Search Results (144)

This study explores the migration intentions of university students—representing the potential creative class—in Erzurum, a medium-sized city in eastern Turkey experiencing shrinkage. Within the theoretical framework of shrinking cities, it investigates how economic, social, physical, and personal factors influence students’ post-graduation stay or leave decisions. Survey data from 742 Architecture and Fine Arts students at Atatürk University were analyzed using factor analysis, logistic regression, and correlation to identify key migration drivers. Findings reveal that, in addition to economic concerns such as limited job opportunities and low income, personal development opportunities and social engagement also play a decisive role. In particular, the perception of limited chances for skill enhancement and the belief that Erzurum is not a good place to meet people emerged as the strongest predictors of migration intentions. These results suggest that members of the creative class are influenced not only by economic incentives but also by broader urban experiences related to self-growth and social connectivity. This study highlights spatial inequalities in access to cultural, educational, and social infrastructure, raising important questions about spatial justice in shrinking urban contexts. This paper contributes to the literature on shrinking cities by highlighting creative youth in mid-sized Global South cities. It suggests smart shrinkage strategies focused on creative sector development, improved quality of life, and inclusive planning to retain young talent and support sustainable urban revitalization. Full article

This paper examines how Marley Dias’ activism on Instagram promotes racial justice, Black feminist thought, and youth mobilization through digital storytelling, representation, and audience engagement. Using a mixed-methods analysis of 744 posts published between 2016 and 2025, the study combined critical thematic coding, temporal mapping, and engagement metrics to analyze the discursive and emotional strategies behind Dias’ activism. Five key themes were identified as central to her activist work: diversity in literature, lack girl empowerment, racial justice, Black representation, and educational advocacy. The findings reveal that Dias strategically tailors her messages to suit Instagram’s unique features, using carousels and videos to enhance visibility, foster intimacy, and provide depth in education. Posts that focused on identity, aesthetics, and empowerment garnered the highest levels of engagement, while posts that concentrated on structural issues received lower, yet still significant, interaction. The paper argues that Dias’ Instagram account serves as a dynamic platform for youth-led Black feminist resistance, where cultural production, civic education, and emotional impact converge. This case underscores the political potential of digital literacies and encourages a reconsideration of how youth-driven digital activism is reshaping contemporary public discourse, agency, and knowledge production in the social media age. Full article

Sport can serve as a powerful tool for community building, fostering inclusion, challenging intolerance, and advancing social justice. It also supports positive youth development and active citizenship. When embedded in local life and accessible beyond athletics, sport creates unique conditions for community development and inclusive action. Sport and equity-focused community development are about relationships. The perspectives and behaviors stemming from youth participation in sport—what they learn about human relationships, relationship building, and life skills—carry forward through time in all phases and facets of their lives. The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA), Ireland’s largest amateur sporting and cultural organization, exemplifies this potential. More than a sports organization, the GAA plays a central role in Irish society, offering opportunities for people of all ages to engage in sport, fitness, and well-being, while actively contributing to community life. GAA clubs often function as local social hubs, creating spaces for connection across generations. This article uses the GAA as a case study to explore how sport can be a unifying and inclusive structure for community building. Specifically, we will (1) examine the link between sport, youth, and active citizenship; (2) explore connections between sport, community, inclusion, and social justice; (3) offer a historical and cultural overview of the GAA; and (4) consider how organizations like the GAA can support efforts around inclusion, tolerance, and sustainability. The discussion will highlight implications for future community programming and policy. Full article

The current article seeks to understand, and critically analyze the implications of, how youth custody workers understand the relationship between sport, physical activity, and health among youth who are incarcerated. Data was collected through surveys (n = 15) and semi-structured interviews (n = 16) with youth custody workers in Ontario, Canada. We present and analyze three themes emerging from participants’ narratives: the potential for sport and physical activity to contribute, in a holistic way, to the physical, mental, and social health of youth who are incarcerated; the possibility for sport and physical activity to create space for building “therapeutic alliances” between staff and youth, which can improve the mental and social health of youth who are incarcerated; and perceptions of health deficits among youth who are incarcerated and their implications for social inequality. Through an analysis of these themes, we deepen the limited scholarly analysis of sport, physical activity, and health among young persons who are incarcerated and connect these discussions to broader considerations of social determinants of health (that is, structural and social factors that create health inequities) as a matter of social justice. Full article

Ensuring equitable access to higher education (HE) is not only a matter of social justice, but also a critical component to enhancing the long-term sustainability of modern societies. This study contributes to existing knowledge on socio-economic disparities in HE participation in Australia by identifying the extent to which key factors at the family, school, and individual levels mediate the relationship between socio-economic status (SES) and university enrolment. In doing so, it extends existing knowledge by simultaneously considering multiple factors at each ecological level, which enables us to disentangle their independent and joint influences on the SES differential in HE enrolment. To accomplish this, we analysed longitudinal data from the 2009 cohort of the Longitudinal Survey of Australian Youth (LSAY) using event-history models. Our findings reveal that students from lower-SES backgrounds are significantly less likely to enrol in university than their higher-SES peers, with persistent barriers emerging across multiple levels of influence. Indeed, after adjusting for cognitive skills, HE expectations, parental support, school climate, and access to learning resources, the estimated SES effect on HE participation was reduced by 68.6%. By systematically disentangling the relative contributions of these factors, this study provides critical insights into how sustainable education policies can be designed to mitigate social inequalities and promote inclusive growth. Intervention areas are discussed accordingly. Full article

There are few conceptual frameworks or models related to educators’ competencies at the intersection of social justice; youth development; and physical education, activity, or sport content and pedagogy. The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine how the racialized and pedagogical experiences of individuals teaching physical education contribute to understanding the integration of social justice principles in youth development contexts through sport and physical activity. This study involved the within-case and cross-case analyses of two main cases: preservice teachers and graduate teaching assistants teaching physical education in a youth development context. The preservice teacher and the graduate teaching assistant within-case analysis each resulted in two complementary themes (four total). The cross-case analysis resulted in three total themes. Together, these seven themes are conceptualized into three categories: (1) assumptions prior to teaching, (2) emergent just teaching, and (3) considering race. While training all future professionals for equitable and justice-oriented teaching is key, we cannot ignore the glaring reality that many individuals with more culturally diverse backgrounds are predisposed to embodying such orientations. Findings reinforce the importance of preparing (and recruiting) educators who not only have pedagogical skills but who can also teach for justice. Full article

Youth make up a fifth of the world’s population and will suffer the consequences of the climate catastrophe to differing extents depending on their social and geographical locations. The climate crisis is thus a matter of both intergenerational and racial/imperial injustice. Intersectional and interdisciplinary climate justice approaches are growing in the field of youth climate activism and, more often, these are necessarily engaging with collaborative methods to platform the voices of marginalised youth and those who live the colonial difference. Our paper provides early reflections from a youth climate activism artistic research project titled ‘Theatre of Climate Action: Amplifying Youth Voices for Climate Justice in Guadeloupe and South Africa’ (ToCA). In this project, sixteen young people aged 18-30 from South Africa and Guadeloupe collaborate to design, produce, and create theatre performances that reflect their exploration of climate justice through their lived experiences using artistic research methods. Specifically, we examine the opportunities and challenges in using the framework of Safe(r), Brave(r), and Riskier Spaces to support collaborative and emancipatory art-making practices that allow youth to become co-creators in this project. Insights revealed that an intentional embrace of safety, bravery, and risk as an ethico-political basis for art making was critical to cultivate a sense of community, trust, and belonging for youth co-creators. Full article

Social justice has become the panacea for all types of concerns and issues—providing a sense that all concerns are worthwhile, comprehensive, and matter for today’s world. Thus, developing alternative concepts, ideas, and imaginaries can potentially provide solid grounds for scholars to advance beyond conventional understandings about social justice. Therefore, this manuscript aims to experiment with ethics of care as a conceptual device to disrupt Trumpism, as well as propose alternative worlds where sport, youth/athlete development, and social justice can connect otherwise. Specifically, efforts will be deployed to advance notions concerning sport–social justice in ways beyond our contemporary understandings. The work of feminist theorist and scholar Maria Puig de la Bellacasa (and many other human, non-human and more-than-human entities) is used to situate care as a relational doing. Moving forward, alternative worlds with alternative caring responsibilities matter if youth sport is to continuously thrive for justice. The conventional game of sport–social justice inquiry may have consequences and implications for caring that may be deemed unsustainable and continued sources of oppression. Therefore, caring becomes much more than a fact, a concern, or a concept. It becomes an ontological compromise, an ideal, and an ontological project for scholarly work, which implies a willingness to navigate towards the unknown and unprecedented—potentially our main caring responsibility as scholars. Full article

Youth sport has been recognized as a unique learning context for positive youth development (PYD); yet, as society’s critical consciousness continues to progress, limitations of PYD have been acknowledged. Thus, youth sport scholars have begun to embrace critical perspectives to interrogate the systems and institutions of sport and society that influence the healthy development of all youth. This has included researchers and practitioners alike, adopting critical PYD (CPYD) as a means to empower young people to question and challenge their histo-contemporary experiences and support collective action towards social change. Our article explores the concept of CPYD and social justice life skills within ‘non-traditional’ sport spaces, including practice examples from the fields of youth disability sport and sport in youth justice. The first practice example provides an in-depth discussion of the theoretical principles of CPYD and their applicability within youth disability sport. The second practice example outlines the practical use of social justice life skills in sport programs within the youth justice system. Together, the practice examples from the field highlight both the theoretical and practical applications of CPYD and social justice life skills within real-world settings, and valuable implications are identified for research and practice moving forward. Full article

Urban parks deliver vital ecosystem services and enhance residents’ well-being globally, yet equitable access remains challenging in high-density cities. The prevailing planning paradigms predominantly rely on proximity-based metrics, overlooking critical interactions between demographic diversity, differentiated social demands, and park typology distinctions. Moreover, the existing studies frequently examine aggregate green space distributions without categorically analyzing justice implications. This study develops a geospatial–quantitative framework integrating spatial equality and social justice metrics, applied in Xuhui District, Shanghai. Key findings reveal the following: (1) spatial inequality characterized by large parks clustered in low-density peripheries, while high-density central zones lack adequate park coverage; (2) significant social justice deficits for priority groups (elderly, youth, low-income), exacerbated by insufficient consideration of socioeconomic needs; (3) pronounced disparities in justice across park types, with pocket parks exhibiting the most severe inequities. Consequently, we recommend prioritizing the social demand in park allocation and implementing community-centered pocket park development. This study not only diagnoses spatial–environmental injustices in high-density urban cores but also provides a transferable framework for equitable park planning. Full article

The content in this autoethnography manuscript is significant because it takes a different angle than the typical discourse surrounding sport-based youth development (SBYD). Typically, the discourse on SBYD focuses on the positive outcomes of improved social–emotional learning and academic achievement. In using an autoethnographic approach, I share stories from my personal experience as a practitioner in the field to illustrate a new perspective on how to think about the impact of sport-based youth development on young people. Though those outcomes are positive and impactful, they fail to capture the continued inequity in the quality of youth sports programs in underserved communities compared to others. I utilize research in SBYD to analyze each story as a practitioner in the field to thoroughly reflect on my personal experiences and their relation to social justice. The stories are also a tool for making the connection between the individual work of various organizations pursuing sport equity. Through storytelling, reflection, and analysis, I connect the mission of each organization I worked with to the concept of social justice youth development in a more personalized way than numbers and data can illustrate. Additionally, this autoethnography highlights non-traditional sport spaces and advocates for a way to fuse social justice into them. This manuscript seeks to simultaneously refresh the way equity in sport has been looked at, while also illuminating the ways it is already being examined. The paper presents new questions that can be used to better analyze the presence of social justice in youth sports and provides a potential pathway forward by grounding in a definition of quality SBYD programming. These questions imply that the measures of the impact and potential benefits of SBYD may need to be redefined to better match the real lived experiences of individual youth participating in such programs. Full article

Child First (CF), the approach to youth justice now endorsed by the Youth Justice Board in England and Wales, centres around seeing children as children and meeting their needs in a child-focused way. CF opposes its predecessor, the risk-based approach, which focused on actuarial measurements of risk and led to net-widening, the overuse of custody, and harsher sentencing. As the current strategic approach for youth justice in England and Wales, it is essential to consider its applicability for all offence types, including the most serious. This study aimed to begin the exploration of this under-researched area by identifying the opinions of youth justice professionals on the application of theory to practice. This small-scale exploratory study, comprising five in-depth interviews with youth justice practitioners based in rural Wales, found a consensus amongst respondents that CF should apply to all offences, regardless of their seriousness, but with recognition that some factors centred around the child themselves and their relationship with their youth justice worker and with other services/the public may have an impact on this. Respondents suggested recommendations to counter these problems, leading to recommendations for future research to further embed CF at all levels of youth justice operation. Full article

Zimbabwe’s 2008 electoral violence created lasting societal impacts, yet the psychological consequences for youth, particularly through intergenerational effects, remain under-explored. This study examines how memories of this violence are transmitted to contemporary youth, including those born after 2008, and influence their political attitudes and participation. The study employed a qualitative approach in Harare’s Mbare suburb, utilising 20 in-depth interviews and four (4) focus groups, which were analysed through a trauma-informed lens. Findings indicate that youth inherit ‘traumascapes’ from elders, which cultivate fear, silence, and political apathy. Parental warnings and experiences link activism directly to vulnerability, prompting youth to adopt disengagement or performative allegiance as survival strategies amidst structural impunity and socio-economic precarity. Unresolved, intergenerationally transmitted trauma perpetuates cycles of civic disempowerment. The study concludes that post-conflict recovery in Zimbabwe requires moving beyond institutional reforms to prioritise psychosocial healing and demands that transitional justice frameworks explicitly address these inherited psychological wounds. Full article

Numerous research studies have documented the significant influence of key types of positive childhood experiences (PCEs) on adult health and wellbeing, even in the presence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Recent studies reveal that almost 87% of justice-impacted youth reported at least one ACE. Connecting youth to PCEs after trauma has occurred has been shown to disrupt the poor health trajectory associated with ACEs. Creating juvenile justice systems that prioritize equitable access to PCEs has the potential to change the life course of system-impacted youth. The HOPE (Healthy Outcomes from Positive Experiences) framework, a research-based, community-driven approach to improving access to the key types of PCEs youth need to thrive, presents a potentially powerful strategy for juvenile justice systems to transform care for system-impacted youth. This manuscript describes this proposed approach. Full article

Collegiate sports serve as a powerful platform for advancing youth development and social engagement, contributing not only to athletic growth but also to personal development, teamwork, and social justice among student-athletes. This study explores the relationships among procedural justice, coach trust, perceived organizational support (POS), and team commitment in collegiate athletes. A self-reported questionnaire administered to college athletes collected 285 usable responses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The findings reveal that higher perceptions of procedural justice are significantly associated with greater team commitment, increased coach trust, and higher POS. Additionally, coach trust positively influences both team commitment and POS. However, no significant relationship was found between POS and team commitment, indicating that POS alone may not be a direct predictor of athlete commitment without the presence of mediating factors. These findings highlight the pivotal role of procedural justice, coach trust, and POS in shaping team commitment among collegiate athletes, underscoring the importance of fair decision-making and relational trust in fostering youth development and reflecting the broader influence of behavioral and social dynamics in collegiate sport settings. Full article