NCJ Number
218273
Journal
Journal of Adolescent Research Volume: 22 Issue: 3 Dated: May 2007 Pages: 275-297
Date Published
May 2007
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Based on an analysis of the experiences of two girls in one youth leadership organization over a period of 3 years, this study examined the links between leadership development and program structures and supports.
Abstract
The findings of this study should caution against relying on a single, static definition of youth leadership. This may diminish or ignore the variety of important roles that youth can play in organizational functioning in accordance with their distinctive personalities, abilities, and interests. The leadership examples of the two girls suggest a concept of youth leadership that is sufficiently broad to embrace a variety of styles and capacities while being sufficiently definitive to distinguish the gang leader from the popular student body president and the latter from a student campaigning for social justice. The two girls developed different styles of leadership within an after-school leadership program in a middle school in Redwood City, CA. One girl was more outspoken and focused on group concerns, and the other girl was more of a background leader in being attentive to individual youth's personal concerns. The program in which the girls were involved was called Youth Engaged in Leadership and Learning (YELL). In YELL, cohorts of 15 to 20 youth are trained to use social science research techniques to study an issue of concern to them and then use their findings to formulate policy recommendations. The program served a population of mostly Mexican-American students from low-income families. Over the years of this study, the campaigns the youth pursued ranged from addressing the lack of safe and fun places for youth to gather in the city, the lack of affordable and accessible public transportation options for youth, and bullying problems at their middle school. 19 references