A theory-based evaluation to improve youth participation in progress: A case study of a youth policy in Italy

ABSTRACT

A theory-based evaluation of an in-progress program for the development of new youth centers the South of Italy is presented in this article. The study investigated if and to what extent the program was working to increase youth participation. Data were collected through document analysis of the program, in-depth interviews and a survey with the managers of the youth centers. Consistent with some previous study, results suggested that some program mechanisms related to cultural openings, obligations and opportunities of participation had been effective in the activation of youth participation. Some contextual factors behind such mechanisms were also taken into account. Then, the study confirmed the need to further develop forms of youth work able to mediate between the regulatory pressures expressed by public institutions and the claims of autonomy and participation manifested by youth.

KEYWORDS:

• program theory
• theory-based evaluation
• youth participation
• youth work

Notes

¹As argued by Yin (2009), a critical case is the one that helps to test a theory in order to confirm, challenge or to extend it.

²As used in this context, the term “cultural animation” refers to the activities aiming at stimulating the participation of the local communities to a public policy (Smith, 2009). As long as the new youth centers were conceived as a community development project, a range of cultural animation activities were carried out to encourage an active local community's role.