Civic competencies of youth from vulnerable neighborhoods. A qualitative study on the impact of a pedagogical activation programme.

Abstract

Encouraging youth participation through pedagogical activation programs may be a solution to the reduced livability in Dutch vulnerable neighborhoods. Citizenship competencies are required for youth participation. Therefore, the first objective of this qualitative research was to map citizenship competencies among youth from vulnerable neighborhoods who had participated in the Dutch Young Leaders program. Specifically, four outcome measures were examined, namely: 1) citizenship knowledge; 2) citizenship attitudes; 3) citizenship skills; and 4) citizenship behaviors. The second objective was to compare youth who did and did not participate in an additional course on the behavioral intentions (expectations to volunteer in the future) they possessed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 16 youngsters (M =18; 80% male) who had participated in the Young Leaders program. Half of these youngsters participated in an additional course (the follow-up training or the co-trainer course). A thematic analysis was conducted in this study using inductive coding. The results showed that respondents possessed citizenship knowledge, citizenship attitudes, citizenship skills and citizenship behaviors. The Young Leaders program appeared to have played a role in respondents' civic knowledge, civic attitudes, and civic behaviors. Furthermore, the interviews did not reveal any substantial differences in terms of the behavioral intentions that youth who did and did not participate in an additional course possessed. The current study shows that investing in pedagogical activation programs can provide youth from vulnerable neighborhoods with the opportunity to gain civic competencies required for youth participation.