Developing a narrative of worth through participation in critical youth program in Wilmington, Delaware

Abstract

Positive relationships and having a counterspace can help marginalized youth develop a more positive sense of self and their lives as well as encourage them to promote justice in society. Challenging the youth with an employment program can help them create beneficial goals for their lives and work towards the benefit of others. The purpose of this study was to find whether critical youth work can support the youth to develop a critical consciousness and willingness to fight against oppression. The research examined the Streetleaders program in the lives of marginalized youth in the city of Wilmington, Delaware, the US. This qualitative research was built with eight open-ended interviews, collected in Wilmington during the spring of 2017 and analyzed with the method of thematic analysis. The data collection focused on the viewpoint of the former participants of the youth program on what has contributed to their marginalization and if critical youth work has helped them develop a narrative of worth and fight against the oppression of their surroundings. Critical youth work and especially the presence of positive adult figures has facilitated the process of the development of a narrative of worth in the lives of these youth, while lack of positive role models, lost sense of community, racial issues and ‘negativity’ in the form of violence and drug abuse have marginalized the youth in Wilmington. Transformation has happened in their lives more or less from the impact of participation in the SLP.