The Art of Restraint: How Experienced Program Leaders Use Their Authority to Support Youth Agency

The staff of youth development programs perform a delicate balancing act between supporting youth agency and exercising necessary authority. To understand this balancing in daily practice, we interviewed 25 experienced (M = 14 years) leaders of arts, leadership, and technology programs for high‐scho...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of research on adolescence 2016-12, Vol.26 (4), p.845-863
Main Authors: Larson, Reed W., Izenstark, Dina, Rodriguez, Gabriel, Perry, S. Cole
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Adolescent development
Authority
Critical thinking
Decision making
Group Processes
Humanities
Humans
Intention
Leadership
Organizations
Qualitative research
Schools
Social development
Students
Technology
Work skills
Youth
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Summary:The staff of youth development programs perform a delicate balancing act between supporting youth agency and exercising necessary authority. To understand this balancing in daily practice, we interviewed 25 experienced (M = 14 years) leaders of arts, leadership, and technology programs for high‐school‐aged youth. We obtained accounts of when, how, and why they gave advice, set limits, and “supported youth when disagreeing.” Qualitative analysis found surprising similarities across leaders. They used authority to give advice and set limits, but did so with reasoned restraint. Maximizing youth's opportunities to learn from experience was central in their decision making. They described employing authority in intentional ways aimed at helping youth's work succeed, strengthening youth's agency, and building skills for agency (e.g., critical thinking, “clarifying intent”).
ISSN:1050-8392
1532-7795
DOI:10.1111/jora.12234