Engaging Youth in Community Work

With this issue, the new editorial team (Anna Maria Santiago, Richard J. Smith, Paul Stuart, and Ana Sanroman) for the Journal of Community Practice officially begins its term, although we have been working conjointly with the former editors for the past 6 months. The vision guiding our work for the next few years focuses on four key areas. First, we will continue to build interdisciplinary and international perspectives on community practice grounded in social work, particularly in the areas of education, research, and macro practice. Starting with Volume 26, authors will be able to submit four types of manuscripts: full-length original research, From the Field, From the Classroom, and Innovations in Community Research. Second, we aim to strengthen our connections to the growing field of community-based research and evidence-based macro practice within the Society of Social Work Research, the grand challenges, and other disciplines through scholarly engagement and debate. Third, we will continue to extend our worldwide visibility to macro-practice faculty members who are seeking connections to a network of allied scholars, educators, and practitioners: For example, our recent call for papers on ecosocial work and social change in community practice is one illustration of this commitment. Finally, we will work diligently to enhance the Journal’s visibility nationally and internationally within social work, as well as other disciplines and sectors concerned with community and organizational practice. We have begun this outreach work with our publisher.

Our inaugural issue builds upon previous work published in the Journal. About 10 years ago, guest editors Checkoway and Gutiérrez (2006a) compiled a set of articles about youth initiatives that underscored how youth are not problems to be solved, but rather active participants shaping solutions that improve community life. Authors in that special issue wrote about youth mobilizing for civil rights, environmental justice, and school reform. Since then, youth and community practice has evolved tremendously. In this issue, we include articles that weave together the different ways in which youth and adults are working together to realize community change. This work manifests itself in projects and activities such as community gardens, youth advisory councils, power organizing, experiential learning and curriculum enhancements, the use of photovoice, and drama-based youth development. These articles illustrate how youth serve as leaders within all types of communities, including those who are experiencing homelessness or emerging sexual identities.

In “Examining the Relationship Between Level of Participation in Community Gardens and their Multiple Functions,” Booth, Chapman, Ohmer, and Wei analyze the level of participation in community gardens on participants’ health and well-being with a sample of youth and families who live near community gardens in zip code classified as a food desert. Through participant observation, the authors observed youth and families eating the vegetables they grew as evidence of the importance of community gardening to increased food access. Consistent with social capital theory that recognizes the strength of social ties to be contingent on the frequency and intensity of interaction, they find that the level of community participation (frequent, occasional, none) matters in terms of improved self-rated health, life satisfaction, and organizational empowerment. The implication for community practice is that it may be sufficient for some outcomes (e.g., individual well-being or sense of community) just to get residents out, but sustained participation is needed for key outcomes like community empowerment.

In the second article, “What Are Social Work Students’ Perceptions of the Community Work Method?” Cohen and Shenar-Golan analyze open-ended interviews with 180 bachelors of social work (BSW) students in Israel regarding their attitudes towards community practice. Social work education in Israel started with micro practice content and later added required courses on organizations and community practice. The authors found that students’ perceptions grew as the progressed through the curriculum. In particular, one student discovered that community practice is “actually life itself.”Please add pg # for quote after typesetting Students could apply theoretical constructs from community practice courses while in their BSW practicum in ways that led some to learn how to empower individual clients beyond the limitations of direct practice.

In “Engaging Youth in Municipal Government: Moving Towards a Youth-Centric Practice,” Augsberger, Collins, and Gecker analyze the organization and practices of youth councils, formal advisory boards to municipalities, from 24 towns and cities within a metropolitan area in the United States. However, they discovered that some youth councils had no youth members and others had youth members but were led by adults. Those that had a youth-led council believed that youth leadership was essential to the success of the body. This contributes to the literature by analyzing how municipalities vary within an entire metropolitan region in terms of youth participation on youth councils. This article speaks back to the values espoused by Checkoway and Gutiérrez (2006b) to encourage professionals to see youth as active participants in community.

Young, Neumann, and Nyden’s “Scaling Up to Increase Community-Based Organization Voice,” evaluates the merger of two community organizations in Chicago. Viewed as a necessary precursor for increasing organizational power and efficiencies of scale, scaling up refers to the unification process among local organizations for the purpose of increasing organizational capacity, reach and impact. In this case study of the creation of ONE Northside, the authors assess the degree of power since the merger with Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC), as well as the extent to which the merger has furthered the promotion of organizational goals. They found that the merger increased the geographical representational power of the organization and careful attention to the diverse constituencies, in particular lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, represented in ONE Northside that built stronger internal organizational democracy and member voice. Their case study underscores the relationship between geographical contexts and social issues and provides important lessons for organizing in diverse community settings for jobs, youth, and family.

This issue also includes three articles depicting our new submission format options.

In our From the Field piece, “‘You Learn So Many Things’: Youths’ Subjective Perceptions of Growth in a Drama-Based Sexuality Education Program,” Maier and Bay-Cheng examine youth’s own understanding of the growth they experience as a result of participating in Teen Reality Theater (TRT)—a drama-based sexuality education program. Their qualitative analysis of interviews with 11 youth participants found that youth who participated in TRT developed new skills as performers and public speakers; provided opportunities to take initiative in developing theater scripts, as well as persevere when navigating through disagreements and setbacks; enhanced individual self-confidence and assertiveness; and influenced youths’ views and values, particularly toward sexual and gender minorities. Further, TRT fostered teamwork and created social capital via peer support and network development, generated empathy and a sense of social responsibility.

Our From the Classroom piece by Dawes, “Embracing Risk and Promise for Student Engagement: Incorporating Experiential Teaching Methods in a Community Psychology Course,” describes the development and implementation of a service/experiential learning initiative, the Get out the Vote Campaign, used in a community psychology course. Using Ganz’s story of self, story of us, and story of now approach, this class project used the prophetic narratives developed by students to connect personal experiences with their interests in the gubernatorial election. Student learning was enhanced by the development of collaborative working relationships, peer feedback, respect for diversity and the importance of social action/activism in the process of social change.

Finally, our Innovations in Community Research article, “Homeless Youths’ Interest in Social Action Via Photovoice,” Bender, Begun, Dunn, Mackay, and DeChants examine the use of participatory action research methodologies as innovative, engaging, and power-sharing approaches for working with homeless youth and in the development of youth-centric services. This study aims at examining the level of interest homeless youth have in engaging in social change oriented projects. In-depth interviews with 22 homeless youth who participated in the study found that youth were motivated to participate because photovoice enabled their voices to be heard, could be self-expressive, and the technique enabled positive community change. Sharing a common purpose, as well as connecting with others who faced similar experiences, provided avenues from which youth could remain engaged in institutions such as educational and case management programs. Youth in the study also clearly articulated social issues of particular interest to them, including the access and availability of services for the homeless, providing emotional support to peers, and reducing societal stigma toward homelessness and homeless youth.

Reflecting on this work, one theme that is emerging is that youth thrive when they have opportunity to participate in the creation of community. For some, that is planting a garden; for others, it involves using photography or writing a play collectively to have a voice. The role of adults varies and remains a challenge to the editors, as well as educators generally. Shakespearean dramas like Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Henry IV involve the succession of leadership through the generations. There is something rotten in Denmark, and it is up to the new generation to find their way. Our current world need not end in tragedy and we believe that community practice plays a role in ensuring that build a just community and network globally for social change.

How can we model the lessons from this issue as editors? Fortunately, 60% of Association for Community Organization and Social Administration’s membership is comprised of students or recent graduates. One small step we are taking is the creation of a student editorial board. These students will have training and mentorship opportunities to participate in reviews and dispositions of articles and eventually take on roles as contributing editors, associate editors, and editors at this and other journals. Another step will involve the mentoring of several associate editors to develop an editor pipeline for the Journal. Finally, we are in the process of expanding our Editorial Board to reflect the international scope of the Journal, as well as emerging themes in our profession.

We look forward to building on the solid foundation left by previous editorial teams as we bring the Journal of Community Practice into its next 25 years.