Healing Through the Struggle: Sociopolitical Empowerment as Context for Youth Thriving
type: CreativeWork
description: Young people from marginalized groups are impacted by structural and societal injustice yet are systematically prevented from participating in processes that disrupt oppressive systems (Camino & Zeldin, 2002). Because social justice requires the inclusion of marginalized groups in sociopolitical processes, programs and initiatives intended to reduce these barriers to civic and social changemaking have become popular (Ginwright, 2018). In order to meaningfully support youth resistance, those who are positioned to collaborate with young people must be informed about youths’ experiences of oppression and the processes and implications of their sociopolitical empowerment. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study used quantitative and qualitative data as part of a program evaluation that aimed to explore the impacts of intersecting oppressions on youth well-being, assess the relationship between psychological empowerment and youth well-being, identify program experience factors facilitating the success of youth empowerment interventions, and understand changemaking as a healing experience resolving the traumas of oppression. Data were collected from a 2017-20 evaluation of Changeist, a high-dosage afterschool program engaging middle and high school students in sociopolitical work, including developmental outcome surveys (N = 366) conducted the first and last weeks of program implementation, momentary program experience surveys (4,540 program quality ratings provided by 276 participants) conducted throughout the program year, and program alumni interviews (N = 8) conducted following program completion. First, regression analyses were conducted to (1) predict well-being (i.e., basic psychological needs satisfaction and thriving) from psychological empowerment after program participation, (2) assess the moderating effect of oppression and (3) the mediating effect of healing on these relationships, and (4) predict post-program psychological empowerment from program qu…
abstract: Young people from marginalized groups are impacted by structural and societal injustice yet are systematically prevented from participating in processes that disrupt oppressive systems (Camino & Zeldin, 2002). Because social justice requires the inclusion of marginalized groups in sociopolitical processes, programs and initiatives intended to reduce these barriers to civic and social changemaking have become popular (Ginwright, 2018). In order to meaningfully support youth resistance, those who are positioned to collaborate with young people must be informed about youths’ experiences of oppression and the processes and implications of their sociopolitical empowerment. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study used quantitative and qualitative data as part of a program evaluation that aimed to explore the impacts of intersecting oppressions on youth well-being, assess the relationship between psychological empowerment and youth well-being, identify program experience factors facilitating the success of youth empowerment interventions, and understand changemaking as a healing experience resolving the traumas of oppression. Data were collected from a 2017-20 evaluation of Changeist, a high-dosage afterschool program engaging middle and high school students in sociopolitical work, including developmental outcome surveys (N = 366) conducted the first and last weeks of program implementation, momentary program experience surveys (4,540 program quality ratings provided by 276 participants) conducted throughout the program year, and program alumni interviews (N = 8) conducted following program completion. First, regression analyses were conducted to (1) predict well-being (i.e., basic psychological needs satisfaction and thriving) from psychological empowerment after program participation, (2) assess the moderating effect of oppression and (3) the mediating effect of healing on these relationships, and (4) predict post-program psychological empowerment from program qu…
author: Mahmoodzadeh Azadi, Manijeh Fe
keywords: critical action, healing, oppression, psychological empowerment, social change, youth empowerment, Developmental Psychology
date published: 2024-01-01T08:00:00Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:41:01Z
provider: Claremont Graduate University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Claremont Graduate University