{"id":{"repo_id":"gmu","oai_identifier":"oai:MARS:1920/14394"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/gmu/oai:MARS:1920/14394","repository":{"repo_id":"gmu","name":"George Mason University","base_url":"https://mars.gmu.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"\"Peace is Our Thing\": A Participatory Action Research Project with Youth Peacemakers in Baltimore","abstract":"“PEACE IS OUR THING”: A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT WITH YOUTH PEACEMAKERS IN BALTIMORENawal Rajeh, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2024 Dissertation Director: Dr. Susan H. Allen “Peace is Our Thing”: A Participatory Action Research Project of Youth Peacemakers in Baltimore, MD,” explores how a group of 10 youth at a Baltimore community peace program (Peace Camp) process the world around them and the role that peace education can play in creating meaningful and sustained change in their lives. Our PAR research team, composed of the author of this dissertation and 10 youth participants, set out to answer research questions around the evaluation of the Peace Camp experience as an intervention program, as well as explored issues surrounding policing, youth voice and agency, and civic education that excludes their realities and experiences. Conducted as a qualitative study, the research consisted of interviews, facilitated meetings, a focus group, and an “action” taken collectively and chosen by the youth members of the research team. In addition to uncovering new collective knowledge around the ways youth navigate challenges while holding their identity as peacemakers, the findings of this research suggest that PAR can enhance and complement peace interventions, that culture plays a role in building safe spaces for youth, and that youth voices are both stifled and empowered through formal and informal institutions. The study supports the development of policies from city governments to expand, fund, and support youth centers, peace centers, and peace programs like Peace Camp as interventions to create more lasting individual transformation and community change. It is also a case study for the field of Peace and Conflict Studies in how long-term, community-based interventions can sustain identity change and create a community of people who make peace “their thing.”","abstract_html":"“PEACE IS OUR THING”: A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT WITH YOUTH PEACEMAKERS IN BALTIMORENawal Rajeh, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2024 Dissertation Director: Dr. Susan H. Allen “Peace is Our Thing”: A Participatory Action Research Project of Youth Peacemakers in Baltimore, MD,” explores how a group of 10 youth at a Baltimore community peace program (Peace Camp) process the world around them and the role that peace education can play in creating meaningful and sustained change in their lives. Our PAR research team, composed of the author of this dissertation and 10 youth participants, set out to answer research questions around the evaluation of the Peace Camp experience as an intervention program, as well as explored issues surrounding policing, youth voice and agency, and civic education that excludes their realities and experiences. Conducted as a qualitative study, the research consisted of interviews, facilitated meetings, a focus group, and an “action” taken collectively and chosen by the youth members of the research team. In addition to uncovering new collective knowledge around the ways youth navigate challenges while holding their identity as peacemakers, the findings of this research suggest that PAR can enhance and complement peace interventions, that culture plays a role in building safe spaces for youth, and that youth voices are both stifled and empowered through formal and informal institutions. The study supports the development of policies from city governments to expand, fund, and support youth centers, peace centers, and peace programs like Peace Camp as interventions to create more lasting individual transformation and community change. It is also a case study for the field of Peace and Conflict Studies in how long-term, community-based interventions can sustain identity change and create a community of people who make peace “their thing.”","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rajeh, Nawal"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024","date_published":"2024","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:51:56Z","subjects":["Critical Race Theory","Participatory Action Research","Peace Education","Structural Violence","Youth"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["hdl:1920/14394"],"render_values":[{"text":"hdl:1920/14394","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Critical Race Theory","Participatory Action Research","Peace Education","Structural Violence","Youth"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["hdl:1920/14394"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.other","label":"Dc Description Other","values":["“PEACE IS OUR THING”: A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT WITH YOUTH PEACEMAKERS IN BALTIMORENawal Rajeh, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2024 Dissertation Director: Dr. Susan H. Allen “Peace is Our Thing”: A Participatory Action Research Project of Youth Peacemakers in Baltimore, MD,” explores how a group of 10 youth at a Baltimore community peace program (Peace Camp) process the world around them and the role that peace education can play in creating meaningful and sustained change in their lives. Our PAR research team, composed of the author of this dissertation and 10 youth participants, set out to answer research questions around the evaluation of the Peace Camp experience as an intervention program, as well as explored issues surrounding policing, youth voice and agency, and civic education that excludes their realities and experiences. Conducted as a qualitative study, the research consisted of interviews, facilitated meetings, a focus group, and an “action” taken collectively and chosen by the youth members of the research team. In addition to uncovering new collective knowledge around the ways youth navigate challenges while holding their identity as peacemakers, the findings of this research suggest that PAR can enhance and complement peace interventions, that culture plays a role in building safe spaces for youth, and that youth voices are both stifled and empowered through formal and informal institutions. The study supports the development of policies from city governments to expand, fund, and support youth centers, peace centers, and peace programs like Peace Camp as interventions to create more lasting individual transformation and community change. It is also a case study for the field of Peace and Conflict Studies in how long-term, community-based interventions can sustain identity change and create a community of people who make peace “their thing.”"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["\"Peace is Our Thing\": A Participatory Action Research Project with Youth Peacemakers in Baltimore"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:date.issued":["2024"],"dc:description.other":["“PEACE IS OUR THING”: A PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT WITH YOUTH PEACEMAKERS IN BALTIMORENawal Rajeh, Ph.D. George Mason University, 2024 Dissertation Director: Dr. Susan H. Allen “Peace is Our Thing”: A Participatory Action Research Project of Youth Peacemakers in Baltimore, MD,” explores how a group of 10 youth at a Baltimore community peace program (Peace Camp) process the world around them and the role that peace education can play in creating meaningful and sustained change in their lives. Our PAR research team, composed of the author of this dissertation and 10 youth participants, set out to answer research questions around the evaluation of the Peace Camp experience as an intervention program, as well as explored issues surrounding policing, youth voice and agency, and civic education that excludes their realities and experiences. Conducted as a qualitative study, the research consisted of interviews, facilitated meetings, a focus group, and an “action” taken collectively and chosen by the youth members of the research team. In addition to uncovering new collective knowledge around the ways youth navigate challenges while holding their identity as peacemakers, the findings of this research suggest that PAR can enhance and complement peace interventions, that culture plays a role in building safe spaces for youth, and that youth voices are both stifled and empowered through formal and informal institutions. The study supports the development of policies from city governments to expand, fund, and support youth centers, peace centers, and peace programs like Peace Camp as interventions to create more lasting individual transformation and community change. It is also a case study for the field of Peace and Conflict Studies in how long-term, community-based interventions can sustain identity change and create a community of people who make peace “their thing.”"],"dc:identifier":["hdl:1920/14394"],"dc:subject":["Critical Race Theory","Participatory Action Research","Peace Education","Structural Violence","Youth"],"dc:title":["\"Peace is Our Thing\": A Participatory Action Research Project with Youth Peacemakers in Baltimore"],"dc:type":["Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:51:56Z"}