Youth workers often pride themselves on the degree to which they share power with clients, encounter clients on their own terms, and allow young people to set the tone for and direct the helping relationship. In their descriptions of not-knowing, however, many youth workers mention acute discomfort at the feeling of control having been stripped…

Objective: This study describes the development and validation of a perceived social competence scale that social workers can easily use to assess children's and youth's social competence. Method: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted on a calibration and a cross-validation sample of youth. Predictive validity was also…

This paper describes a project called Peace Revolution [http://peacerevolution.net], which provides an opportunity for young people from around the world to learn and share positive messages and activities relating to peace. The Peace Revolution project aims to empower young people via a unique process related to youth development, helping young…

A lot has been learned about effective approaches to realizing intended out-of-school time program outcomes. As program practitioners consider fostering evidence-based practices, program administrators, staff, and stakeholders must keep in mind that it is difficult to change behavior overnight, even among children. Efforts to improve outcomes for…

Much controversy exists regarding the effectiveness of residential treatment. Recently, emerging research has demonstrated that community-based residential treatment has more positive long-term outcomes for youth. This article describes a community-based program that was implemented at a residential treatment agency serving youth. Targeted…

Cross-age peer mentoring programs, in which teenagers mentor younger children, have proliferated in recent years, yet there is disagreement about the effectiveness of such programs. This study tested whether teen mentors' attitudes about children interact with their mentees' characteristics to moderate outcomes of cross-age peer mentoring. The…

The ChalleNGe model grew out of a project by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the late 1980s and early 1990s that sought to develop new approaches for out-of-school youth. The project's final report concluded that aspects of the military structure could be beneficial for disadvantaged youth. The report also concluded that the…

The perceptions of students, school and technical and further education (TAFE) staff involved in V Tracks, an early intervention program for Aboriginal school students are explored in this paper. The study identifies outcomes, challenges and recommendations for future program design. Overall, V Tracks was found to improve student engagement in…

This user guide has been developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). It consolidates existing technical documentation and other information into one document. The guide aims to address all aspects of the LSAY data including: how to access the data, data restrictions, variable naming conventions, the structure of the…

This qualitative study examines alternative arts-based education in two urban educational settings for underrepresented or marginalized youth. In particular, the authors use postcolonial and feminist theories to create borderland spaces where marginalized youth can develop strong identities, establish a community mindset, and cultivate leadership…

More than 30 years since Hannah Arendt's death in 1975 at the age of 69, her novel theory of the public realm continues to attract attention and debate. In this article, the author contributes to this discussion by drawing on Arendt's theory of public life to investigate the space of youth media production in relation to questions of democratic…

The descriptive cross-sectional study assessed contributions of Youth Environmental Scout (YES) clubs toward sustainable environmental programs in selected schools in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria. It involved administration of questionnaires, in-depth interviews and observation checklists and results were analyzed using SPSS 10 software package.…

The authors examine perceptions that young people hold regarding their participation in community-based youth programs. Specifically, this study assesses young people's sense of psychological safety, their relationships with adult staff, their learning of social skills, and how different ethnic groups experience these factors. Data for the study…

This paper develops an empirical methodology for the construction of a synthetic multi-dimensional cross-country comparison of the performance of governments around the world in improving the livelihood of their younger population. The devised "Youth Welfare Index" is based on the nonparametric Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology and…

Youth develop across multiple domains that are relevant to academic success. While schools focus primarily on cognitive development, many of the supports young people receive in other developmental areas come from community-based out-of-school programming. Stimulation of development in these additional key areas builds skills that support…