A recent study conducted by the University of Michigan sheds light on the positive impact of community-based activism on the intellectual and political development of youth.

The research reveals that young individuals engaged in such activities demonstrate enhanced critical thinking skills and a heightened level of political involvement over time. The study underscores the significance of community engagement as a catalyst for fostering critical consciousness and encouraging social action among adolescents.

“Community-based activism serves as a key consciousness-raising system that supports youth to recognize, negotiate and challenge oppression in their lives,” the researchers explain. “This is politically contentious work, with a quantitative approach that is sophisticated and rigorous. We’re directly paying attention to inequality instead of avoiding talking about inequality or pretending it doesn’t exist.”

Critical consciousness

The authors examined critical consciousness among 518 adolescents (average age: 16) from diverse cities in the United States. The analysis focused on three dimensions: critical reflection, motivation, and action.

The student sample comprised various ethnic backgrounds, with 39% identifying as Latinos or Hispanics, 20% as Black or African American, 11% as Asian or Asian American, 8% as multiracial, and 6% as white.

“These adolescents came to be more critically conscious, understanding inequality better and how to take actions to remedy inequality,” the authors explain. “This study helps clarify the antecedents of critical consciousness as well as its form of development to assist future attempts to facilitate youth critical consciousness.”

There is a growing appreciation of the benefits of critical consciousness, especially when young people are dealing with difficult circumstances. Indeed, previous works have suggested that it helps people to make the world more just and equitable.

The results yielded several unexpected revelations. Notably, among the adolescent cohort already demonstrating critical reflection concerning global inequality and actively engaging in activism, the study identified potential for further evolution and development within these budding activists’ ranks.

Fostering critical thinking

“Despite that, they are growing because of the settings they were in and their partnerships with adults,” the authors explain. “These organizers were careful and intentional about some practices that seem to foster critical consciousness in these young people, supporting them and engaging in action in the world. They provided a space for discussions and reflections about inequality, without indoctrinating them or imposing views, but only to encourage and give a voice to the young people.”

The cultivation of critical consciousness among youth is linked to advantageous developmental outcomes. These young individuals are navigating a societal landscape that can be inhospitable to their well-being, characterized by challenges like the absence of a robust social safety net and limited career prospects.

“Our study extends the understanding of how youth develop critical consciousness within community-based activist contexts,” the researchers conclude. “Now, we would like to have a sense of the best practices of these organizations. We see that these settings are effective and impactful and knowing more specifically what was happening that led to that change would be next.”