Ebook: Youth Development and Critical Education : The Promise of Democratic Action

Profiles programs for economically disadvantaged, inner-city youth engaged in neighborhood revitalization and community organization programs.Public policy debates about urban crime and the fate of America's crumbling inner cities suggest a need to consider solutions that create conditions for sustainable community development--where youths join with caring adults in intergenerational coalitions at the grassroots. Using a field-based approach, the author reviews over two dozen youth development projects in non-school and after-school settings. The analyses of these programs examines how young people might achieve a level of economic and political self-determination and community control, as well as personal fulfillment coupled with healthy adolescent growth. Once empowered with critical insights, young people can exhibit positive, real-life displays of their visions, dreams, and ambitions.Richard D. Lakes is Assistant Professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University. He is editor of Critical Education for Work.