Type of Document Master's Thesis Author Armstrong, Michael N. Author's Email Address armstrong9@bellsouth.net URN etd-08152007-142917 Title Organizational Characteristics and Adolescent Political Development: Exploring the Experience of Youth Activists in Youth Development Organizations Degree Master of Arts Department Psychology Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Dr. Roderick J. Watts Committee Chair Dr. Gabriel Kuperminc Committee Member Dr. James Emshoff Committee Member Keywords
- Adolescence
- Political development
- Youth development
- Organizations
- Settings
- Characteristics
- Activism
Date of Defense 2007-07-11 Availability unrestricted Abstract 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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