomes and lower levels of family and program involvement were connected to lower levels of adjustment in this sample. Also, it was found that participation in youth programs did not compensate for the absence of family involvement. ^

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