Youth Employment Programs Research Articles

Post-High School Activity of Inner-City Youth

In the Spring of 1967 a number of industrial, commercial, and welfare organizations initiated a youth employment program designed to cope with the problem of growing unemployment among young people on Chicago's West Side. After a period of planning, it was agreed that the purview of the program should be expanded beyond that of job placement. In this larger perspective, a questionnaire was administered to seniors attending either of the three public high schools located in this area. A total of 1,015 questionnaires was secured. This represented 85.7 per cent of the senior class and showed no bias on the variables of race and sex.

The Response of Adults to Delinquency Prevention Programs: The Race Factor

Delinquency prevention programs usually attempt to modify a selected number of boys who either share individual character istics or who live in a specific area. Rarely is it asked if such programs have an impact on the parents or on other adults who come into contact with these boys. The Opportunities for Youth Project in Seattle seemed to have little impact on the boys who participated in the employment program in terms of traditional instruments used to evaluate such experiments. However, the positive attitudes of the boys toward the project caused suspicion that the program did, in fact, make an impact on the residents. This paper questions the assumption that people living in lower class areas are apathetic and unresponsive to experimental programs in urban central areas. The data suggests that Negro residents and parents were more supportive of the youth employ ment program than white residents. These differences might be explained by "differential perceived mobility;" that is, Negroes in certain Northern cities may see themselves as upwardly mobile (at least in terms of opportunities for their children), while whites in central areas may view themselves as downwardly mobile. If policy decisions are made on the assumption that minority groups in urban central areas are apathetic, talent and energy that could be utilized more effectively might be ignored.

Youth Employment Programs in Perspective: Education. Job Training Programs. Youth

Youth Employment Programs in Perspective: Education. Job Training Programs. Youth