Community service and political identity development in adolescence

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

Limits on individual initiative. Agency introduces obvious questions about the effectiveness of individuals' actions in a large and complex society and the value of incremental change. Students raised this issue by assessing the potential effects and limits of individual political action. One example occurred in a group discussion in which students focused on racial segregation and poverty in Washington, DC. A female began with the optimistic statement, "We have the power to change [the world], but we don't do it. . . . And if y 'all sit here and say it's gonna end up bad. . . ." A male student interrupted, "No one wants to step up!" A second female answered, "I am. I am. I am." The first female then responded, "You're only one person, but the world is real big." The second female retorted, "Martin Luther King - he came in and he changed something forever. . . ." A third female then said, "Well, I mean he changed segregation legally, but if you look out at the schools now, they're still kind of segregated."

Spending public funds. The above statements show awareness of differences between individual and governmental action. This theme was developed further when students addressed the question brought up by a student in the preceding sequence: How can we get the government to do what we think is right? In another group discussion, this question was played out as follows. A female started with the assertion, "It's the government's responsibility to take care of people here." A male picked this up by adding, "Instead of Somalia and all the other types of countries, they should keep the money here first." A second male said, "And you will hear people argue that forever. Like defense first, number one!" A second female then said, "We have enough weapons." A third male then said, "There's four or five buildings on 14th Street - destroyed during the riots. They can fix those buildings up and just make that a big shelter, like a hotel. . . ." The first male then concluded, "Alright, we have 28 B2s or whatever. . . . Those things are so expensive. . . . You could dismantle one and take the money. . . . You could do so much [with the] money. You could start the ball rolling."

Government and responsibility. On confronting homelessness face to face, many students reflected on finding fault or responsibility. A few groups in particular drew out this theme by considering the several alternative causes of poverty and homelessness. For example, in one group discussion, the students brought up this theme when a male said, "I don't see how some people can be rich like that when other people who have absolutely nothing are laying out in the streets. . . . I mean, talking about America and the American Dream. The American Dream is that everybody gets a piece of the pie." A second male said, "Yeah, but everybody should do that for themselves." The first male responded, "I think this country should be more a socialism government sort of thing." The second male interrupted, "You're thinking of communism. . . ." The first continued, "Because there's such a pole between the rich and the poor now. . . . I mean, you can get out of [being poor], but . . . it takes a very strong person. And, of course, people need help. . . . If you have resources to help someone like that, you should try to everything you can do." A third male said, "I disagree. . . . If everybody's got to get a piece of the pie, that makes it seem like, that you wouldn't have to work tonight. You'd wait for a person to give me a piece of the pie." A fourth male added, "You're right." But a fifth said, "There's a difference between being helped and not being helped." A sixth male said, "You can't help those who won't help themselves." This led to a discussion of minimum wages, caps on income, and the gap between rich and poor people.