Community service and political identity development in adolescence

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

The findings from 25 years later showed that Black protesters and nonprotesters were similarly ideal citizens. Sixty-three percent had obtained graduate degrees, and many held high-status occupations. Twenty percent were employed by government, and 46% were employed in the education sector. Eighty-two percent kept informed on politics, 49% belonged to a political party, 31% were active in political campaigns, and 93% voted regularly. Moreover, there was a clear absence of cynicism or alienation, as no more than 19% expressed distrust of policy, congressmen, and local officials. Black protesters differed from nonprotesters in being more militant about such issues as making African history a part of school curricula and working for peaceful change in race relations.

Fendrich attributed the similarity in the civic involvement of Black protesters and nonprotesters 25 years later to the fact that both groups were part of a generation of college-educated Black adults who had risen economically and educationally as a cohort. Both groups experienced gains from having been the first generation of Black college graduates to benefit from the enactment of civil rights laws. However, it is important to note that the later civic activities of Black students who were protesters in their youth were more focused on the agenda of political and social reform than were the activities of Blacks who were not protesters in youth.

Summary. These studies indicate that participants often interpret service in youth as having a profound and ongoing influence that helped define their sense of identity. Erikson's position on identity provides a way of understanding how service can make a long-term impact on youth participants. When youth are given opportunities to use social skills to redress social problems, they can experience themselves as having agency and as being responsible for society's well-being. When they participate as a cohort and when participation is encouraged by respected adults, youth begin to reflect on the political and moral ideologies used to understand society. Indeed the participants interviewed by McAdam (1988) and Fendrich (1993) as well as Rosenhan (1970) emphasized the importance of debriefing on their experiences with their peers and the emotional support of family and community leaders. Hart and Fegley (1995) have reported similar findings on the role of family in supporting sustained community service among urban adolescents.

Case Study: Interpreting the Political Meaning of Service Experiences

In the next section of this article, we present a case study that exemplifies the private and public reflective processes through which identity formation may be encouraged. We present three findings. First, we show how participation in a service learning program encouraged reflections on personal agency and government responsibility. Second, we illustrate how conversations with peers about service developed into discussions that explicitly addressed the meaning of being a Black American in the 1990s. Third, we address the long-term impact of this program by presenting data from alumni 3, 5, and 10 years after participation. Taken together, these findings shed light on the process through which service activities in youth may shape political identity.