Community service and political identity development in adolescence

Journal of Social Issues, Fall, 1998 by Miranda Yates, James Youniss

Erikson (1968) described the development of political commitment as a key aspect of identity formation in adolescence. The prominence that he gave political engagement and understanding derived from his depiction of identity formation as an outward-looking process in which youth anticipate their lives as adults and struggle to understand who they are within a social and historical framework. As part of this effort, youth reflect on the values, ideologies, and traditions of their communities and the possible roles they will undertake in adulthood. Influenced by Erikson's theory, this article seeks to elucidate the social processes through which both political commitments and an understanding of one's identity emerge.

Our approach integrates the recommendations of current researchers in the field of political development. First, it broadens the definition of political to account for the range of civic activities in which youth participate (Bhavnani, 1991; Flanagan & Gallay, 1995; Haste & Torney-Purta, 1992). Second, it examines political development in terms of youths' actions and understanding of these actions. It thus represents a shift away from the focus on attitudes, level of factual knowledge, and thinking hypothetically that has dominated political research over the last few decades (Adams, 1985; Rosenberg, 1988). Third, it places an emphasis on illuminating the social processes through which political understandings emerge (Gamson, 1992). This emphasis is different from the internalization model of political socialization, which has tended to focus on the unidirectional influence of environmental conditions on individuals' belief systems (Rosenberg). Rather, we present youth as reflective agents growing up within specific social and historical contexts and interpreting the options, opportunities, and restraints that they encounter.

This article draws upon empirical work on youths' civic and community activities in order to show how political development is played out in the everyday lives of adolescents. First, we identify several studies bearing on the connection between youth civic and extracurricular activities and sense of political identity in adulthood. These studies suggest that civic experiences in youth can become reference points that aid in the formation of political understandings and engagement. Next, we focus on illuminating the social and reflective processes through which civic participation may influence identity by reporting findings from a multimethodological study of a service learning program. We consider the role of social and historical context in the emergence of political awareness by offering examples from case study data that illuminate the interconnections of service experience, political understanding, and ethnic identity. Finally, we present suggestive evidence on the long-term impact of this program. Data from alumni of this program indicate that participants believed that their community service experience played a key role in helping them define their political stances in adulthood.

Research on Youth Activism and Political Engagement in Adulthood

A cumulation of studies on activities ranging from 4-H and YMCA membership to participation in the U.S. civil rights movement suggest that these types of experiences in youth may be related to a heightened sense of self-understanding, social integration, and political awareness in adulthood (Yates & Youniss, 1996b). In turn, these three aspects of the experience may feed into the formation of political identity. For example, large-scale evaluations of service programs indicate moderate increases in personal competence and self-esteem (Conrad & Hedin, 1982; Newmann & Rutter, 1983). In other work, Hart and Fegley (1995) found that 15- to 17-year-old adolescents who engaged in sustained service to their inner-city community articulated a close connection between their activism and their sense of self-understanding. They tended to identify strongly with the moral actions of family members and to define themselves in terms of their own moral actions.

Continuity between youthful participation in community service and other community activities suggests that service may also promote social integration. For example, Hanks and Eckland (1978) reported that the effect of organizational membership in youth persisted over a 15-year period. They found that the best predictor of adult membership in community organizations at age 30 was membership at age 15 (see also Otto, 1976). In another study, Ladewig and Thomas (1987) reported similar findings on continuity of membership in the 4-H and other youth organizations. They found that alumni were twice as likely to be currently active in organizations as were adults who did not belong to youth groups and that alumni were also more likely to be in leadership positions. Moreover, they reported that alumni were more likely to have children who belonged to youth groups. These studies suggest that early engagement in social organizations is associated with long-term engagement in social activities. This connection has been hypothesized to result from several interconnected factors including having the opportunity to participate, belonging to a social group of family and peers who value service, and developing one's own sense of commitment to continue service (Hart & Yates, 1997).