Adolescent Participation in Impoverished Urban Communities

The Case of the Jóvenes de la Cuadra Group

Abstract

*Focus on Latin America | Reports from the Field

This article discusses the different conceptual and methodological aspects involved in the construction of “key role participation” by children and adolescents. Through a review of the key literature on this subject, we will demonstrate the critical link between participation and citizenship, as well as the diverse ways these two concepts are limited by adult-centered power relationships and situations of social disadvantage that produce "denied" or "second-class" citizenships.

Further on, the article describes the development of the Jóvenes de la Cuadra (Youngsters of the Block) group, created within the framework of the “Stop Exclusion, Create Value” Project, undertaken by the Paniamor Foundation, a nongovernmental organization dedicated to the promotion of projects oriented towards the “...fulfillment of minors’ rights within Costa Rica.”

Jóvenes de la Cuadra demonstrated a progressive empowerment process of a group of adolescents who, with stimulus and training, became capable of progressing qualitatively from their initial goals to become socially recognized actors within the local governance structure, and participate in institutional and local action spheres.