Youth in Community Decision-Making: A Study of Youth-Adult Partnerships

Involving youth in community and organizational decision-making is widely believed to lead to stronger communities. A promising strategy to foster decision-making is youth-adult partnerships in which youth and adults work collaboratively, sharing their strengths, collective knowledge, and decision-m...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Shelley Murdock, Carole Paterson, Mary Claire L. Gatmaitan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University Library System, University of Pittsburgh 2008-03-01
Series:Journal of Youth Development
Online Access:http://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/334
Description
Summary:Involving youth in community and organizational decision-making is widely believed to lead to stronger communities. A promising strategy to foster decision-making is youth-adult partnerships in which youth and adults work collaboratively, sharing their strengths, collective knowledge, and decision-making power. A qualitative study of eight youth organizations showed that those organizations employing youth-adult partnership strategies were most effective in increasing youth's contributions to their communities. This article explores the elements of youth-adult partnership that were evident among successful organizations including: mutual respect, meaningful roles for youth, unique contributions of adults and youth, and shared decision-making and implications for youth development programs.
ISSN:2325-4017