Social and Identity Development in an After-School Program: Changing Experiences and Shifting Adolescent Needs
Abstract
The negotiation of complex social settings and the creation of an integrated identity are major tasks of adolescence. Institutions such as after-school programs can influence social-emotional development through organizational and interpersonal practices, and prosocial growth can be encouraged through the alignment of supportive structures with developmental needs. This qualitative study explores the developmental and environmental fit of an urban after-school program for its participants. Using participant-observation and interviews, we explore how youths’ experiences in this setting are congruent with the developmental needs of pre-, early, and midadolescence. We find that program activities and relationships shift as youth mature to provide levels of support congruent with youths’ changing social-emotional and self-representation needs. These shifts provide contexts aligned with contemporary theories of adolescent development.
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Next to hands-on and on-site activities, role models may help adolescents in the in-depth exploration of their identities.
“The literature also indicates that -irrespective of the employed perspective on identity development and research methods -next to hands-on and on-site activities, role models may help adolescents in the in-depth exploration of their identities (Farland-Smith 2012; Hughes et al. 2013; Jones and Deutsch 2013; Whiting 2006).”
From The Role of School in Adolescents’ Identity Development. A Literature Review (2019) · cites this paper as Jones and Deutsch 2013
Cites
The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979) · Harvard University Press eBooks · doi:10.4159/9780674028845 · Cited by 26,084 · see citing works
Eccles, J. S., Midgley, C., Wigfield, A., Buchanan, C. M., Reuman, D., Flanagan, C., & Mac Iver, D. (1993) · American Psychologist · doi:10.1037/0003-066x.48.2.90 · Cited by 2,616 · cited 2× · see citing works
“Although much work has focused on schools and families (e.g., Eccles et al., 1993; Steinberg, 1990), fewer researchers have turned their attention to after-school settings.”
BackgroundSteinberg, L., & Morris, A. S. (2001) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.83 · Cited by 2,517 · see citing works
Schools, Academic Motivation, and Stage-Environment Fit
Eccles, J. S., & Roeser, R. W. (2009) · Handbook of Adolescent Psychology · doi:10.1002/9780470479193.adlpsy001013 · Cited by 983 · cited 4× · see citing works
“Optimal development can occur when there is synchrony between changes in structures and relations that match changes in developmental needs (see Eccles, 2004; Vygotsky, 1978) though the literature on after-school spaces lacks empirical descriptions of this coordination.”
BackgroundInfluentialDuBois, D. L., & Karcher, M. J. (2005) · doi:10.4135/9781412976664 · Cited by 190 · see citing works
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The Role of School in Adolescents’ Identity Development. A Literature Review
Verhoeven, M., Poorthuis, A. M. G., & Volman, M. (2019) · Educational Psychology Review · doi:10.1007/s10648-018-9457-3 · Cited by 318 · see citing works
- Authors
- Jones, J. N., & Deutsch, N. L.
- Affiliations
- Western Michigan University (US)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Venue
- The Journal of Early Adolescence
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-10-14
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 17-43
- ISSN
- 0272-4316 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-5449
- OpenAlex
- W2066801527
- Cited by
- 43
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.33
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Early Adolescence (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Youth Development and Social Support
- Social Sciences › Education › Early Childhood Education and Development
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Adolescent Health and Behaviors
- Keywords
- after-school programs, adolescent identity development, social-emotional development, urban youth, prosocial development, self-representation, early adolescence, youth development
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