Trying to work out how the mechanics of my interviews will progress while at the same time fretting a bit about the slow progress in things getting started. As long as I get the adult interviews completed by June to mid-July, I should be good. I’m starting to worry a bit about how this is all gong to get done. I need to spent time each week keeping my mind focused on the dissertation research and coming to insights about the orgs. Mapping my time commitments should help here. If I think just about Organization A and Organization B the two environments seem very different. Organization A is a housing organization that has long-time tenant involvement and youth who regularly come to the center to hang. Some of these youth have come to the site for years. Organization B has youth that come from all over the city and are engaged for intensive summer sessions. They appear to have very specific consciousness raising activities. Organization B is more formalized in its operations and demonstrates a greater deal of organizational capacity. Both organizations have been in operations for some time.
It would seem that the youth at these two centers would have very different outcomes in terms of thinking about their roles. I wonder if Organization A’s youth would have a greater sense of belonging and connection to the organization. If they would feel part of things and would Organization B’s youth feel as though they went through an eye-opening experience? How might each of these environments shape the youth. As for Organization C, a jobs and environmental conservancy organization, youth seem to come to this organization in the capacity of a summer job. It would seem that youth would come to an understanding of things through practice and contact with adults who are contributing their time.
So this makes me think about the role of employment. S said that LTC provided her with opportunities for growth. The stability of the job made this learning possible. A number of teens at Organization A are hired on as teen staffers. How does this employment signal a believe in the young person? What sort of confidence, if any, comes from employment? So these two categories of place and role might be worthwhile to explore a bit further. I really need to start transcribing the three recordings that I have.