Young People

The intention of this paper is to interpret the ontological conditions of youth identity crisis missionally. This is first done by conceptualising identity crisis as a psychological phenomenon using frameworks of authenticity and attachment to explain the impact of early attachment abuse, abandonment depression, insecure attachment anxiety with God, and self-regulation on the identity formation of the youth. Secondly, the paper introduces a missional hermeneutic that provides an interpretative framework for coping with the crises of identity amongst young people. A missional hermeneutic of care for coping with the crisis of identity formation, therefore, elaborates on the missional basis of biblical interpretation as a powerful framework within which to interpret a skewed, conflicted identity. The author herewith proposes a missional opportunity that can activate the missional consciousness of young people in their time of crisis and identity formation. Furthermore, the author insists that this missional methodology can be a very useful strategy for producing therapeutic change in young people and can help youth ministry workers and pastoral caregivers to reframe the crisis of youth identity from the perspective of 'missio Dei'.

Today’s young people in Central and Eastern Europe are the first cohort with­out direct experience of the socialist system. For those in Poland, the opportu­nities of the free market, free movement within the EU, and democratic stand­ards have become the norm. Thousands of young Poles regularly take to the streets, not only to demand higher wages and improved working conditions for doctors or teachers, but also to protest against the judicial reforms that the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party undertook in 2017. At the same time, more Polish youth than expected voted for PiS in local elections in 2018.

A ZOiS survey conducted in February 2019 provides insights into the political attitudes of young Poles, their political engagement, and their views on and experiences with other countries in the run-up to two important elections: the parliamentary vote on 13 October 2019 and the presidential election due by May 2020 at the latest.

This article presents the results of the study conducted in six new member states that joined the European Union in 2004 (This article is based on the report “Juvenile delinquency in six new EU member states’, 2008. Participant and co-authors where Jiri Burianek from the Charles University in Prague, Bojan Dekleva from the University of Ljubljana, Andreas Karpadis from the University of Cyprus, Beata Gruszczyńska from the Warsaw University & Institute of Justice of Poland, Vidas Kalpokas from the Law Institute of Lithuania, Anna Markina from the Uni-versity of Tartu and Majone Steketee and Marit Moll from the Verwey-Jonker Institute) (The study has been financially supported by the European Coomunity-Daphne-2 Programme to Combat Violence against Children, Young People and Women.). Five former eastern European countries; the Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Cyprus, a southern European country and former British colony in the eastern Mediterranean. Often little is known about the prevalence of youth delinquency in these countries, let alone in a trans-national comparison. In this study we examined the variability in patterns of self-reported youth delinquency behaviour and the relative ranking of the prevalence of different types of juvenile delinquency. We also tested whether a number of sociological and criminological theories on prevalence and occurrence of youth delinquency are valid in these six countries.

Over the past several years, increased interest in preventing youth problems and promoting healthy youth development has led youth and family practitioners, policy makers, and researchers to develop a wide range of approaches based on various theoretical frameworks. Although the growth in guiding frameworks has led to more complex models and a greater diversity in the options available to scholars and practitioners, the lack of an integrative conceptual scheme and consistent terminology has led to some confusion in the field. Here, we provide an overview of three approaches to youth development and problem prevention, critically examine their strengths and weaknesses, and offer some elaborations to help clarify, extend, and integrate the models. We conclude by discussing some general implications for researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. I n recent years, efforts to address youth problems and enhance youth development have become increasingly more broad-based, involving fam...

One of the most commonly raised concerns among those addressing alcohol consumption and young people is the close association between alcohol and sport (Sivyer, 1990). As a result, there is much current debate concerning the alcohol sponsorship of sporting events and teams. The authors are currently involved in a series of cross-sectional and longitudinal studies examining the nature, and effects,

Children's rights in the digital age This project was undertaken to provide children’s views on digital rights, at the upcoming Day of General Discussion of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. In 2014, 148 children from 16 countries and speaking eight different languages, participated in workshops, to share their views on their rights in the digital age. Overall, the research finds that policy makers and practitioners must engage children in an ongoing conversation about how to use digital media to support children’s rights. Children want to be involved in these conversations. They want to take responsibility for making the internet a better place, and they have valuable expertise to share. The “digital champion” profiles featured in the supplement to this report evidence some of the achievements that are possible when the potential of digital media is harnessed in the service of children’s rights. These feature pieces showcase young individuals and youth-focused organisations who are maximising the possibilities that digital media offer for children in different parts of the world to live better lives. As a collection, these stories reveal a message that runs through both the developing and the developed world—digital media and ICTs are fostering children’s rights by allowing them to be both agents of change, and creators and receivers of innovative approaches to community, health, wellbeing, education, safety, inclusion and civic participation. The project was a joint effort between the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), the Institute for Culture and Society at the University of Western Sydney, the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and UNICEF, in partnership with the Digitally Connected Network.

This book surely started out as an adventure: a team of anthropologists set out to investigate the processes of socio-political enculturation in four schools in as many cities in different national settings in Europe: Paris, London, Rotterdam, and Berlin. These are schools, as one finds them in other big cities, with young people from post- migration backgrounds, in this case, with a particular stress on Turkish youth. The adventure had its twists and turns; after completing their initial fieldwork, the researchers all swapped their respective fieldwork to get to know them first hand and, thus, further their comparison. The reader can imagine that this way of carrying out research and writing in network might not always be an easy task, and she does at times sense some of the challenges when reading the chapters; yet the book reads as though it had been penned by a single author, something which can be counted as a success in its own right. The volume provides us with an informed and insightful look into the ideals, reality, and dilemmas of cultural plurality as reflected in school praxis.

“Who is in charge of Sinaloa?” This is a question about  power relationships, exclusively addressing the young people of Los Mochis, Culiacán, and Mazatlán. Of the 350 participants, aged 15 to 25, 75% replied that they believe the drug traffickers are the ones in charge of Sinaloa, while just 18% referred to politicians, leaving business people, journalists, and the police very far down on the scale of power. Of those same young people, 98% were convinced that the most influential politicians of Sinaloa have made agreements with the drug traffickers, while 86% firmly believed that, in order for a drug trafficker to be successful, they must reach agreements with politicians. What is being referred to here is a brutal symbiosis, with degrees of mutual protection at high levels.

Alcohol consumption has a negative impact on the health of children, adolescents and young people, including students. Students’ alcohol consumption studies could help prevent the use of harmful psychoactive substances.
319 university students participated in the written survey. SPSS (version 24.0) programme has been used for statistical data analysis. The criterion χ2 has been applied and the data was considered to be statistically significant when p ≤ 0.05.
The study involved 143 (44.8%) boys and 176 (55.2%) girls. The majority of students (90.3%) have consumed alcohol in the period of the last 12 months. Half of the respondents (47%) indicated that they consume beer several times a month. 58% of the respondents consume wine, and low-alcohol beverages (Cider, Mix, Fizz, alcoholic cocktails) several times a month are consumed by 42% of students. 55% of the respondents do not consume above mentioned low-alcohol beverages at all. Vodka and other strong alcoholic drinks are not consumed by 54% of the respondents at all, while 43% of the respondents consume these beverages several times a month. Half of the respondents (48%) have for several times been under the influence of alcohol after having drunk large amounts of alcohol, and 33% of the respondents have been under the influence of alcohol morethan ten times. Both girls and boys consume vodka and other strong alcoholic beverages equally often. However, girls rather than boys consume wine significantly more often. Half of the respondents (50%) have noted that friends make major impact on the consumption of alcohol by young people, while 22% of the respondents believe that it is the lack of employment and busyness. In the students’ opinion the key role in the prevention of smoking and alcohol drinking lies with parents (37%), friends (27.9%) and the media (25.1%). 75.9% of the respondents said that they had enough knowledge about a healthy lifestyle, and 19.7% of the respondents said that they have doubts as regards their knowledge on healthy lifestyle.
Over the last year and during the last month alcohol has been consumed by the majority of students that participated in the survey. Both girls and boys consume alcohol equally often. The key causes of alcohol consumption by students are the influence of friends and the lack of employment and busyness. The study has revealed that most students believe that they have enough knowledge about healthy lifestyles. However, it is recommended to pay more attention to prevention of alcohol consumption by adolescents and young people. Reducing alcohol consumption should be a priority in health policy formulation at local and national levels.

Much has been written about participatory approaches in planning and implementing research. The process and practice of participatory data interpretation and analysis is, however, less discussed. This article explores the value of the Voice-Centred Relational (VCR) method of data analysis and interpretation in the context of participatory research with socially excluded teenagers. Focussing on participatory data analysis, the implemen- tation of the method with teenagers in a West of Ireland town who have left school early is described. Written from the perspectives of academic researchers, members of a research team that included teenagers and a Community Arts artist, this article introduces the VCR method and describes the participatory processes, practices and pitfalls. The challenges of doing participatory interpretation with VCR method are considered.