Adapting YPAR practices to address community changes and challenges: Lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic

Jennifer Renick, Michelle Abraczinskas, Amia Nash, Heather Kennedy, Brandon Louie, Brian Villa and Britni L. Adams

Children and Youth Services Review, 2024, vol. 163, issue C

Abstract: Drawing upon illustrative examples from four diverse youth participatory action research (YPAR) projects that took place during the COVID-19 pandemic and racial justice uprisings, this paper showcases adaptations that were made to sustain YPAR practices and youth voice. Utilizing Bronfenbrenner’s socio-ecological model as an organizing frame, we discuss how YPAR facilitators were responsive to youth and community needs within the micro-, meso-, exo-, and macrosystem. We addressed youth’s material needs during periods of precarity and modified approaches for engaging adult allies, in recognition of their reduced capacity professionally and personally. While these adaptations were made in response to a rapidly shifting landscape during a specific historic period, they reflect lasting considerations for YPAR theory, practice, and policy. Opting for flexibility over fidelity and considering the realities present in multiple systems levels can help YPAR better meet the needs of youth and communities, especially during changing or challenging times.

Keywords: Youth participatory action research; Ecological systems theory; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:163:y:2024:i:c:s0190740924003773

DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107805

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