The Development of Ethical Civic Actors in Divided Societies: A Longitudinal Case

This 4-year case study of the development of Gabriela, as civic actor during secondary school, comes from a cross-national study of civic development in divided societies. Her case contributes to developmental theory and adds to civics research by exploring how school, family, and community are inte...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human development 2016-01, Vol.59 (2/3), p.107-127
Main Authors: Freedman, Sarah Warshauer, Barr, Dennis J., Murphy, Karen, Beširević, Zina
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This 4-year case study of the development of Gabriela, as civic actor during secondary school, comes from a cross-national study of civic development in divided societies. Her case contributes to developmental theory and adds to civics research by exploring how school, family, and community are intertwined with civic development. Gabriela’s ethical civic development is both remarkable and uneven. She overcomes seemingly insurmountable struggles to project her voice in the world. Her story shows the critical nature of intertwined support from her school and family to make this growth possible. Her remaining struggle – to acknowledge the needs of those from other societal groups in relation to her community’s substantial needs – shows the complexity of satisfying multiple groups’ needs at once in divided societies. We conclude with the addition of the concept of “macrosupports” and “microsupports” to explain how the school, other institutions, and the student grow reciprocally.
ISSN:0018-716X
1423-0054