Empowering marginalized youth

Transcription

1 Empowering marginalized youth A self-transformative intervention for promoting positive youth development Kyle Eichas, Tarleton State University eichas@tarleton.edu Marilyn Montgomery, Northwest Christian University Alan Meca, University of Miami William Kurtines, Florida International University

2 Context: Alternative high schools of Miami Dade County Public Schools Students referred to alternative high schools because of Marginalization: disempowering urban contexts ACE Absenteeism Academic failure Chronic disruptive behavior Identification as a potential dropout Poverty Lack of resources Exposure to violence Victim of: mugging (37.5%), stabbing (19.8%), shooting (10.5%) Witness of mugging (86.5%), stabbing (63.5%), shooting (60.4%), dead bodies (66.6%), suicide (19.8%), murder (41.6%) Dade County Public Schools, 1986 Berman, Kurtines, Silverman, & Serafini, 1996

3 CHANGING LIVES PROGRAM Miami, Florida, Empowerment at the community level: Sustained outreach to help school district meet need for counseling services in its alternative high schools by leveraging locally available resources (Kurtines et al., 2008) Empowerment at the individual level: Group-based participatory co-learning Help young people learn to change their own lives by promoting positive identity development

4 developmental interventions Changing Lives Program Applied Developmental Science Intervention Science Promote positive development Structured interventions Developmental systems Developmental processes during life transitions

5 Adolescence: Identity development and the life course Historical circumstances: opportunities and constraints 1. Constructed by the individual through choices and actions SENSE OF IDENTITY 2. Established pathways with socially sanctioned timetables for life transitions Social circumstances: opportunities and constraints 3. Increased likelihood of a life course turning point Elder & Shanahan, 2006; Kurtines et al., 2008

6 Identity development through self-discovery Youth discover who they are through activities that actualize their unique personal potentials Feelings of personal expressiveness = a feeling that this activity is what I am meant to do Schwartz, Kurtines, & Montgomery, 2005; Waterman, 2011

7 Identity development through self-construction Youth construct who they are through the solutions they create for their life challenges Builds critical thinking and discussion competencies Creates mastery experiences that promote a sense of control and responsibility Berzonsky, 2011; Kurtines et al., 1995

8 CHANGING LIVES PROGRAM Intervention Phase Intervention Content Developmental Process Engagement Life course narrative Trust Participatory Co-Learning Most important life goal Life change goal Self-Discovery (uncovering personal strengths and potentials) Sense of Identity (direction and purpose) Transformative Activities Critical problem solving Self-selected actions Self-Construction (creating own solutions to life s problems)

9 Self-transformative model for promoting positive development (uncovering personal strengths and potentials) (intervention = creating opportunities for action) (qualitative structuralorganizational change) (creating own solutions to life challenges)

10 Study aim: Test the self-transformative model Test predictions made by the self-transformative model 1. Providing opportunities for self-discovery and self-construction promotes positive qualitative change in identity 2. Positive qualitative change in identity promotes positive change across multiple outcome domains (positive and problem)

11 The present study 209 African American and Hispanic adolescents (ages 14-18) attending alternative high schools in Miami-Dade County Public Schools 113 adolescents: participated in the Changing Lives Program based on school counselor/teacher/ student request 96 adolescents: non-intervention, non-random comparison condition Changing Lives Program groups were organized and implemented through schools on-campus counseling program. met for approximately 45 minutes every week for 8 to 12 weeks (Fall or Spring semester) group members: 4-6 adolescents intervention team: facilitator and co-facilitator (graduate psychology students), group assistant (undergraduate psychology students) Assessment: Pretest (T1) = week before start of group sessions Posttest (T2) = week after end of group sessions Follow-up (T3) = four months after T2 assessment ACE

12 Measures Self-discovery: Personally Expressive Activities Questionnaire (Waterman, 1993) Feelings of personal expressiveness subscale: 6 items on 7-point scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) Adapted for activities essential to life goal pursuit (α =.91; sample item: When I do these activities, I feel like it s what I was meant to do ) Self-construction: Personal Responsibility Measure (Ferrer-Wreder et al., 2002) Life challenges subscale: 4 items on 5-point scale ranging from 1 (None) to 5 (Total) Sense of control over and responsibility for actions and consequences associated with life challenges (α =.69; sample item: How much control do you have over your decisions and actions? ) Life goal: Personally Expressive Activities Questionnaire-Qualitative Extension (Rinaldi et al., 2012) Life goal narratives coded for integration of interests, talents, potentials with elements of life goal 1 = Self-integrated (personally expressive): Being a Nurse means a lot to me because I always have liked helping others. I have always known I would be good at taking care of others. 0 = Non-integrated (non-personally expressive): Travel a lot. Explore the world. Having freedom. Free my mind and be like an eagle. Intercoder agreement (5 coders) = 96%, Fleiss s Kappa =.84 (Rinaldi et al., 2012).

13 Measures Identity synthesis: Erikson Psycho-Social Stage Index (Rosenthal, Gurney, & Moore, 1981) Identity resolution subscale: 12 items on 5-point scale ranging from 1 (almost never true) to 5 (almost always true) Resolution of identity conflicts, lack of identity confusion (α =.77; sample item: I know what kind of person I am ) Problem behaviors: Behavior Problem Index (Peterson & Zill, 1986) 32 items on 3-point scale ranging from 1 (often true) to 3 (not true) Self-reports of inwardly-focused problem behaviors (internalizing) and outwardly-focused problem behaviors (externalizing) Internalizing problems subscale (α =.81; sample item: I cried too much ) Externalizing problems subscale (α =.85; sample item: I was impulsive, or acted without thinking )

14 Model 1 Covariate-adjusted change: Pretests (T1) were covariates of predictors (Self-Discovery, Self-Construction) and outcomes (Life Goal) at T2 Age, gender were covariates, assessed as moderators Structural equation modeling: tested competing models

15 Model 1 Full model: χ 2 (47) = 51.26, p =.31, CFI =.96, RMSEA =.02

16 Model 2 Direct effects-only model: χ 2 (57) = 67.75, p =.16, CFI =.89, RMSEA =.03; versus Model 1: χ 2 diff (10) = 19.31, p =.037

17 Model 3 No cascade effects model: χ 2 (53) = 63.10, p =.16, CFI =.90, RMSEA =.03; versus Model 1: χ 2 diff (6) = 16.76, p =.01

18 Model 1 Included product terms for interaction effects: None significant à trimmed from model

19 Model 1 Estimated effects from Model 1

20 Path Estimates for Specified Model Outcome Predictor Path Coefficient 95% C.I. Self-Discovery at T2 CLP (Path A).34 * (.25) [0.05, 0.63] Self-Construction at T2 CLP (Path B).26 ** (.36) [0.11, 0.40] Life Goal at T2 Self-Discovery at T2 (Path C).24 ** (.27) [0.09, 0.39] Self-Construction at T2 (Path D) -.08 (-.05) [-0.40, 0.24] CLP (Path E) -.02 (-.02) [-2.45, 2.40] Identity Synthesis at T3 Life Goal at T2 (Path F).18 ** (.33) [0.07, 0.28] CLP (Path G).07 (.10) [-0.40, 0.53] Internalizing Problems at T3 Life Goal at T2 (Path H) -.13 * (-.40) [-0.25,-0.01] CLP (Path I).09 (.23) [-0.26, 0.43] Externalizing Problems at T3 Life Goal at T2 (Path J) -.05 (-.15) [-0.18, 0.08] CLP (Path K).04 (.12) [-0.12, 0.21] Note: Standardized coefficients are in parentheses. *p <.05, **p <.01

21 Limitations Lack of: ACE randomization (real-world trade-off in an outreach context) time lag between targeted processes and outcome multiple indicators of constructs reciprocal cascade effects Left out variable error (LOVE) problem?: adolescent-counselor, adolescent-group relationships

22 Basic conclusions Self-transformative model is mostly supported ACE Identity-focused empowerment may help marginalized youth develop a vision for the future (and reduce problem behavior) Intervention cascade effects (positive à problem) need further examination

23 Broader conclusions Are we asking too little of adolescents when they exhibit problem behaviors? ACE Appears possible to provide opportunities for these youth to discover their own personal potentials and create their own solutions to life challenges Life challenges = opportunities for growth?

24 Thank you.

25 References Berman, S. L., Kurtines, W., Silverman, W., & Serafini, L. (1996). The impact of exposure to crime and violence on urban youth. American ACE Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 66, doi: /h Berzonsky, M. D. (2011). A social-cognitive perspective on identity construction. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. L. Vignoles, (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research (pp ). New York: Springer. Dade County Public Schools (1986). District comprehensive dropout prevention plan. Miami, FL: Dade County Public Schools. Retrieved from ERIC database. (ED277788) Eichas, K., Albrecht, R. E., Garcia, A. J., Ritchie, R. A., Varela, A., Garcia, A., Rinaldi, R., Montgomery, M. J., Silverman, W. K., Jaccard, J., & CAN Kurtines, W. M. (2010). Mediators of positive youth development intervention change: Promoting change in positive and problem outcomes? Child and Youth Care Forum, 39, doi: /s Eichas, K., Meca, A., Montgomery, M. J., & Kurtines, W. M. (2014). Identity and positive youth development: Advances in developmental intervention science. In K. McLean & M. Syed (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of identity development (pp ). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Elder, G. H., Jr., and Shanahan, M. J. (2006). The life course and human development. In R. M. Lerner (ed.), Theoretical models of human development, (Chapter 12, pp ), (Volume 1: The Handbook of Child Psychology, 6th Edition). W. Damon, series editor. New York: Wiley. SAT

26 References Ferrer-Wreder, L., Lorente, C. C., Kurtines, W., Briones, E., Bussell, J., Berman, S., & Arrufat, O. (2002). Promoting identity development in ACE marginalized youth. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, doi: / Kurtines, W. M., Berman, S. L., Ittel, A., & Williamson, S. (1995). Moral development: A co-constructivist perspective. In W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Moral development: An introduction (pp ). New York: Wiley. Kurtines, W. M., Montgomery, M. J., Eichas, K., Ritchie, R., Garcia, A., Albrecht, R., Berman, S., Ferrer-Wreder, L., & Lorente, C. C. (2008). Promoting positive development in troubled youth: A Developmental Intervention Science outreach research approach. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 8, doi: / CAN Peterson, J. L., & Zill, N. (1986). Marital disruption, parent-child relationships, and behavioral problems in children. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 48, doi: / Rinaldi, R. L., Meca, A., Eichas, K., Kurtines, W. M., Albrecht, R. E., & Goodletty, S. (2012). The development of a qualitative extension for the Personally Expressive Activities Questionnaire (PEAQ-QE): A construct validation study. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 12, doi: / Rosenthal, D.A., Gurney, R. M., & Moore, S. M. (1981). From trust to intimacy: A new inventory for examining Erikson s stages of psychosocial development. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 10, doi: /bf SAT

27 References Schwartz, S. J., Montgomery, M. J., & Kurtines, W. K. (2005). A comparison of two approaches for facilitating identity exploration processes in ACE emerging adults. Journal of Adolescent Research, 20, doi: / Waterman, A. S. (1993). Two conceptions of happiness: Contrasts of personal expressiveness (eudaimonia) and hedonic enjoyment. Journal of personality and social psychology, 64, 678. doi: / Waterman, A. S. (2011). Eudaimonic identity theory: Identity as self-discovery. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. L. Vignoles, (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research (pp ). New York: Springer. CAN SAT