Youth: Toward an Ecological Theory of Value (From Youth Subcultures: Theory, History and the Australian Experience, P 41-47, 1993, Rob White, ed. -- See NCJ-162536)

• NCJ Number: 162543
• Author(s): T Knight
• Date Published: 1993
• Length: 7 pages
• Sale Source: National Clearinghouse for Youth Studies
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: Australia

Annotation

An integrative approach to youth research practice is constructed through an interdisciplinary analysis of young people in Australia and their life cycles; the central premise of the approach is that young people cannot be understood unless they are studied in the social context.

Abstract

One research study on the social milieu of development argues that human growth depends on the way individuals interact with resources in their physical, interpersonal, and cultural environments. The study further suggests that successful youth development is based on integrating individual motives and access to external resources in the community and that young people must be part of society and not separate from it if they are to value themselves. In examining how this sociocultural approach can be applied to understanding contemporary youth within their historical, cultural, and institutional settings, the role of social interaction in the environment of young people is discussed. The emphasis is on the arenas of work, family, school, and peer relationships. The author concludes that the study of cognition and culture offers valuable insights into social issues directly affecting young people. 23 references and 1 table