Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
Date of Degree
9-2016
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Program
Psychology
Advisor
Roger Hart
Committee Members
Martin Ruck
Brett Stoudt
Subject Categories
Civic and Community Engagement | Community Psychology | Developmental Psychology | Leadership Studies | Models and Methods | Other Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Keywords
children's rights; organizational governance; international research; participatory research; community development; childhood studies
Abstract
The goal of this study is to learn how new types of children’s associations around the world are organizing themselves and how their organizational structures reflect contemporary understandings of children’s capacities as citizens. The purpose is to identify different types and qualities of participatory children’s associations and how each affords opportunities for children to exercise their right to freedom of association, develop capacities for self-governance in groups, and promote the principles of inclusion (non-discrimination) and equity (fairness). To this end, I document and analyze diagrams of organizational structures that members of different children’s associations created during the Article 15 Project capacity-building workshops around the world, which were coordinated in collaboration with child-centered community development agencies. I supplement this analysis with data from my own observations of how participants created their diagrams, as well as participants’ video-recorded explanations of their diagrams, which I collected in my role as a workshop facilitator. One outcome of this research is a typology of the organizational structures of new types of children’s associations that can inform future research on the potential for children’s associations to support children’s capacities to participate in the governance of issues affecting their lives. Another outcome of this research is a list of strategies different children’s associations use to become more inclusive and equitable in regard to age, gender, and other social demographics. This list of strategies may be of interest to current members of children’s associations and adults who support them. The findings also respond to the need for scholarship in childhood studies to develop theoretical frameworks that transform conceptual dichotomies in the study of children, such as childhood as a state of being versus becoming, into spectrums that attend to the complexities and interplay of such oppositions.
Recommended Citation
Kimiagar, Bijan, "An Analysis of the Organizational Structures of New Types of Children's Associations in Relation to Changing Views of Children's Capacities as Citizens" (2016). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1593
Included in
Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community Psychology Commons, Developmental Psychology Commons, Leadership Studies Commons, Models and Methods Commons, Other Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons