Developing Critical Consciousness in Youth
Contexts and Settings

Describes how common, everyday spaces in youth's lives can be leveraged to help them recognize and fight injustice.

Erin B. Godfrey (Edited by), Luke J. Rapa (Edited by)

9781009153836, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 25 May 2023

330 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2.4 cm, 0.63 kg

'Scholars in this volume advance theory and practice on critical consciousness, how youth (and adults who listen and advocate for them) become aware of injustice and take action to disrupt it. Read and join them in imagining and creating a more just world.' Constance Flanagan, University of Wisconsin, USA

Critical consciousness is the ability to critically analyse societal inequities and to develop the motivation and agency to promote social change. While there has been a proliferation of empirical work on critical consciousness over the last two decades, this is the first volume to consider how we can support youth's critical consciousness development – their ability to recognize and fight injustice. Leading scholars address some of the field's most urgent questions: How does critical consciousness develop? What are the key developmental settings (such as homes, schools, community programs) and societal experiences (racism, policy brutality, immigration, political turmoil) that inform critical consciousness development among youth? Providing novel insights into key school-based, out-of-school-based, and societal contexts that propel youth to greater critical reflection and action, this book will benefit scholars and students in developmental, educational, and community psychology, as well as practitioners working in schools, community-based organizations, and other youth settings.

Introducing the contexts and settings of youth's critical consciousness development Erin B. Godfrey and Luke J. Rapa
Part I. Pedagogical, Curricular and School-Based Contexts: 1. Tools of whiteness and teaching for critical consciousness Daren Graves, Aaliyah El-Amin and Scott Seider
2. Critical consciousness development in the context of a school-based action civics intervention Parissa J. Ballard, Elena Maker Castro, Juliana E. Karras, Scott Warren and Alison K. Cohen
3. Critical consciousness in place-based action civics Kathryn Y. Morgan and Brian D. Christens
Part II. Extra-Curricular Contexts: 4. Re-envisioning the 'Big Three': out of school time programs to promote critical consciousness development in youth of color Edmond P. Bowers, Candice W. Bolding, Lidia Y. Monjaras-Gaytan and Bernadette Sánchez
5. Breaking down the arts: a novel exploration of how varying kinds of arts participation relate to critical consciousness among youth of color Deanna A. Ibrahim, Andrew Nalani and Erin B. Godfrey
6. Advocacy-based service learning as a context for critical consciousness development Shabnam Javdani, Erin B. Godfrey, Christina Ducat and Selima Jumarali
Part III. Societal Contexts: 7. Critical race consciousness: conceptualizing a model of race-specific critical consciousness among youth Josefina Bañales, Adriana Aldana and Elan C. Hope
8. The quest for racial justice: an overview of research on racism and critical action for youth of color Elan C. Hope, Channing J. Mathews, Alexis S. Briggs and Anitra R. Alexander
9. Critical consciousness development among undocumented youth: state of the science, historiography of immigration policy and recommendations for research and practice Germán A. Cadenas, Rafael Martinez Orozco and Carlos Aguilar
10. Influences of sense of social responsibility, immigrant bargain and immigrant optimism on critical consciousness development among immigrant youth of color Maria Alejandra Arce, Claudia A. Delbasso and Gabriel P. Kuperminc
Concluding thoughts on the role of contexts and settings in youth critical consciousness development Erin B. Godfrey and Luke J. Rapa.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]