The roles that program leaders establish in their relationships with youth structure how leaders are able to foster youth development. This article examines the complex roles program leaders create in youth programs and investigates how they balanced multiple roles to most effectively respond to the youth they serve. Analyses of qualitative data from 12 high quality programs for high school—aged youth suggest that program leaders take on different roles. In some cases, youth experienced their program leader as a trusted friend, caring parent figure, or influential mentor. In other instances they described him or her as having the knowledge and authority of a teacher or boss. Analyses further suggest that moving across multiple roles appeared to make the program leaders more effective.
Auerbach, C.F., & Silverstein, L.B. (2003). Qualitative data: An introduction to coding and analysis. New York: New York University Press.
2.
Bernstein-Yamashiro, B. ( 2004). Learning relationships: Teacher-student connections, learning, and identity in high school. In G. G. Noam (Ed.), New directions for youth development: After school worlds: Creating space for development and learning (pp. 55-70). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
3.
Bronfenbrenner, U. ( 1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
4.
Brown, B. ( 1990). Peer groups and peer cultures. In. S. Feldman & G. R. Elliot (Eds.), At the threshold (pp. 171-196). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
5.
Bukowski, W.M., Newcomb, A.F., & Hartup, W.W. ( 1996). Friendship and its significance in childhood and adolescence: Introduction and comment. In W. M. Bukowski , A. F. Newcomb, & W. W. Hartup (Eds.), The company they keep: Friendship in childhood and adolescence (pp. 1-15). New York: Cambridge University Press.
6.
Clark-Lempers, D.S., Lempers, J.D., & Ho, C. ( 1991). Early, middle, and late adolescents’ perceptions of their relationships with significant others. Journal of Adolescent Research, 6, 296-315.
7.
Collins, W.A., & Laursen, B. ( 2004). Parent-adolescent relationships and influences. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed., pp. 331-361). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
8.
Darling, N., Hamilton, S.F., & Niego, S. ( 1994). Adolescents’ relations with adults outside the family. In R. Montemayor, G. R. Adams, & T. P. Gulotta (Eds.), Advances in adolescent development, Vol. 6: Personal relationships during adolescence (pp. 216-235). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
9.
Darling, N., Hamilton, S.F., & Shaver, K.H. ( 2003). Relationships outside the family: Unrelated adults. In G. Adams & M. Berzonsky (Eds.), Blackwell handbook of adolescence (pp. 349-370). Malden, MA: Blackwell.
10.
Galbo, J.J. ( 1986). Adolescents’ perceptions of significant adults: Implications for the family, the school and youth serving agencies. Children and Youth Services Review, 8, 35-51.
11.
Galbo, J.J. ( 1989). The teacher as significant adult: A review of the literature . Adolescence, 24, 549-556.
12.
Halpern, R. ( 2005). Instrumental relationships: A potential relational model for inner-city youth programs. Journal of Community Psychology , 33(1), 11-20.
13.
Hamilton, M.A., & Hamilton, S.F. (2004). Contexts for mentoring: Adolescent-adult relationships in workplaces and communities. In R. M. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (2nd ed., pp. 395-428). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
14.
Heath, S.B. ( 1994). The project of learning from the inner-city youth perspective . In F. A. Villarruel & R. M. Lerner (Eds.), New directions for child development: Promoting community-based programs for socialization and learning (pp. 25-34). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
15.
Hirsch, B. ( 2005). A place to call home: After-school programs for urban youth. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
16.
Hirsh, B., & Wong, V. ( 2005). After-school programs. In D. Dubois & M. Karcher (Eds.). The handbook of youth mentoring (pp. 364-375). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
17.
Larson, R., Pearce, N., Sullivan, P., & Jarrett, R.L. ( 2007). Participation in youth programs as a catalyst for negotiation of family autonomy with connection. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 36, 31-45.
18.
Larson, R., & Walker, K. ( 2006). Learning about the "real world" in an urban arts program . Journal of Adolescent Research, 21, 244-268.
19.
Lempers, J.D., & Clark-Lempers, D.S. (1992). Young, middle, and late adolescents’ comparison of the functional importance of five significant relationships. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 21(1), 53-96.
20.
McLaughlin, M.W., Irby, M.A., & Langman, J. ( 1994). Urban sanctuaries: Neighborhood organizations in the lives and futures of inner-city youth. San Francisco, CA : Jossey-Bass.
21.
Newman, B.A., & Newman, P.R. ( 2007). Social role theory. In B. M. Newman & P. R. Newman (Eds.), Theories of human development (pp. 160-172). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22.
Noam, G.G., & Tillinger, J.R. (2004). After-school as intermediary space: Theory and typology of partnerships. In G. G. Noam (Ed.), New directions for youth development: After school worlds: Creating space for development and learning (pp. 75-113). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
23.
Patton, M.Q. ( 2002). Qualitative research and evaluative methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
24.
Rhodes J. ( 2002). Stand by me: The risks and rewards of mentoring today’s youth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
25.
Rhodes, J.E. ( 2004). The critical ingredient: Caring youth-staff relationships in after-school settings. In G. G. Noam (Ed.), New directions for youth development: After school worlds: Creating space for development and learning (pp. 145-161). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
26.
Seligson, M., & MacPhee, M. ( 2004). Emotional intelligence and staff training in after-school environments. In G. G. Noam (Ed.), New directions for youth development: After school worlds: Creating space for development and learning (pp. 71-83). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
27.
Strauss, A., & Corbin, J. ( 1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
28.
Walker, K.C. ( 2005). Understanding youth worker-young person relationships: How youth workers position themselves to support youth. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign .
29.
Walker, K.C., & Larson, R.W. ( 2006). Balancing the professional and the personal. In D. A. Blyth, & J. A. Walker (Eds.), New directions for youth development: Exceptional learning experiences for the middle years: Where high quality programs meet basic youth needs. No. 112(pp. 109-118). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
30.
Young, K. ( 1999). The art of youth work. Lyme Regis , UK: Russell House.
31.
Youniss, J., & Smollar, J. ( 1985). Adolescent relations with mothers, fathers, and friends . Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
32.
Zeldin, S., Larson, R., Camino, L., & O’Conner, C. (2005). Intergenerational relationships and partnerships in community programs: Purpose, practice and directions for research. Journal of Community Psychology, 33(1), 1-10.
