Abstract
This study examined perceptions and experiences of youth and adults engaged in various types of community-based youth-adult relationships. Involvement and interaction rating scales were completed by 108 participants involved in community groups from 12 communities in 10 states. The rating scale measured three constructs: youth involvement, adult involvement, and youth- adult interaction. Significant gender differences in participants’ perceptions were found on all three constructs, with females being more positive. Rural participants were found to be significantly more positive than urban participants on the construct of youth involvement. Finally, significant differences were found between all participants within categories of the youth-adult relationship continuum. Participants in youth-led collaborations were significantly more positive toward youth involvement than participants in adult-led collaborations. Moreover, adults in youth-adult partnerships were significantly more positive toward youth involvement and youth-adult interaction than those adults in adult-led collaborations.
Highlights
Strengthening local youth and adult relationships could potentially be a successful strategy for addressing community issues and a tremendous learning process for both youth and adults
Stereotypes perceived by adults constrain the potential of young people at the community level by hindering their ability to relate to adults, even causing youth to doubt their own competence (Glassner, 1999; Guzman et al, 2003; Kaplan, 1997; Klindera, 2001; Males, 1999; Zeldin & Topitzes, 2002)
The experiences of adults when they were young are crucial in understanding youth-adult relationships (Galbo, 1983).Youthadult relationships are a challenge for some adults because working with young people may cause memories of their own negative experiences as a youth to resurface (Atwater, 1983; Gilliam & Bales, 2001)
Summary
Strengthening local youth and adult relationships could potentially be a successful strategy for addressing community issues and a tremendous learning process for both youth and adults. Many youth programs fit into the traditional program structure wherein youth are receivers and adults are the providers As youth enter their middle-adolescent (ages 14-17) years, they become identity seekers and need to have more decision-making power. Negative perceptions abound, and successful intergenerational social ties remain a foreign experience for the majority of youth and adults in the United States (Zeldin et al, 2005) Social contact between those groups that are often segregated (e.g., by age, gender, and race) can lead to more positive perceptions and reduced prejudices (Allport, 1954). Building on the work of Allport and other intergroup contact theorists (Caspi, 1984; Pettigrew, 1998), certain variables may facilitate positive attitudes between youth and adults just as certain variables facilitate the development of more positive attitudes toward racial and ethnic groups
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