Bridging the Gap: A Rationale for Enhancing the Role of Community Organizations in Promoting Youth Development

• NCJ Number: 153802
• Author(s): K J Pittman; M Wright
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 90 pages
• Corporate Author: Academy for Educational Development, Ctr for Youth Development and Policy Research; Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; Academy for Educational Development, Ctr for Youth Development and Policy Research; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Commissioned Paper #1

Annotation

This paper aimed to create a definition of youth development that would combine process with goals. While the research conducted for this report did not uncover any universal definition of youth development, it did discover strong recurring themes that suggest a reciprocal relationship between youth and society.

Abstract

One theme was competence; another was related to desires for certain outcomes for youth. The first section of this paper outlines a framework for thinking about youth development and youth supports. The second section offers a working theory of youth development, based on a broad review of academic and nonacademic literature and youth programs. The final section describes a set of characteristics by which community-based, nonschool organizations and agencies, and the programs that they offer, may be distinguished from schools and families, and summarizes evidence that participation in this sector and in the types of programming traditionally offered by this sector, has a positive impact on adolescent development. 8 tables, 4 figures, 1 appendix, and 142 references