A qualitative exploration of suspended youth social connectedness in a community-based intervention program

Out-of-school suspension continues to disconnect an overwhelming number of economically disadvantaged ethnic minority (EDEM) youth from school—leading to out-of-school placement. Youth communities and localities may provide alternative spaces for suspended youth and create opportunities for prosocial engagement and support. The present study employed participant observation and interviews to explore suspended youth sense of social connectedness in a community-based intervention program in the United States. Findings illustrate psychosocial assets and youth sense of social connectedness emerged from relational bonds and a structural culture enforcing a nurturing and inclusive environment. A discussion on improving the capacity of community-based organizations to address the needs of suspended youth follows.     

Ourtown for teens: Long-term impact of a youth diversity program

This study fills a gap in the literature in regards to the effectiveness of youth diversity programs by exploring the sustaining effects of a week-long youth diversity camp program. Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the study results suggest the camp achieved positive, sustaining impacts. Some of these findings include (1) enhancement of leadership skills; (2) greater understanding of “the other”; and (3) increased communication skills, particularly when oppression was observed. These effects were observed in the respondents who had recently attended the camp, as well as those who had attended a long time prior. Such impact reported in the study reiterates that more diversity programs for youth should be developed, implemented, and evaluated.     

Integrating a youth participation model in a youth mental health service: Challenges and lessons learned

Youth participation in mental health settings is fundamental to service design and delivery, and is beneficial for the young people involved as well as the organisation. This paper presents the findings of an evaluation of a youth participation model where tiered participation was attempted in a clinical youth mental health setting. To inform the ongoing development and improvement of a youth participation model, an evaluation was conducted consisting of three focus groups with the youth consultants, consultations with management about the implementation of the tiered participation model, and a review of records. The purpose of this evaluation was to identify possible barriers to implementation early on so these could be addressed and a youth participation model that meets the needs of all key stakeholders could be developed. The findings of this evaluation and the way in which these findings informed the model's development are discussed.     

The young carer penalty: Exploring the costs of caregiving among a sample of Canadian youth

This research contributes a first-hand account of the experiences of youth’s substantial unpaid familial caregiving in the context of long-term illness, disability or problems related to alcohol and/or other drugs. A qualitative focus group methodology explored the benefits and challenges of youth’s caregiving via a sample of 15 youth caregivers (or young carers) from both the Greater Toronto area and the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The findings reveal evidence for a unique “young carer penalty,” a term coined by this research to build upon the gendered “care penalty” experienced by adult women (especially mothers) when performing care work.     

Youth Work in Croatia: Collecting Pieces for a Mosaic

This article explores the historical development of youth work in Croatia. By drawing from available data and personal experience, we describe three key phases of youth work development in a post-conflict country: (a) the period of the early 1990s as a “direct peace building" youth work; (b) the rise of nonformal education during the mid and late 1990s; and (c) the growth of a networked youth sector and its focus on youth policy advocacy starting in 2000. In addition, we refer to today's context, particularly because of its project-management orientation. Such categorization highlights various practices that we consider to represent youth work in a specific and contested national framework. Work with young people with fewer opportunities is being presented as a case, building on our observation that contemporary youth work continues to be embedded in civil society development and nonformal education, facing challenges of funding-driven discourse and unsystematic support.     

After-School Programs as a Prosocial Setting for Bonding Between Peers

This study reports on the longitudinal analysis of a structured after-school arts program for Canadian youth, ages 9 to 15 years, from low-income communities where the relationship of peer social support, family interactions, and psychosocial outcomes is evaluated. Multi-level growth curve analyses suggest an increase in prosocial development with peer social support and a decrease in prosocial development when negative family interactions are present. Comparisons between matched controls, using estimated linear propensity scores, revealed significant improvement in prosocial behaviors for the intervention group. The structured after-school arts program was found to increase prosocial behaviors and bonding with peers for youth from low-income communities.     

充分发挥群团组织在我国社会建设中的作用——以工会组织为例

群团组织是党联系群众的桥梁和纽带,在推进社会建设中发挥着重要而独特的作用。党的十八大以来,以习近平同志为核心的党中央高度重视社会建设。本研究以工会组织为例分析指出,群团组织参与社会建设有利于发挥党在推进社会建设中的统领作用,有利于落实以人民为中心的社会建设理念,有利于贯彻依法治国方略、提高社会建设的法治化水平。群团组织参与社会建设的主要任务,包括在保障和改善民生中发挥补充作用、促进共同富裕的实现,在维权和化解矛盾中发挥协商协调作用、推进社会公平正义等。基于此,研究建议要以改革创新精神提升群团组织参与社会建设的能力：强化维权服务职责,增强参与的主动性和时效性;加快智慧工会建设,创新参与方式;努力维护劳动领域政治安全,牢牢把握住工会参与的底线;加强基层工会建设,壮大参与力量。     

Under a temporary roof and in the classroom: Service agencies for youth who are homeless while enrolled in community college

Youth experiencing homelessness are part of the large, diverse student population served by community colleges in the United States. These students, who are often unsupported in college environments, turn to housing agencies to provide critical resources. This qualitative study included interviews with 20 students, ages 18–24, attending community college while homeless. Students in this study accessed critical services and social supports in homeless service agencies; however, the requirements of some agency policies were a barrier to reaching academic goals. Housing agencies provided participants with necessary resources; however, participants described facing unique obstacles as they navigated agency eligibility requirements while attending college.     

Chapter 17: The Community as an Advocate for Youth:

State treatment foster care programs established by the National Youth Advocate Program are described in terms of youth served, homes established, treatment program, implementation problems, and evaluation procedures.     

完善残疾人社会保障制度是健全社会保障体系的重要方面

残疾人是社会弱势群体的重要组成部分,是最需国家、社会保障和救助的群体,完善残疾人平等保障、就业保障和体育、健康保障,对健全整个社会保障体系有至关重要的作用.     

Promotion of contentious agency as a rewarding movement strategy: evidence from the MST-paper industry conflicts in Brazil

The recent scholarship on social movement outcomes has called for explanations about how movements influence economic outcomes. This article demonstrates in practice how a dynamic and relational approach, coupled with a Bourdieuian analysis of social, symbolic, and territorial space, can be utilized in explaining the influence of movements in contentious politics around investment projects. Based on participant observation and comparison across the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) groups in areas of paper industry expansion, I assess the different movement strategies and their influence on pulp project outcomes. I reinterpret the ideal ‘MST model’ as constructed by specific strategies promoting contentious agency: organizing and politicizing, campaigning by heterodox framing, protesting, networking, and embedded autonomy vis-à-vis the state. A Qualitative Comparative Analysis comparing the expansion of 13 pulp holdings between 2004–2008 shows how these strategies influence investment pace. When both contentious and conventional strategies were used, movements managed to slow pulpwood plantation expansion.     

The role of universities in the promotion of worker protection: UCLA labor occupational health and safety program as a model for countries with developing economies

ABSTRACT

Protection of the workers’ health in countries with developing economies is increasingly important because of the adverse effects of globalization, along with changing industrial relations, the rise of precarious work and outsourcing, and the decline in unionization. In this study, I examine whether the institutes created by universities might serve as an interface between workers, academia, and state agencies, and provide assistance for both improving workplace conditions and enforcing occupational health and safety rules. I describe the history of one such effort: The Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Using a review of written sources along with participatory observation and interviews as methods, I found that the challenges faced by LOSH historically have important parallels in countries with developing economies today. Ultimately, university-based occupational health programs like LOSH need to be followed in other parts of the world and be supported by governments if the mission to reduce workplace injuries and diseases is going to be realized in the United States and in other countries.