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
Youth Perceptions of Adults Several researchers have pursued scholarship that focuses on the influence of youth-adult relationships and the influence on the attitudes of youth. Lynch and Cicchetti (1997) conducted a study reporting that middle school students had more positive perceptions of their relationships with peers and less positive perceptions of their relationships with adults than elementary school students
Much discourse on the importance of youth-adult relationships has surfaced in recent years
This research provides relevant information that contributes to understanding various types of youth-adult relationships that exist within community-based programs
Summary
Youth Perceptions of Adults Several researchers have pursued scholarship that focuses on the influence of youth-adult relationships and the influence on the attitudes of youth. Lynch and Cicchetti (1997) conducted a study reporting that middle school students had more positive perceptions of their relationships with peers and less positive perceptions of their relationships with adults than elementary school students. 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). Lee, Farrell, and Link (2004) reported recent findings that supported this argument In their national study of the public’s attitudes toward the homeless, all types of exposure (i.e., observations, face-to-face interaction, out-group membership, and information from third-party sources) were found to positively affect attitudes of the public. Pettigrew presented the need for in-group reappraisal, which forces a group to dismiss paradigms and embrace new perspectives that reshape their attitudes toward individuals outside of the in-group’s social network
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