Thesis (M.A.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (June 26, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Youth unemployment is a global problem, but more-so in Southern globally positioned countries such as South Africa. The government of South Africa has implemented different interventions that attempt to alleviate national youth unemployment. Some of these programmes, such as the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC), specifically target youth in rural and peri-urban areas. NARYSEC aims to develop skills of the youth in rural and peri-urban areas as well as assist in rural development. Despite the introduction of NARYSEC, unemployment among the youth continues to be a problem. Against this background, this study sought to examine rural youth and development interventions implemented by NARYSEC in peri-urban Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Furthermore, the study assessed the extent to which NARYSEC interventions are contributing to rural youth and development in peri-urban Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Lastly, the study examined the limitations of NARYSEC interventions in peri-urban youth development. To achieve the above objectives, the study used a qualitative research approach. The sampling procedure was purposive as the research required specific participants who have gone through NARYSEC training. A total of 24 respondents were eventually selected. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and key informant interviews were the primary data collection tools. Some of the main findings are that NARYSEC provides various skills training programmes which prepare young people for the labour market. NARYSEC interventions are also helping communities to reduce crime through providing youth employment opportunities. Furthermore, some youth actively participate in rural development projects such as rehabilitation of local clinics and construction projects. However, the study also found that there are a number of limitations and challenges that are experienced in the implementation of the NARYSEC programme. These challenges include lack of strategic planning in the programme, irregular stipend payments, strained professional relationships between NARYSEC programme facilitators and youth participants, limited passion and commitment to the programme by both youth participants and facilitators.

The purpose of the thesis is to analyse the function fulfilled by the Youth Opportunities Programme (1978-1983) in its wider political, economic and historical context. There are three main sections to the work. The first establishes the context from which the Youth Opportunities Programme (YOP) emerged. This includes: an analysis of the origins and early development of the Manpower Services Commission (MSC); an historical account of government policy and special measures for the relief of unemployment; and a description of the circumstances and manner in which these elements came together in the development of the MSC's special measures policy, leading to the launch of YOP in April 1978. It is concluded that the initial role of the programme was essentially that of a palliative in the context of the Labour Government's social contract relationship with the trade union movement rather than being a positive element in the MSC's development of a comprehensive manpower policy. The second section is concerned with the actual development and performance of the programme in relation to its original objectives. This includes national level analyses in terms of both quantitative and qualitative objectives, and the conclusions of a case study conducted in the Portsmouth Travel-to-Work Area. The third section examines the significance of the divergences revealed between objectives and results, both in the context of contemporary political and economic developments, and also in a wider historical context which includes the initial progress made by YOP's successor, the Youth Training Scheme (YTS). It is concluded that, although YOP continued to act as a palliative, it developed beyond this towards a new form of active manpower policy consistent with a monetarist macro-economic context. On the basis of this analysis, alternative scenarios for the future are briefly considered.

Thesis advisor: Paul Poteat / Research examining the health of sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth has expanded recently from a focus on how social contexts are linked to health risk to ways they promote wellbeing. The positive youth development (PYD) framework has been increasingly used to conceptualize how various social contexts may promote SGM youth wellbeing, as well as help them engage in community-level change through contribution efforts. There is limited research examining how the family context may promote PYD outcomes and contribution for SGM youth, despite the setting’s association with positive development for heterosexual/cisgender youth. Furthermore, there is a paucity of literature contextualizing family support for SGM identities alongside other measures of family relationships.Parent-child attachment and family cohesion are two measures of family-child relationships that have historically been linked to positive development in youth. They have been linked to various markers of positive development in youth, including confidence, care for others, hope, and gratitude, which in turn may promote greater advocacy and community engagement. This study examined a structural model testing the role of several measures of family relationships in predicting PYD qualities and contribution behaviors for SGM youth. Among 270 SGM youth, structural equation modeling analyses tested the relationship between family relationships with SGM youth (parent-child attachment, family cohesion, and SGM-specific support) and PYD qualities (confidence, care for others, hope, and gratitude) as well as contribution behaviors (advocacy beliefs and community engagement), as mediated by PYD qualities over a six month period. Results indicated that each measure of family relationships was uniquely associated with various PYD qualities and contribution in participants. Furthermore, care for others acted as an indirect pathway through which parent-child attachment was associated with greater advocacy and community engagement for participants. These findings position families as having a role in promoting SGM youth wellbeing within the larger community and contextualize how various markers of family relationships promote select PYD qualities and behaviors. Future research should continue to investigate the longitudinal role of positive family relationships in SGM youth development and how a more nuanced understanding of these relationships may have clinical applications for practitioners and youth wellbeing. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2022. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

The purpose of the study is to make an investigation of the need for youth centers, the factors which are necessary for the successful operation of a youth center, and to evaluate the youth center at Denton, Texas, in the light of the information developed in the research.

LD2668 .T4 1940 L66 / Master of Science

LD2668 .T4 1954 F6 / Master of Science

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

No description available.