No description available.

The overall purpose of this Master’s thesis was to gain an in-depth understanding of university student-athletes’ contributions. The first manuscript included in this thesis assesses the suitability of the Positive Youth Development Very Short Form (PYD-VSF) for use with an emerging adult athlete population, using data from 74 university student-athletes who completed an online questionnaire. The findings suggest that the PYD-VSF is not an appropriate measure for this population. The second and third manuscript used data from 10 interviews. The second manuscript examined university student-athletes’ motivations to contribute and found participants reported that contributing served as a way to satisfy the basic psychological needs and possessed multiple motives simultaneously. The third manuscript explored the facilitators and barriers relating to university student-athletes’ contributions and found that academic and athletic time constraints were significant barriers to contribution and teammates, coaches, and staff members of the athletics department facilitated contributions.

Thesis advisor: Jacqueline V. Lerner / Positive youth development (PYD) emerged from the relational developmental systems metatheory which focuses on the coactions between individuals and their contexts as the fundamental process of development. Within this theory, individuals and contexts (e.g., families, communities) thrive when their coactions are mutually beneficial (Overton, 2015). Within youth programs, researchers and practitioners have focused on how contextual and programmatic resources might work together with attributes of youth in mutually beneficial ways to promote thriving. When such youth attributes align with the resources of the context, PYD, and, in turn, positive contributions to self and society have been found to occur (Lerner, Lerner, et al., 2015). While still in its early stages, research on spirituality and religiosity among adolescents has grown alongside research on PYD over the past 20 years (e.g., Hardy et al., 2019). In the mid-to-late 20th century, religion and spirituality came to be distinct constructs, each contributing unique variance to individual development. That is, whereas some people were found to experience religion and spirituality as isomorphic, others identified with each to different degrees, and still others rejected one while embracing the other (e.g., “spiritual but not religious”). This dissertation seeks to contribute to the growing body of knowledge around spirituality within the context of adolescent development. Paper One presents an argument for spirituality to be recognized as a developmental asset for youth globally. Paper Two focuses on youth perceptions of safety within a faith-based youth development program in El Salvador finding that while safe spaces are integral for effective delivery of any PYD program, they are not well understood and the youth perspective is overlooked. In addition, youth in this program described a spiritual component of safety, such that their connection to God supported a sense of safety despite the unsafe community context. Paper Three, using the same data as Paper two, explores semi-structured interviews to understand how youth relate with God and how this youth <=> God relationship functions within the broader developmental context. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

Alliansbildningsbeteende är ett viktigt och intressant ämne inom internationell politik och i internationella relationer.  Enligt den traditionella maktbalansteorin allierar sig stater med andra stater för att balansera mot externa hot. I Steven R. Davids ”omnibalancing-teori” hävdas däremot att statsledare i tredjevärlden allierar sig med stater för att bekämpa interna hot. I föreliggande examensarbete, som är en fallstudie, är ambitionen att visa att turkiska republikens relation med Kurdistanregionen i Irak är ett fall av ”omnibalancering” såtillvida att Turkiet därigenom söker hålla den kurdiska rörelsen på hemmaplan i schack. Därför står Turkiet emot ett kurdiskt självstyre i Västra Kurdistan, syriska Kurdistan (Rojava), som har ideologiska kopplingar till den kurdiska rörelsen i turkiska Kurdistan (Norra Kurdistan). Med hänsyn till andra faktorer i relationer mellan stater (t ex i Turkiets relation till Södra Kurdistan) kan man uppmärksamma ekonomi- och energifrågorna. Vidare visar resultaten av fallstudier att etniska problem som ett internt hot påverkar statens utrikespolitik och alliansbeteende.

Public libraries have begun to realize that they must try to develop the youth department, youth participation, and event planning in order to create an attractive meeting place youths can see as a resource in their lives. Librarians have also begun to realize that the youth department needs more space than it had before and preferably to not integrate youths with children, because youths would like to be seen as individuals and developing adults. Libraries also realize that they need to ask the youth what they want and need out of their library experience to make youth libraries a competing force and an advocate for youth development.The purpose of this paper was to investigate how youth librarians work with young individuals to make them involved in the library. The study is based on the theory of Positive Youth Development (PYD), which is centered on the need for young people to build relationships, feel involved, and feel needed to develop into well-rounded, healthy, and active individuals of society. The theory is based on previous research in various areas of youth development, compiled in order to build a clear and unified theory. For the gathering of empirical material, a qualitative method was used in which interviews were conducted with eight librarians in five libraries across Sweden.The results showed that youth librarians want to work with youths to improve their libraries and to be a resource for young library users. Most youth librarians are passionate about their jobs and wish to include youths in the planning and performing of library activities, as well as listen to their requests in issues about the library facilities, and they want to build a genuine connection with the youths both inside and outside of the libraries, as well as on social media platforms. However, youth librarians face difficulties in making these requests into reality; having to work against issues as the opinions of youths as problems shared by the adult public and other librarians, as well as working with a group as diverse as youths.

No description available.

Sport is a cultural phenomenon that has spread throughout the world (Harvey & Houle, 1994). For youth, sport is perceived as a context that can play a major role in person’s psychosocial development across their life-span (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2007). However, despite the increase in research in this field, very little work has examined how sport may play a role in the psychosocial development of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Moreover, an area of study that has also grown related to the lived experiences of individuals living with a disability including ID is social inclusion (SI). Similar to research related to psychosocial development, very little research has been conducted to examine whether the context of sport can foster social inclusion for youth with ID. Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport” (SOC, 2010, “SOC Mission Statement”, para.1) and may be an organization that has the potential to positively impact the lives of its youth participants. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine whether stakeholders perceived SO as impacting the psychosocial development and social inclusion. The results indicated that SO, by all stakeholders, is perceived as an organization that is facilitating the psychosocial development of its athletes through the incorporation of strong social support networks and the development of life skills. In addition, SO was perceived as facilitating social inclusion for youth, particularly in the context of school and their surrounding community.

Sport is a cultural phenomenon that has spread throughout the world (Harvey & Houle, 1994). For youth, sport is perceived as a context that can play a major role in person’s psychosocial development across their life-span (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2007). However, despite the increase in research in this field, very little work has examined how sport may play a role in the psychosocial development of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Moreover, an area of study that has also grown related to the lived experiences of individuals living with a disability including ID is social inclusion (SI). Similar to research related to psychosocial development, very little research has been conducted to examine whether the context of sport can foster social inclusion for youth with ID. Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport” (SOC, 2010, “SOC Mission Statement”, para.1) and may be an organization that has the potential to positively impact the lives of its youth participants. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine whether stakeholders perceived SO as impacting the psychosocial development and social inclusion. The results indicated that SO, by all stakeholders, is perceived as an organization that is facilitating the psychosocial development of its athletes through the incorporation of strong social support networks and the development of life skills. In addition, SO was perceived as facilitating social inclusion for youth, particularly in the context of school and their surrounding community.

Sport is a cultural phenomenon that has spread throughout the world (Harvey & Houle, 1994). For youth, sport is perceived as a context that can play a major role in person’s psychosocial development across their life-span (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2007). However, despite the increase in research in this field, very little work has examined how sport may play a role in the psychosocial development of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Moreover, an area of study that has also grown related to the lived experiences of individuals living with a disability including ID is social inclusion (SI). Similar to research related to psychosocial development, very little research has been conducted to examine whether the context of sport can foster social inclusion for youth with ID. Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport” (SOC, 2010, “SOC Mission Statement”, para.1) and may be an organization that has the potential to positively impact the lives of its youth participants. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine whether stakeholders perceived SO as impacting the psychosocial development and social inclusion. The results indicated that SO, by all stakeholders, is perceived as an organization that is facilitating the psychosocial development of its athletes through the incorporation of strong social support networks and the development of life skills. In addition, SO was perceived as facilitating social inclusion for youth, particularly in the context of school and their surrounding community.

Sport is a cultural phenomenon that has spread throughout the world (Harvey & Houle, 1994). For youth, sport is perceived as a context that can play a major role in person’s psychosocial development across their life-span (Danish, Petitpas, & Hale, 2007). However, despite the increase in research in this field, very little work has examined how sport may play a role in the psychosocial development of youth with intellectual disabilities (ID). Moreover, an area of study that has also grown related to the lived experiences of individuals living with a disability including ID is social inclusion (SI). Similar to research related to psychosocial development, very little research has been conducted to examine whether the context of sport can foster social inclusion for youth with ID. Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is an organization “dedicated to enriching the lives of Canadians with an intellectual disability through sport” (SOC, 2010, “SOC Mission Statement”, para.1) and may be an organization that has the potential to positively impact the lives of its youth participants. Thus, the purpose of this research was to examine whether stakeholders perceived SO as impacting the psychosocial development and social inclusion. The results indicated that SO, by all stakeholders, is perceived as an organization that is facilitating the psychosocial development of its athletes through the incorporation of strong social support networks and the development of life skills. In addition, SO was perceived as facilitating social inclusion for youth, particularly in the context of school and their surrounding community.