Many models of youth participation tend to use hierarchical structures which do not account well for the socio-cultural contexts in which youth participation takes place.
Cahill and Dadvand (2018) [45] have developed a machine-like metaphor which demonstrates how seven interrelated domains can be used to inform the visioning, design, leadership and evaluation of youth participation programmes. These domains include purpose, positioning, process, protection, perspective, place and power relations.
Diagram 19: the P7 Model of Youth Development Adapted from Cahill and Dadvand (2018) [45]
Purpose is at the centre of the model, indicating that the purpose of the initiative influences all other domains. The intersecting gears in the machine-like metaphor are used to suggest the ways in which activity in one domain influences what happens in other domains.
For example, if power relations are managed well, diverse perspectives will be included and valued.
Efforts to position young people as contributors and partners will ensure young people are not just recipients of the project, but rather central to its visioning design and fulfilment.
The domain of protection is identified to ensure ongoing attention is given to the social, political and material safety of youth.
The connective circle is the process, examining the way in which the participation occurs.
The domain entitled place is used to remind us that context always matters, for context carries the cultural traditions and expectations, as well as the economic, geographic, social and political histories in which the initiative occurs.
References
Further reading
[45] Cahill, H. & Dadvand, B. (2018). Re-conceptualising youth participation: A framework to inform action. Children and Youth Services Review. 95, 243–253. Retrieved from https://psycnet.apa. org/record/2018-64496-028
