Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Youth development'
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Boober, Becky Hayes. "Spirited Youth/Thriving Youth: Adolescents' Perspectives on Nurturing Thriving Outcomes Through Faith Development." Fogler Library, University of Maine, 2005. http://www.library.umaine.edu/theses/pdf/BooberBH2005.pdf.
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Gxubane, Eric Thulane. "Recidivism among male trial-awaiting youth detained at Dyambu Youth Centre." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/15419.
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Bibliography: leaves 108-113.The study investigates the problem of recidivism amongst male trial-awaiting youth detained at Bosasa's Dyambu Youth Centre (DYC), to determine whether their experiences with the variables under investigation have in any way influenced them to consider changes in their attitudes towards criminal behaviour. The research design in this study followed both quantitative and qualitative methodological orientations .An interview schedule was constructed in advance and applied in a standardised manner and was administered by the researcher, face to face with each respondent. Data were analysed and presented both quantitatively and qualitatively. Findings in this study revealed that financial gain, drug addiction and peer pressure were the major driving forces and motivating factors that influenced the respondents to become repeatedly involved in criminal behaviour. Lack of a stable source of income, denial of re-admission at school, rejection by family and friends and lack of stable home and accommodation were some of the major factors that made reintegration into the community difficult for the respondents during the period after their previous release. The findings in this study point to inadequacy of services with regard to prevention of crime and recidivism amongst juvenile offenders. Re-integration and after-care services were identified as an area that is grossly neglected in the field of probation and in social work services generally. Nearly all the respondents reported that they would like to abandon their criminal lifestyle but the situations that they face and various other factors highlighted in the study drive them to crime. The predominant factors identified by the respondents as influential in encouraging abandonment of criminal activities include: a fear of heavy criminal record, disgracing the family, the acquisition of various skills and knowledge from DYC workshops and classes; and their own individual thinking.
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Lauxman, Lisa, Marta Elva Stuart, Darcy Tessman, Juanita O'Campo Waits, Brent Strickland, Jan Norquest, and Margaret Stone. "Identifying High Quality Youth Programs: Information for Youth Development Professionals." College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/156904.
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4 pp.This is a series of 6 fact sheets related to identifying high quality youth programs from several perspectives: middle/high school youth, parents, youth development professionals and identifying resources in the community. It also includes a check list that will be included with each of the fact sheets.
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Shaikh, Majidullah. "Youth Leadership in a Physical Activity-Based Positive Youth Development Program for At-Risk Youth." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/36591.
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Physical activity-based positive youth development (PA-PYD) programs can serve to empower and alleviate barriers to development for at-risk youth. Youth leaders may play an important role in these programs to foster the development of their younger peers, while mutually benefiting from the program as they foster and apply skills such as leadership, communication, and self-direction. Currently, there is a gap in literature as very few studies have examined youth leadership within PA-PYD programming. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to explore the perspectives and experiences of youth leaders and their fellow program participants in relation to youth leadership within the context of a PA-PYD program for at-risk youth. Data were gathered from 16 youth leaders (Mage= 13.37, SD = 1.36) and 15 program participants (Mage= 10.53, SD = 1.12) across four different program locations, using semi-structured, one-on-one interviews. This thesis is composed of two articles. The first article used a deductive-inductive thematic analysis to better understand the experiences that youth leaders had in the program. Three themes were identified: (a) building youth leaders is a process, (b) mentorship is perceived as critical for one’s leadership development, (c) trust is important for enhancing youth leader engagement. The second article also used a deductive-inductive thematic analysis to examine how youth leaders perceive the influence they have on younger peers who participate in the physical activity-based youth development program, as well as how these program participants perceive the role and impact of the youth leaders. Five themes emerged from the analysis, which were: (a) learning and building skills, (b) receiving support, (c) enjoyment, (d) relatability, and (e) lack of maturity. This research contributes to current gaps in the literature on youth leadership within physical activity-based youth programming and provides practical recommendations to improve such programming.
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Arubayi, Dereck. "Youth in development : understanding the contributions of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to Nigeria's national development." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/youth-in-development-understanding-the-contributions-of-the-national-youth-service-corps-nysc-to-nigerias-national-development(8c2a9be9-bc3f-4f38-bf4d-42f54b1d2d5d).html.
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Despite theoretical and policy advancements in global human and gendered approaches to development, youth in mainstream development policy discourse remains subsumed. The ratification of global best practice models of human development in Nigeria, without contextualizing the probable dividends of youth capability strength in shaping national development realities, will present challenges that are likely to threaten the sustainable future of country. Perhaps if this is sustained, this thesis argues that the capabilities of Nigerian youths will continue to remain trapped or mismatched in areas that they fail to contribute positively to Nigeria's national development. In this regard, this thesis evaluated the extent to which youth capabilities are enhanced in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) for national development in Nigeria. Firstly, this thesis contributes conceptually to understanding, broadly, the social constructions of youth in mainstream policy discourse and their positioning in both global and national development practice in Nigeria. It also critically examines through literature how western epistemological interpretations of development theorizing are reproduced in youth discourse. Succinctly, the theoretical contribution of youth in development explains how development-underdevelopment dualism in mainstream development reproduces similar youth-adult dualisms in conceptualizing how youths are recognized, represented and constituted within policy discourses. Based on this, the theoretical gaps that this thesis bridges, operationalizes the Sen's capability approach (SCA) through the utilization of Narayan-Parker's empowerment framework in order to contextualize how the intersections of youth agency and structural contributions of the NYSC could aid the effective utilization of youth capabilities for national development in Nigeria. Secondly, this thesis contributes methodologically to development practice as it adapts a mixed-method approach (MMA) to researching youth lives, especially from a developing country's context. The application of a qualitative dominant mixed method approach (qual-MMA), suggests how through social constructivist ontology and through poststructuralist epistemology, the understanding of how youths socially construct their identity and the roles they play in national development becomes clearer. Thirdly, the germane and empirical contribution of this thesis especially to mainstream development theorizing is that, youth voices captured through narratives and quantitative data helped explore the experiences of Nigerian youth's transition pathways from education to the NYSC pathway. This further allowed for critical examination of how youths are: absorbed through mobilization into the NYSC; developed through the activities in the scheme; deployed and utilized in addressing national development challenges in Nigeria. This thesis suggests that dominant social constructions based on age and transition patterns, undermine the impact/effective functioning of youth capabilities for addressing national development challenges. It concludes that limited support structures during the youth educational pathways and lack of opportunity structures while youths are in the NYSC pathways continue to limit the functioning of their capabilities in sectors of national development needs. It recommends a need to rethink the current deployment strategy of the NYSC so that youth capabilities fit the national development narrative.
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Ryan, Jeanne A. M. "Predicting positive youth development outcomes using the social development model /." Thesis, Connect to this title online; UW restricted, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/1773/8141.
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Strachan, Leischa Augusta Teresa. "An ecological approach to examining positive youth development in competitive youth sport." Thesis, Kingston, Ont. : [s.n.], 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/1974/1261.
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Armstrong, Michael N. "Organizational Characteristics and Adolescent Political Development: Exploring the Experience of Youth Activists in Youth Development Organizations." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2007. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/psych_theses/41.
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Interest in youth civic engagement continues to increase and a small but growing group of organizations are seeking to get young people involved in political activism. At the same time, researchers are giving more attention to the features of adolescent settings and how they relate to the overall development of young people. What remains to be absent is a contextual understanding of how the characteristics of adolescent settings contribute specifically to political development. The purpose of this study is to identify organizational level characteristics of youth organizations that promote the political development of adolescents. Semi-structured interviews and grounded theory analysis with 15 young activists revealed a “Big Six” of organizational characteristics and properties that influence participation in societal involvement behaviors. Post hoc analyses also revealed potential relationships between political development and the Big Six. Implications for both theory and practice are discussed and directions for future research are delineated.
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Armstrong, Michael Neal. "Organizational characteristics and adolescent political development exploring the experience of youth activists in youth development organizations /." unrestricted, 2007. http://etd.gsu.edu/theses/available/etd-08152007-142917/.
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Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2007.Roderick J. Watts, committee chair; James Emshoff, Gabriel Kuperminc, committee members. Electronic text (117 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Nov. 8, 2007; title from file title page. Includes bibliographical references (p. 102-111).
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Smith, Sharron C. "Faith Development in Youth Recreation in Religious Organizations." Ohio University / OhioLINK, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1448840401.
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Halsall, Tanya. "Evaluation of a Sports-Based Positive Youth Development Program for First Nations Youth: Experiences of Community, Growth and Youth Engagement." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/35598.
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In contrast with mainstream Canadian youth, First Nations youth experience many health disparities. Researchers recommended that interventions designed to promote First Nations youth development use a strengths-based lens that recognizes contextual challenges. Furthermore, leadership programming for First Nations youth has begun to show promising outcomes. The overall purpose of this research was to examine the Youth Leadership Program (YLP) program to gain an understanding of program implementation and perceived outcomes related to both individual and community development. Two studies were conducted to fulfil the research purpose. The first study applied a qualitative approach that examined contextual dynamics, implementation issues (Article 1) and perceived impacts (Article 2). Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Overall, 12 program staff (5 females), one Elder (male) and 10 youth (8 females) participated in semi-structured interviews. In addition, 11 youth (7 females) participated in two focus groups. The data from the youth and staff were included in the first study. The focus group data was included in the second study. In Article 1, findings were categorized into strategies for success and challenges. The following six themes were identified within the strategies for success: (a) designing youth engagement strategies, (b) being creative and adaptable, (c) being a positive presence, (d) applying experiential learning techniques, (e) balancing the integration of culture with youth voice and (f) identifying partnerships and developing relationships with the community. The three themes relating to challenges were (a) community diversity, (b) social issues and (c) staff burn-out. In Article 2, data analysis resulted in three themes that describe the perceived program effects at the participant, staff and community levels. The three major themes include: a) progressive leadership development, b) enhanced relationships and c) increased community participation. Within the second study (Article 3), methods were based on youth participatory evaluation and Photovoice and the design included capacity building, stakeholder analysis, photo exploration and utilization-focused activities. Using a thematic analysis, five themes were identified: (a) fun and fulfilling to engage the children, (b) positive outcomes for youth leaders, (c) community impacts, (d) challenges and (e) opportunities for improvement. Findings for each study are discussed in relation to current theory and practice, and recommendations are provided for future research and programming. This research makes contributions to applied positive youth development programming, community-based research with First Nations youth, youth-led participatory research and developmental systems theory.
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Lloyd, R., Jon L. Oliver, J. Moody, R. W. Myers, and Michael H. Stone. "Long-term Development of Youth Weightlifting." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 2012. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/4671.
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Bellanova, Tatiana. "Case study of a faith-based youth development program serving Latino youth." Diss., Restricted to subscribing institutions, 2008. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1610113261&sid=1&Fmt=2&clientId=1564&RQT=309&VName=PQD.
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Stuart, Marta, Darcy Tessman, Juanita O'Campo Waits, Lisa Lauxman, Brent Strickland, Jan Norquest, and Margaret Stone. "Identifying High Quality Youth Programs: Information for High School Youth Professionals." College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/156906.
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4 pp.This is a series of 6 fact sheets related to identifying high quality youth programs from several perspectives: middle/high school youth, parents, youth development professionals and identifying resources in the community. It also includes a check list that will be included with each of the fact sheets.
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Tessman, Darcy, Marta Elva Stuart, Juanita O'Campo Waits, Lisa Lauxman, Brent Strickland, Jan Norquest, and Margaret Stone. "Identifying High Quality Youth Programs: Information for Middle School Youth Professionals." College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ), 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/158287.
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2 pp.This is a series of 6 fact sheets related to identifying high quality youth programs from several perspectives: middle/high school youth, parents, youth development professionals and identifying resources in the community. It also includes a check list that will be included with each of the fact sheets.
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Callingham, Christina. "Youth Engagement in Northern Communities: A Narrative Exploration of Aboriginal Youth Participation in a Positive Youth Development Program." Thesis, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/32869.
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This qualitative study aimed to enhance our understanding of youth engagement experiences from the perspective of Aboriginal youth living in the Canadian North, as positive youth development programs can foster community engagement among youth and may have implications for Aboriginal youth involvement in community healing. With an asset-based orientation that recognizes that youths’ strengths co-exist with, and are understood in relation to, environmental challenges, narrative inquiry was used to explore the experiences of six Aboriginal youth who participated in a program that promotes community engagement. Rich participant accounts resulted in better understanding youth engagement as a profound culture-bound process rather than simple participation in a program, and illuminates the importance of positive relationships, adult support, and pre-program community involvement to building subsequent engagement. This study has implications specific to Aboriginal youth as having a role in promoting health and healing in their communities through their engagement.
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Newman, Tarkington J. "Exploring Life Skill Development and Transfer: Experiences of Youth in a Community Sport-Based Positive Youth Development Program." The Ohio State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1553692981574171.
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Ady, Janet Carrier. "Dissertation Title| Framing Youth Citizen Science for Education, Youth Development, andPublic Land Conservation." Thesis, Prescott College, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10252184.
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This study explored how citizen science programs can connect young people with nature while providing needed scientific data. The premise was that, with attention to proper design, modification of current programming might increase citizen science outcomes for conservation. Furthermore, combining sound scientific protocols with effective education and positive youth development strategies can lead to consequential benefits for youth and society. An embedded single-case study explored a set of 20 citizen science programs relevant to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine how the programs intended to educate and develop youth and to understand the programs’ designs. A theoretical framework based upon science education, environmental education, and positive youth development guided the inquiry. The study also explored how environmental educators, youth group leaders, scientists, and public land managers might work together to design and implement youth community and citizen science programs on federal lands. Study findings informed development of a prototype planning framework to guide planning and implementation of youth-focused community and citizen science programs on federal lands. Using the framework to design robust citizen science programs can assist scientists monitoring environmental conditions to inform land management decisions; and assist environmental education program coordinators to design meaningful service–learning activities for youth.
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Garcia, Arlen Judith. "Investigating Group Processes in a Positive Youth Development Program For Multi-Problem Youth." FIU Digital Commons, 2007. https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3837.
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This study investigated group processes as potential mediators or moderators of positive development outcome and negative reduction intervention response by evaluating the utility of a group measure modified from a widely known measure of group impact found in the group therapy research literature. Four group processes were of primary interest, (1) Group Impact (2) Facilitator Impact (3) Skills Impact and (4) Exploration Impact as assessed by the Session Evaluation Form (SEF). Outcome measures included the Personally Expressive Activities Questionnaire (PEAQ), Erikson Psycho-Social Index (EPSI) and the Zill Behavior Items, Behavior Problem Index (ZBI (BPI)). The sample consisted of 121 multi-ethnic participants drawn from four alternative high schools from the Miami-Dade County Public School system. Utilizing a Latent Growth Curve Modeling approach with Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) statistics, preliminary analyses were conducted to evaluate the psychometric properties of the SEF and Its role in the mediation or moderation of intervention outcome. Preliminary results revealed evidence of a single higher order factor representing a “General” global reaction, which was hypothesized to be a “Positive Group Climate” construct to the program as opposed, to the four distinct group processes that were initially hypothesized to affect outcomes. The results of the evaluation of the mediation or moderation role of intervention outcome of the single “General” global latent factor (“Positive Group Climate” construct) did not significantly predict treatment response on any of the outcome variables. Nevertheless, the evidence of an underlying “General” global latent factor (“Positive Group Climate” construct) has important future directions for research on positive youth development programs as well as in group therapy research.
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Conley, Kathryn. "Youth Leadership Development and Peer-Led Initiatives." VCU Scholars Compass, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10156/2395.
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Mullins, Jessica Lynn. "CHARACTER EDUCATION AND 4-H YOUTH DEVELOPMENT." UKnowledge, 2011. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/gradschool_theses/85.
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Character education assumes responsibility for influencing and educating youth on morals, values, beliefs and positive character attributes in order to influence them into being positive and contributing members of society. Character education is most often taught in the home, schools and community. One community organization that integrates character education into its programming is 4-H Youth Development. The purpose of this research is to view the relationships between character education and 4-H, and more so whether Kentucky 4-H programs influence the knowledge, attitudes and practices of positive character among youth leaders. This study also looked at length of 4-H involvement and gender in order to determine influence. It was found that Kentucky 4-H programs do influence positive character among youth leaders, as youth indicated that they had gained character knowledge from 4-H involvement, as well as the program had made them a better person. It was also found that the gender of youth or their length of involvement in 4-H programs does not affect the character knowledge, attitudes and practices gained from involvement. The author recommends using these positive findings to continue to expand Kentucky programs and recruit adults and youth.
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Gana, Adel. "The role of youth in sustainable development." Thesis, Видавництво СумДУ, 2011. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/10003.
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Skirda, T. S., and Katya Doctorova. "International education, prospects and youth development strategies." Thesis, Національний авіаційний університет, 2020. http://er.nau.edu.ua/handle/NAU/42983.
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Schools, private colleges and universities around the world have gained such popularity among those who want to study abroad thanks to the level of education provided there. Higher-level teachers guarantee a significant increase in student knowledge. The main secret of success is that each educational institution has developed a special methodology for presenting information, taking into account the individual capabilities of each student or student. Regardless of the level of preparation and luggage knowledge, the program is interesting, accessible and understandable to everyone.Школи, приватні коледжі та університети у всьому світі здобули таку популярність серед тих, хто хоче вчитися за кордоном завдяки рівню освіти, що надається там. Викладачі вищого рівня гарантують значне зростання знань студентів. Основний секрет успіху полягає в тому, що кожен навчальний заклад розробив спеціальну методику подання інформації з урахуванням індивідуальних можливостей кожного учня чи студента. Незалежно від рівня підготовки та багажних знань, програма цікава, доступна та зрозуміла кожному.
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Iglesias, Adam. "Ethnic Identity Development among Rural Adolescent Youth." VCU Scholars Compass, 2010. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/2308.
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The current study evaluated the factor analytic structure and developmental trajectory of ethnic identity, as measured by the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, (MEIM) among early rural adolescents. The convergent validity of the measure for rural youth was also examined. The sample for this study was drawn from a larger longitudinal study focusing on violence prevention efforts with an early adolescent sample residing in rural Florida. The final sample size for these secondary analyses was 5,695 participants. The sample was 53 % Caucasian, 24% Latino, 15% African American, and 8% Other. The mean age of the students was 11.3 years. Data were collected at seven time points. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted with the entire sample to determine whether a two-factor model was a satisfactory fit for the entire sample at Times 1-7. Individual growth curve modeling was used to determine ethnic identity trajectories. This study demonstrated that the MEIM taps into two factors (Exploration and Commitment) for rural adolescents. Moreover, the findings demonstrated multigroup equivalence across waves 1-7 of data collection for the Caucasian, African American, and Latino groups. Further, results from the growth curve modeling procedures indicated that Caucasian participants demonstrated a greater increase in Exploration relative to Latino and African American participants. Lastly, results from the convergent validity analyses indicated that Commitment was negatively related to attitudes towards violence and positively related towards attitudes towards nonviolence. Implications for future research and prevention programs that incorporate ethnic identity constructs are discussed.
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Nambiar, Divya. "Skill development and youth aspirations in India." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:10b8396b-9101-46e4-ac7f-b720562fdec3.
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This doctoral thesis features two kinds of skill-training programmes implemented in Tamil Nadu (India) drawing on 18 months of fieldwork. The first explores how Nokia recruits and trains semi-skilled youth to work as Operators, in the Nokia SEZ, in Sriperumbudur. I contrast this with the case of Project SEAM: a state-funded skill-training programme, implemented by a private firm through a public-private partnership (PPP). SEAM trains rural, below-poverty-line youth, to work as sewing machine operators in India’s burgeoning garment clusters. I argue that contemporary India’s development trajectory is characterised by the confluence between an increasingly pluralised network state and rapidly proliferating network enterprises, which work together to establish new workplaces and design and implement skill-training programmes for India’s rural poor. Skill-training is used as a lens to examine the complex, symbiotic relationship between these two actors, who drive these new initiatives. Skill development programmes are predicated on the idea that aspiration is a positive, transformative force – a view that is echoed by social scientists like Appadurai (2004; 2013). I demonstrate how the network state and network enterprise, shape and mould youth aspirations, across the skill-training cycle: transforming (within mere weeks) unemployed, unskilled rural youth – into semi skilled workers, ready to work in the manufacturing sector. Youth aspirations are consciously heightened as a marketing strategy, to maximize enrollments into skill-training programmes. Aspiration is also actively taught as a valuable soft-skill, that young people must possess, to become a part of India’s new workplaces. Through an exploration of how young people encounter such initiatives, I question the idea that aspirations are positively transformational. I highlight the tension in youth experience - between aspirations elevated by the training program, and factory work’s harder realities - to illustrate the dark side of aspiration: characterized by disillusionment, disappointment and personal failure.
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Grealish, Annmarie. "The development of the Youth Empowerment Scale." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2014. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-development-of-the-youth-empowerment-scale(89eacd8b-691f-4f28-aca8-068c5882595f).html.
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This study developed and validated the Youth Empowerment Scale (YES) for young people with psychosis. This PhD thesis consisted of four phases. Phase 1 conceptualised empowerment from the perspective of young people with psychosis. Phase 1 qualitative findings informed the development of the measurement of empowerment; the Youth empowerment Scale (YES). Phase 2 developed and validated the YES in a non-clinical population. Phase 3 explored the relationship between psychological processes (self-efficacy, control, coping, thinking style, and social support), empowerment, mental health wellbeing and recovery. The YES was then validated again in phase 4 on a clinical population, young people within Child and Adolescents Mental Health Services (CAMHS). This study confirmed that the YES is a valid and reliable measure of empowerment which can be used in future work identifying and supporting empowerment for young people with psychosis.
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Franklin, Nicole. "The Effect of Organized Sports on Academic Achievement and Youth Development." Scholarship @ Claremont, 2013. http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/782.
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This thesis explores the relationship between sports, academics, and youth development, in 5th- 9th grade boys and girls from low-income families. This exploration includes an analysis of a non-profit organization called “Rainier Athletes.” This program underwrites the cost of organized sports for low-income children with the belief that sports help empower students so that they make positive choices inside the classroom and in the future. Rainier Athletes uses a token economy design in the classroom where students earn points by fulfilling academic expectations and displaying positive behavior.
Researchers concluded that sports participation had a beneficial effect on academic achievement in middle school and junior high school. Implementing sports at an early age is beneficial because middle childhood is viewed as an essential developmental and transitional period for children and experiences at this time impact children’s behavior during adolescence. The literature also suggested that the benefits of sports participation may be most important for children from low-income families because organized sports provide structure and help reduce risk factors associated with living in poverty. Based on the research, Rainier Athletes demonstrates the potential to foster the development of at-risk students by helping the students gain useful skills and display positive social behaviors. The program utilizes an effective design and has built a foundation to benefit youth development.
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Parker, Shaunette Roberta Byers. "Impact of Positive Youth Development Services on Resilience Among Adjudicated Girls." ScholarWorks, 2016. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/2571.
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Positive youth development (PYD) frameworks that guide PYD services suggest at-risk youth need to develop resiliency attitudes and resiliency skills in order to prevent long-term failure in their adult lives. This concept is based on multiple developmental theories that suggest increased levels of resiliency make it easier to navigate challenging situations. Adjudicated youth have faced a major setback in their short lives, yet they still have an opportunity to become successful and avoid additional jail time, if they are able to display a strong sense of resilience. Many youth development programs geared toward serving adjudicated youth, lack the appropriate structure and services to ensure youth are able to develop strong resiliency attitudes and skills. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of PYD services on the resiliency attitudes and skills of teenage girls at an all-girls Department of Juvenile Justice residential facility. Archival data from the Resiliency Attitudes and Skills Profile (RASP) were used. RASP identifies the following domains as indicators of resiliency attitudes and skills: humor, creativity, insight, initiative, independence, relationships, and values orientation. Multiple regression analysis showed that the longer residents are in the program, the better they scored on the relationships, insight, humor, and creativity domains. Since culture can have an impact on youth development, race and ethnicity were analyzed. Hispanic residents did better on the overall RASP and the values orientation, insight, initiative, and creativity domains. These findings may help youth development professionals understand the importance for troubled youth to remain in a developmental program for a longer time while engaging in activities geared toward increasing resiliency.
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Park, Gloria H. "The Role of Extracurricular Activity in Positive Youth Development." Diss., Temple University Libraries, 2010. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/91874.
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KinesiologyPh.D.
The purpose of this study was to describe the relationship between extracurricular activity participation and concurrent and longitudinal youth academic and psychosocial development in academically gifted youth. Extracurricular activity participation as a potential protective factor against the negative effects of life events, and the theoretical role of personality/activity fit as a determinant of positive developmental benefits in youth were also explored in this study. Secondary data analysis was conducted using data provided by two cohorts of middle school youth from a public magnet school in Philadelphia. After controlling for sociodemographic selection factors, Study 1 revealed that music was the only type of activity that was related to academic achievement. Time spent in music significantly contributed to predicting performance on reading, language, math and science standardized exams. Sport made significant negative contributions to predicting reading and language exam scores. These findings were limited by a ceiling effect caused by high mean scores on grade point average and standardized exams. Sport/dance was the only activity associated with well-being, significantly contributing to the prediction of positive affect. The results also revealed nonlinear associations between time spent in activities and standardized math scores, life satisfaction, self-esteem, and grit. The results of Study 2 revealed support for the protective role of activity participation on the negative academic and psychosocial impact of life events stress, which was a significant predictor of poorer adolescent outcomes across all of the domains. Accounting for the impact of life events, music positively predicted academic outcomes, and sport/dance positively predicted higher life satisfaction, positive affect, and self-esteem, and lower levels of negative affect. Finally, exploratory analyses revealed that youth participated in activities that appeared to be compatible with personality characteristics. For example, sport was associated with higher extraversion and music with higher openness to experience.
Temple University--Theses
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Hardman, Alisha M. "Youth-adult relationships within community-based programs : their impact on the development of youth empowerment." Thesis, Manhattan, Kan. : Kansas State University, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/953.
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Riley, Allison Boester. "Staff Practices and Youth Outcomes in a Summer Sport-Based Positive Youth Development Program." The Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1373998025.
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Simões, Gabrielle. "Lessons in management effectiveness : Ziphilele Youth Projects (ZYP)." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2006. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/3810.
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Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation focuses on understanding the development philosophy and standards of practice that contribute to the organisational effectiveness that mark Ziphilele Youth Projects (ZYP) as an effective and professional non-governmental organisation (NGO).
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Lewis, Steven Richard. "Impact assessment of the Nevada 4-H program: an examination of public school students' perceptions and behavior." Texas A&M University, 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2008.
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A 4-H impact evaluation study, conducted in Montana, Idaho, Colorado, and
Utah, was replicated in the Nevada public schools. The purpose was to measure the
impact of the 4-H experience on the lives of Nevada youth, and to provide impact data
for accountability and improvement for University of Nevada Cooperative Extension 4-
H Programs. The 1,492 respondents were; 47.6% male and 52.4% female; 34.6% 5th
grade, 28.1% 7th grade, and 37.3% 9th grade; 63.1% urban and 36.9% rural; and 11.7%
4-H and 88.3% non 4-H youth. Eight youth development constructs were measured
including; extracurricular activity involvement; school leadership positions held; close
relationship with adults; caring for others; amount of negative behavior; personal
identity; positive identity; and self-confidence, character and empowerment. ANOVA
for constructs by independent variables, age groups gender, 4-H participation, and
population density revealed that 4-H participation significantly contributed to the
variance in extracurricular activity involvement (p = .000), school leadership positions
held (p = .025), caring for others (p = .000), and self-confidence, character and
empowerment (p = .004).
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Setlhodi, Mapaseka. "What factors contribute to the unemployment duration of youth: A case study of the Action Volunteers Africas youth labour market programme." Master's thesis, Faculty of Commerce, 2019. https://hdl.handle.net/11427/31814.
Full textAbstract:
The incidence of unemployment falls most harshly on youth, who are generally low skilled and often have no experience of formal sector employment; with just 24.4 percent of young people being active in the labour market. In an attempt to assist this disenfranchised so called ‘lost generation’ there has been a major shift from passive to active labour market programmes in many countries across the world in support of the unemployed, where these programmes often concentrate on the youth. But the results on these active labour market interventions are very mixed, in terms of their effectiveness, with some countries having experienced significant improvements in unemployment levels; and others are yet to bring to fruition the economic benefits the programmes had hoped to achieve. Through the use of a qualitative research method approach, by means of surveys, this paper aims to lend to the lessons around youth labour market interventions by conducting a case study on a particular NGO’s youth intervention program to see if it has had any impact on reducing youth unemployment. What sets the programme apart is that it offered meaningful volunteering as a form of work experience as well as a self-development component which allows the youth to be more self-aware. The study found that overall the time youth spend in unemployment after completing the programme decreased by 6 months and that other unemployment duration determining factors play a key role in determining how long a youth spends in unemployment. The study found that the attitudes of the participants changed to a more positive outlook on their future prospects once they have completed the program; which lends itself to have a positive impact on job search activity.
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Fouch, Jessica. "Asset building for communities and youth." Kansas State University, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2097/8539.
Full textAbstract:
Master of Regional and Community PlanningDepartment of Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning
John W. Keller
This report reviews asset building for communities to promote youth healthy development. It addresses a comprehensive approach to youth development by engaging all members and sectors of a community. Bellevue, Washington is a community nationally recognized for its collective approach to tackling issues faced by their youth. The Search Institute’s 40 Developmental Assets 1997 Survey showed Bellevue youth possessed less than 50% of the developmental assets necessary to become responsible adults. Since receiving these results, Bellevue has continued working to improve the lives of youth in their community by utilizing the knowledge and resources of community members, organizations, and institutions. For this report, Bellevue’s collective engagement was analyzed to identify which developmental assets youth could obtain through participation, support, and engagement in various community sectors. Bellevue was used as a case study for an asset building community for youth, to determine what makes a great community for youth to live and thrive.
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Jones, Martin I. "Positive youth development through sport : teaching life skills." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2007. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/8030.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis aimed to develop an intervention to improve the life skills of British adolescent competitive sport participants, who are in full time education. Study one investigated the life skills needs of adolescent competitive sport participants and provided a participant-centred definition of life skills. The problem exists that it is unclear which life skills are needed by adolescent competitive sport participants and which life skills should be included in life skills programmes. As such, existing programmes may not reflect the needs of adolescents. The aim of this study was to examine the life skills needs of competitive adolescent sports participants from the perspective of youth sport participants, coaches, and experts in sport psychology and youth sport. Eighteen adolescent sports participants, fourteen coaches, and four experts in sport psychology and youth sport participated in a series of focus group interviews. An inductive analysis revealed how participants defined life skills and which life skills adolescent sports participants need. Life skills were defined as ranges of transferable skills needed for everyday life by everybody, that help people thrive above and beyond the normal requirements of everyday existence. Participants described the need for interpersonal skills including social skills, respect, leadership, family interactions, and communication. Personal skills including organisation, discipline, self-reliance, goal setting, managing performance outcomes, motivation, and identity were also reported. Participants described communication skills and organisation as the most important life skills for British adolescent competitive sport participants to acquire. Study two presents an in-depth, idiographic study illustrating how life skills were learnt through the experience of sport. The aim of the current study was to investigate how life skills could be learnt and improved through experiences in sport. (Continues...).
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Rinaldi, Roberto L. "A Developmental Intervention Science Outreach Research Approach to Promoting Positive Youth Development." FIU Digital Commons, 2011. http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/342.
Full textAbstract:
Recent intervention efforts in promoting positive identity in troubled adolescents have begun to draw on the potential for an integration of the self-construction and self-discovery perspectives in conceptualizing identity processes, as well as the integration of quantitative and qualitative data analytic strategies. This study reports an investigation of the Changing Lives Program (CLP), using an Outcome Mediation (OM) evaluation model, an integrated model for evaluating targets of intervention, while theoretically including a Self-Transformative Model of Identity Development (STM), a proposed integration of self-discovery and self-construction identity processes. This study also used a Relational Data Analysis (RDA) integration of quantitative and qualitative analysis strategies and a structural equation modeling approach (SEM), to construct and evaluate the hypothesized OM/STM model. The CLP is a community supported positive youth development intervention, targeting multi-problem youth in alternative high schools in the Miami Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS).
The 259 participants for this study were drawn from the CLP’s archival data file. The model evaluated in this study utilized three indices of core identity processes (1) personal expressiveness, (2) identity conflict resolution, and (3) informational identity style that were conceptualized as mediators of the effects of participation in the CLP on change in two qualitative outcome indices of participants’ sense of self and identity.
Findings indicated the model fit the data (χ2 (10) = 3.638, p = .96; RMSEA = .00; CFI = 1.00; WRMR = .299). The pattern of findings supported the utilization of the STM in conceptualizing identity processes and provided support for the OM design. The findings also suggested the need for methods capable of detecting and rendering unique sample specific free response data to increase the likelihood of identifying emergent core developmental research concepts and constructs in studies of intervention/developmental change over time in ways not possible using fixed response methods alone.
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Camiré, Martin. "Facilitating Positive Youth Development Through High School Sport." Thèse, Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10393/22903.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this doctoral dissertation was to examine how high school sport can be framed as a context that facilitates positive youth development. Data were collected in two phases. In phase one, a case study of a high school ice hockey program recognised for focusing on youth development was conducted. One article was written, documenting the design of the program and its impact on student development. Results indicate that participants believed students were learning a wide range of life skills and values but that administrators and coaches faced many challenges in sustaining the program. In phase two, interviews were conducted with model high school coaches and their athletes and three articles were written (articles two, three, and four). The second article examines how model high school coaches teach students life skills and how to transfer these skills to other life domains. Results demonstrate that the model coaches prioritised development and had specifically designed strategies to help students learn and transfer life skills. The third article investigates how model high school coaches learn to facilitate positive youth development through sport. Results indicate that these coaches were lifelong learners who took advantage of learning situations in order to refine their skills and use sport as a tool for development. The fourth article examines the characteristics athletes prefer in high school coaches. Results indicate that most athletes prefer coaches who are supportive, knowledgeable, good motivators, and prioritise athlete development. Based on the results of the two phases of data collection, an article was written with the objective of providing coaches with strategies on how to facilitate positive youth development through sport. Strategies consist of: (a) developing a coaching philosophy, (b) developing relationships with athletes, (c) having developmental strategies, (d) making athletes practice life skills, and (e) teaching athletes about the transferability of life skills.
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Arnolds, Lionel. "Guidelines for the development of youth mentor programmes." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/49979.
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Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Close, personal relationships with adults are seen to contribute positively to the development of young people. Whilst mentoring has been established in other parts of the world, it is a relatively new concept in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to establish guidelines for the development of youth mentoring programmes. The literature study deals with the human development of youth during adolescence. Those factors, both within the family as well as in the environment, that affect the development of young people, are discussed. The phases of the mentoring process is also described. The Hearts of Men mentoring programme is used as an example of a youth mentoring programme that is based in the community. An exploratory and descriptive study was undertaken in order to describe the development of youth during adolescence. An empirical study was undertaken based on the literature review. A sample comprised of 18 young people participating in the Hearts of Men mentoring programme in the Strand was involved in the study. With the help of the empirical study the perception of the young people with regard to the mentor and mentee roles was examined. The findings of the study reveal that the young people in the Hearts of Men programme have a positive experience of the mentoring process and have an understanding of the mentor and mentee roles. In order to establish youth mentoring programmes, organisations must possess the knowledge of and skills in the mentoring process and must have an understanding of the human development of young people as well as of theories relating to their development.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Persoonlike verhoudings met volwasse persone word beskou as 'n positiewe bydraende faktor tot die ontwikkeling van jongmense. Terwyl mentorprogramme redelik gevestig is in ander dele van die wêreld, is dit 'n relatiewe nuwe konsep in Suid Afrika. Die doel van hierdie studie is om riglyne daar te stel vir die ontwikkeling van jeug mentorprogramme. Die literatuurstudie het gehandel oor die menslike ontwikkeling van jongmense gedurende adolessensie. Faktore binne die gesin, sowel as die omgewing, wat 'n invloed het op die ontwikkeling van die adolessent is bespreek. Die fases van die mentorproses is ook beskryf. Die Hearts of Men program is gebruik as 'n voorbeeld van 'n gemeenskapsgebaseerde jeug mentorprogram. 'n Verkennende-beskrywende studie is onderneem om die ontwikkeling van die adolessent gedurende adolessensie te beskryf. 'n Empiriese studie gegrond op die literatuurstudie is gedoen. 'n Steekproef, bestaande uit agtien jong deelnemers aan die Hearts of Men mentorprogram in die Strand, is by die ondersoek betrek. Met behulp van die empiriese ondersoek is die persepsies van die jong persone rakende die rol van die mentor en mentee in die mentorprogram ondersoek. Die bevindinge van die ondersoek toon dat die deelnemers aan die Hearts of Men mentorprogram 'n positiewe ervaring van die mentorproses ondervind, en dat hulle begrip toon ten opsigte van die rol van die mentor en mentee in die mentorprogram. Ten einde jeug mentorprogramme te implementeer, moet organisasies oor die kennis en vaardighede beskik rakende die mentorproses. Organisasies moet ook begrip toon rakende menslike ontwikkeling van jongmense, en kennis hê oor teorieë wat op hulle ontwikkeling betrekking het.
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Romani, Sahar Pervez. "Generation NGO : youth and development in urban India." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2014. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:b8d8d9f1-f358-431a-bb48-50db9ab4f129.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation is about the role of NGOs in the lives of subaltern youth in urban India. It is an ethnography on the everyday lives of young people between the ages of 18-32 from impoverished 'red-light areas' in Kolkata who grew up participating in NGO youth programmes. This thesis investigates how NGOs partake in a process of subject making, and how young people interact with and improvise NGO subjectification to better their own lives in a world- class aspiring city. The youth featuring in this dissertation spent their childhood and adolescence either residing in NGO shelter homes or regularly attending NGO drop-in-centres in their neighborhoods. They came of age attending NGO education programmes, job skills trainings, and human rights workshops. Grounded in 13 months of fieldwork, my ethnography tells the stories of young people’s lives after their participation in NGO programmes, amidst their everyday worlds of work, consumption, and politics. My examination of the young people’s post-NGO daily lives in Kolkata makes three key contributions. First, it reveals the contradictions of NGO development. It examines the ambivalent effects of NGOs on subaltern young people’s gender and class identity, as well as their social and political subjectivity and mobility. Second, it illustrates the plural forms of agency practised by urban marginalised youth. My thesis demonstrates how young people are not just passive recipients of NGO development opportunities, but active negotiators of development as they interact with NGOs and navigate its attempts to regulate youth. Third, it illustrates how NGOs and post-NGO youth both foster and trouble class divisions in the world-class aspiring city of Kolkata. I illustrate how young people develop cultural dispositions that straddle across subaltern and middle classes and unsettle class boundaries but not inequalities. This dissertation argues for ethnographic attention to the everyday lives of post-NGO youth as an analytical lens to theorise NGOisation and global city processes in contemporary India and the greater global South.
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Dowling, Elizabeth M. "The import of the goodness of fit in parent and youth religiosity for youth thriving : a developmental systems analysis /." Thesis, Connect to Dissertations & Theses @ Tufts University, 2004.
Find full textAbstract:
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2004.Adviser: Richard Lerner. Submitted to the Dept. of Child Development. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-141). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;
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Morgan, Amanda K. "Ethnic Identity and Migrant Youth." DigitalCommons@USU, 2005. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2847.
Full textAbstract:
This study sought to examine the relationship between ethnic identity and the grade and gender of the subjects. Changes in ethnic identity over time were also analyzed. Students attending grades four through eight of the Nyssa Migrant School summer program participated in this study. One hundred twenty-four participants completed the pretest, eighty-nine completed the posttest, with a total of seventy-nine completing both the pretest and posttest. Students responded to the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, which examined the subcategories of belonging and exploration to comprise the overall ethnic identity level.
Scores were compared by grade and by gender at pretest and at posttest. Scores were also examined in those same subgroups for a change over time in the 79 subjects completing both the pretest and posttest. Though not statistically significant, results indicated a trend for males as a whole to show a greater increase in overall ethnic identity over the course of the summer school program than their female counterparts. Results also showed an increase (although not statistically significant) in ethnic identity for the group as a whole over the course of the six-week program, warranting further investigation into the summer program's effectiveness for enhancing ethnic identity. This aforementioned increase was more pronounced in children in the older grades, supporting a developmental progression of ethnic identity. At both the pretest and posttest, adjusted means for belonging were statistically significantly higher than those for exploration, F(l, 77) = 171.03,p = .000; F(l, 77) = 141.12,p = .000, respectively. Implications of these findings for future programs and future research are discussed.
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Wonnum, Sundonia J. "Group Home Care: The Influence of Positive Youth Development Factors and Social Capital on Youth Outcomes." VCU Scholars Compass, 2014. http://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/3568.
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This study examined the influence of positive youth development factors and social capital on outcomes among youth in group home care. One of the major assumptions of this study was that existing research is deficit-focused and provides little evidence of what practices are linked to positive outcomes among youth residing in and exiting group homes. A conceptual model was developed to depict the influence of predictors (derived from the Positive Youth Develop Framework and Social Capital Theory) on youth outcomes – change in psychosocial problem severity and prosocial behavior, living environment, school involvement, employment, delinquency, and extracurricular activity. An exploratory analysis of secondary data was conducted. Multiple regression and binary logistic regression were used to answer the overarching question, What group home factors correlate with positive outcomes among youth? Major findings from these analyses showed: 1) group home staff’s positive view of youths’ competence impacted youths’ psychosocial problem severity, and 2) for youth who exhibited troublesome behavior while in group care, if they experienced a trusting relationship with an adult staff member, they are more likely to exhibit prosocial behaviors after leaving group care.
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Simuyandi, Bertha Miyanda. "Youth access to empowerment funds for entrepreneurship in Zambia." Master's thesis, Faculty of Humanities, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31259.
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Youth unemployment in Zambia is high. According to the Zambia Country Report (2013) by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), approximately 960,000 (16.7 %) of the almost 6 million youths in Zambia are unemployed. This has led to young people engaging in entrepreneurial activities as a means of survival. However, they are faced with difficulties in accessing empowerment funds for entrepreneurship. An exploratory study was conducted in the Lusaka Province of Zambia. The aim of the study was to explore successes and challenges faced by the youth in accessing empowerment funds for entrepreneurship in Zambia. Triangulation of quantitative and qualitative research methods was used for the study. Sampling was done to select the youths that would take part in the quantitative survey. Sixty youths who applied for the empowerment funds were selected to take part in the survey which was done by questionnaire. The software ‘Statistical Package for Social Sciences’ (SPSS) was used for the quantitative data analysis. A Purposive Sampling method was used because the selected youths and stakeholders were considered to be suitable to participate in the study. The sample size selected from the research population was 30. Twenty youths who applied for empowerment funds and 10 representatives of the stakeholders were interviewed. Semistructured interviews were used as data collection tools. For the qualitative data analysis, Tesch’s steps were used. The study found that several factors affect youth access to empowerment funds for entrepreneurship in Zambia. These factors could be divided into four groups: economic and financial, institutional, social and miscellaneous. The main economic and financial factors included unemployment and lack of income, lack of collateral, savings by the youth, bank charges and poor financial habits. The main institutional factors were found to be legal regulatory framework, poor policies and bureaucracy. The main social factors were lack of entrepreneurship education, skills training and non-existent youth services. Other factors were negative societal social and cultural perceptions, practices and attitudes, logistical issues and lack of information. The recommendations for access to empowerment funds for entrepreneurship by youth in Zambia can be divided into five main categories, namely alternative funding sources, communication, financial, institutional and miscellaneous. The youths should seek other sources of money, disbursing agencies should use different mediums for disseminating information about empowerment funds, the government should strengthen disbursing agencies for provision of empowerment funds equitably, and there is a need for appropriate financial practices to be adopted by the youth. The study is exploratory and identifies the factors that affect the youth’s access to empowerment funds for entrepreneurship in Zambia. Further research should be done to assess attitudes of funders towards youth entrepreneurs so as to gauge whether access to financial interventions are effective or not. Further research is also needed to understand why youth entrepreneurs tend to shun certain entrepreneurial activities such as farming.
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Kanengoni, Miriam. "An exploration of Lavender Hill's youth pathways to employment." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/22936.
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The world is confronted by a worsening youth unemployment crisis. Young people are more likely to be unemployed than adults. Youth employment is important for economic and social stability and growth. Though youth face numerous challenges, many are determined to succeed and are using varied approaches to ensure their 'survival'. The purpose of this qualitative research study was therefore to explore these varied approaches employed by young people to gain access into the world of work. Seventeen face to face interviews were conducted with young people who matriculated from Lavender Hill High School in Lavender Hill community. The study focused specifically on how the research participants negotiated their pathways to employment in the labour market. The study indicated attitudes and sources of motivation for youth towards finding employment which were driven by several factors. The main factor was the need to improve standards of living and escape the socials ills that are plaguing Lavender Hill community. Such ills include gang violence, crime, substance and alcohol abuse, lack of positive role models, financial constraints, school dropouts as well as teenage pregnancies. These ills also came up as the challenges faced by the young participants on their pathways to employment. The participants managed to utilise a range of support systems that were available to them, from government interventions, social networks from school, churches, NGOs and private companies, to recruitment agencies for them to be able to access employment. The importance of personal and technical skills was highlighted as the youth needed to have those skills to be able to get jobs. Recommendations included the need for, NGOs to advance their services for youth in career information and support them with instant education and training decisions; private companies partnering with local schools and post-secondary institutions to create platforms where the companies can speak to students about career opportunities and expected skills as well as mentoring them and offering placements that give young people the much needed skills and experience while they complete their high school, college, university or apprenticeship programs. Additionally, it was recommended that community members play their role in their societies through caring, serving, connecting, supporting and helping; government ministries to strengthen safety nets for youth in poor townships for them to counter the hindrances they face towards accessing jobs.
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Mphela, Nkwe. "Determinants of youth unemployment in Aganang Municipality, Limpopo Province." Master's thesis, University of Cape Town, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29050.
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Employment is one of the most significant determinants of the welfare of any nation. Any significant changes in employment (i.e. increase/decrease) will subsequently affect the wellbeing of the household. The unemployment rates in South Africa are among the highest in the world, currently standing at 25.2 per cent (i.e. by the narrow definition of unemployment) based on figures released by Statistics South Africa. Limpopo tends to have the highest proportion of rural dwellers in the South Africa, hence it is expected that socioeconomic conditions in the province are inferior to the national average; with the consequence of a high youth unemployment rate. This study seeks to find the determinants of youth unemployment in the Aganang municipality of the Limpopo province using census 2011, complemented by QLFs 2007-2010. This study used the same approach that Kyei and Gyekye followed by employing Regression, Principal, Component and Cluster analyses. Three variables, gender, training and education were categorised into twelve as independent variables. The study concluded that in the Aganang municipality, no education (that is no schooling or primary schooling) particularly for females, caused the level of Youth unemployment to rise, while a bachelor's degree and / or training, brought about a reduction in Youth unemployment.
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Stevos, Joyce L. "Youth in action : a study of developing citizen identity /." View online ; access limited to URI, 2005. http://0-wwwlib.umi.com.helin.uri.edu/dissertations/dlnow/3188849.
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Fredericks, Chanel. "An exploratory study of the experiences of youth transitioning out of Child and Youth Care Centres in Cape Town to independent adult living." Master's thesis, Faculty of Humanities, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/31295.
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Every year youth living in child and youth care centres (CYCCs) in Cape Town prepare themselves for independent adult living as they approach the age of majority, eighteen years of age, which enables them to legally leave state care. This research study explored the experiences of Cape Town youth transitioning from CYCCs to independent adult living. The study was conducted with a sample of twenty youth from five different CYCCs in Cape Town, South Africa. The study adopted a qualitative approach using a semi-structured interview schedule for face-to-face interviews with the participants. A purposive sample was used for the selection of participants for this study. Data collected during this study was analysed using Tesch’s eight-step approach to data analysis. The study findings revealed that participants had various perceptions regarding their transition from their CYCCs to independent adult living. Some perceived their exit from state care as a disturbance in their lives which resulted in them experiencing a range of emotions such as fear and anxiety as they anticipated how their lives would change once they leave state care. Others recognised that during this time they would experience some independence which meant taking on more responsibility for their lives such as being accountable for their daily living costs which include groceries, electricity and transport. Participants also viewed this transitional period as a time to actively look for alternative accommodation before leaving state care to avoid potential homelessness. Living in care was also understood as an opportunity for youth to successfully complete their high schooling without any disruptions. In addition to this the study findings revealed that participants had aspirations that they hoped to see come to fruition while they prepare for independent adult living. These included making contact with their families of origin, enrolling into tertiary institutions, finding employment and helping others in need. They also foresaw challenges that may arise while they prepared for independent adult living. These challenges included repetition of negative past behaviours, struggling to find employment, worries about safety, worries about not having support after leaving care and possible financial challenges. The study findings also revealed how youth living in CYCCs can be better supported during their transition to independent adult living. This can occur through improving existing transitional programmes, assigning youth living in CYCCs with mentors during their transitional period and improving the government’s role in supporting CYCCs and youth leaving care by, amongst other things, creating more employment opportunities for youth. The main recommendations of the study include that CYCCs provide youth preparing to leave care for independent adult living with the necessary emotional support such as individual counselling sessions where they can disclose and deal with their fears and anxieties about leaving state care. It is also recommended that CYCCs continue to push their education agenda with youth preparing to leave state care so that they can continue to be ambitious when it comes to furthering their education. Another recommendation is that CYCCs readily support youth wanting to make contact with their family of origin during their transition to independent adult living. Finally, children living in CYCCs should be introduced to transitional programmes soon after their entrance into the CYCC programme rather than too close to their exit from state care.
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Seymour, Kathryn M. "Deficits or Strengths? Re-conceptualising Youth Development Program Practice." Thesis, Griffith University, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/10072/367701.
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This thesis is about the Queensland Youth Development Research Project (YDRP), a program of research I designed to respond to the absence of research on community youth development programs in Australia. The neglect in scholarly, policy and practitioner literatures of volunteer youth workers and community youth development programs has resulted in limited recognition of program diversity, the nature and impact of community-based programs, and the differences between strength-based and deficit-based approaches. Addressing this lacuna in the literature is important given the large number of young people from diverse social backgrounds who participate in organisations such as Surf Life Saving and Girl Guides.
I address two research questions: (1) What are the core characteristics of youth development programs? (2) What are the characteristics of young people who participate in Queensland community youth development programs? I explore these questions through two separate, but linked studies. In the first I use a participatory action research model to examine how strength-based youth development approaches can be conceptualised in a program environment. In the second I use questionnaires (n=440) and interviews (n=37) to explore young member socio-demographic, involvement and developmental characteristics and their program engagement and practice experiences.Thesis (PhD Doctorate)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
Arts, Education and Law
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Mavasa, Tamari Tlangelani. "Appraisal of enterprise development finance programmes of the National Youth Development Agency." Thesis, Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/96172.
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Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2014.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The South African population involves huge numbers of young people. The majority of these young people are unemployed and unable to make a living as a result of the inability of the economy to absorb them into the labour market. Other young people attempt to make a living through entrepreneurship. However, the participation of young people in entrepreneurship is very low. Young people face many challenges associated with lack of funding and business development support services, technical skills and development. The problems facing the country substantially caused socio-economic challenges resulting in a shrinking economy. This translated into an inability of both the private sector and government to create and sustain jobs. The government of South Africa established the National Youth Development Agency (here called the Agency) with the mandate to reduce poverty by making sound investments. This facilitates opportunities for young people to acquire skills, promote creation of jobs or pursue meaningful self-employment opportunities through various enterprise development initiatives. The agency developed the Enterprise Development Finance Programme as an economic development approach. The agency provides access to financial and non-financial services to the previously disadvantaged youth in a sustainable manner that improves and promotes sustainable livelihoods for the low-income groups. The study evaluates the effectiveness of the EDFP. The public and private sector offers different programmes aiming at equipping aspiring and established entrepreneurs with skills, knowledge, and motivation to enable business development and growth in the country. However, the challenge is that many do not have entrepreneurial minds. Those who have entrepreneurship knowledge do not know about the programmes, or the programmes are not easily accessible particularly to people in the rural areas. In addition, these programmes are not co-ordinated and as result we are not in a position to tell immediately as to who is doing what and where. This also makes it difficult to identify gaps and to maximise the impact of the programmes. There is a need to audit all programmes aimed at improving the economic development of the country. The government of South Africa must instil a culture of entrepreneurship at all levels to promote and nurture entrepreneurship skills. Vigorous entrepreneurial activity and innovation is needed to alleviate high unemployment levels through a combination of improved quality education and skills development. Promotion and support of entrepreneurship should form an important component of policy options considered to increase economic growth for the long term. The Economic Development Finance programme provides SME and microfinance funding which is seen as an important strategy for economic growth. Education and skills development is an important tool that supports the culture of entrepreneurship, as it contributes to the success of businesses. The private and public institutions should intensify their involvements and consider both financial and non-financial support for youth enterprises and entrepreneurs equally. The support for entrepreneurship should be holistic and cover funding, technical training, training in business and financial management, and business linkages.