Miranda Yates

The Role of Community Service in Identity Development: Normative, Unconventional, and Deviant Orientations

Responses from a nationally representative sample of 13,000 high school seniors were analyzed to identify predictors of normative, unconventional, and deviant orientations among youth. Normative orientation was indexed using indicators of conventional political involvement (e. g., voting), religious attendance, and importance of religion. Unconventional orientation was indexed with unconventional political involvement (e. g., boycotting). Deviance was measured through marijuana use. Frequency of community service substantially increased predictability of these variables over and above background characteristics and part-time work involvement. Involvement in most types of school-based extracurricular activities was positively associated with doing service, as was moderate part-time work. Background characteristics of attending Catholic school, being female, having high socioeconomic status, and coming from an intact family also predicted service involvement. Results are discussed in terms of a theory of social-historical identity development, suggesting that community service affords youth a developmental opportunity to partake of traditions that transcend the material moment and existential present.

The Development of Social Responsibility as a Meaning Making Process: The Role of Schools

Accessible online at: http://BioMedNet.com/karger Concern about the current generation of youth’s sense of social responsibility and commitment to democratic citizenship surfaces frequently in the media [Farkas and Johnson, 1997; Kahne and Westheimer, 1996]. At best, youth are presented as disinterested in political processes and ill prepared to help run they country; at worst, they are portrayed as hedonistic and increasingly violent. Current debates about mandating community service programs, revamping citizenship education, and changing juvenile justice legislation represent attempts to promote social and political engagement in youth and to control their antisocial tendencies. Berman’s book brings historical perspective as well as research and practical knowledge to the question of how social consciousness and social responsibility develop. He emphasizes the historical legacy of current concerns about youth’s preparedness for the challenges of citizenship. This legacy is found in Joseph Neef’s advocacy of childcentered education in the early 19th century as well as the action-oriented Progressive Movement at the turn of the 20th century. Progressive theorists such as Dewey, Counts, and Kilpatrick recognized the school as a critical context for political and moral development. To encourage this development, they advocated cooperative instruction, student participation in school governance, the integration of social concerns throughout the curriculum, and school-sponsored community activism. While concern about the status of children and proposals for education reform are not new, Berman argues that more extensive knowledge of child development and educational practices has improved educators’ ability to promote social and civic engagement. Berman’s review of the literature focuses on the emotional and affiliative aspects of social and political development and defines the province of social responsibility as ‘a person’s relationship with others and with the larger political and social world’ (p. 12). He argues that an understanding of citizenship and social responsibility cannot be imposed on children. He uses the literature to build the case that children actively strive to make sense and feel part of their social and political world. Applying this perspective, the challenge for Berman is to identify age-appropriate and practical ways to promote