The Action Research Group (ARG) at Georgia State University is recruiting high school students from 13-16 years old in the Atlanta area, with a focus on those who have demonstrated an interest in social justice, community development, and civic participation. The aim is to further understand how a commitment to social activism evolves, and its broader contribution to youth development.

Faculty and Students in the ARG:  Roderick Watts (Associate professor, community and clinical psychology) and graduate students Obari Cartman, Omar Guessous, and Sheridan Thorn. Three undergraduate students are involved as well: Jamaal, Jereese, and Abdul.

What is an Activist?

As you read our definition, keep in mind that young people typically have fewer opportunities than adults do to take leadership roles in their community, so not all the elements below apply.

• Typical Strategies
  • Working to change how society or its institutions operate (from reform to revolution)
  • Involvement in a organization based on cultural, political or economic principles that differ substantially from the mainstream (transformation, separation)

• Community organizing, advocacy, direct action, citizen participation
• Working in an organization with a mission of political/cultural education, social justice, or economic development
• Capacity-building: helping others acquire the knowledge, skills, motivation, and capability to act on their own behalf

The Big Questions

We define sociopolitical development (SPD) as an understanding of the political, economic, cultural and other systemic forces that shape society and one’s status in it, and the associated process of growth in relevant knowledge, analytical skills, and emotional faculties. The behavioral component includes the ability to increase social justice by promoting desirable changes in political and social systems ranging from small organizations to major business and government entities. Despite the important role SPD has played in the lives of leaders for social justice and their movements and in the advancement of civilization worldwide, little work has been done in this area by U.S. psychologists. We know little of the inner motives and life trajectories the people who often change our world for the better.

In recent years, researchers have examined the impact of service learning on youth development; many have shown encouraging results.  It is my belief that a useful complement to this growing body of work is a study of how social and civic activism develops as distinct from social service activity.  All are essential for a healthy society, but service activities typically emphasize donating personal skills and labor rather than participation in social and political systems.  Unlike social service work, civic engagement and social activism (and in some instances community development) includes an effort to understand and change the structural features of social systems that contribute to the social problems that prompt service activity. Often activism means more than civic engagement. Activism involves an awareness of social injustice and meaningful effort to change social systems.

Details on the Research Aims

To identify through criteria-based nominations and other case-finding methods about 100 young people who show behavioral indicators of activism (as described by Corning & Myers, 2002 and others). Another 100 participants will be selected for the sample that represents a broad cross-section of Atlanta’s high school students based on known characteristics of the population.

1. To test existing theoretical propositions about sociopolitical development based on my past research and that of Jagers (Watts, Williams, & Jagers, 2003; Jagers, 2002 and to explore additional factors associated with civic and social activism among youth—particularly those depicted in the enclosed diagram.  Survey measures will be used to test the this model, and interview data will be collected on a sub sample of youth at the high end of key measures to gain an in-depth understanding of those who show the most evidence of civic and political involvement.
2. To examine the relationship between sociopolitical development and other important areas of youth development such as community service, academic success, psychological and social adjustment, and ethnoracial identity.  Of particular interest in the youth development domain is peer relations and popular youth culture (e.g., hip hop and the like) which are both an asset and impediment to positive youth development.
3. If support is available for an extended longitudinal study, there are several additional questions that arise for youth who develop a commitment to social justice work: how/whether it is reflected in career and educational goals and whether distinct trajectories of experience, education, employment, and political worldview can be defined. For this set of questions civic engagement as well as bona fide social activism is of interest.

Two graduate students, Omar Guessous and Obari Cartman, along with a recent graduate of GSU undergraduate psychology program are play important roles in the project.