Appropriate structure research review
- The University of Minnesota Center for Research and Outreach. (2017). Appropriate structure research review. Retrieved from: www.MilitaryREACH.org
- Appropriate structure and supervision are important for the execution of the other features of high-quality youth programs such as safety, supportive relationships, and opportunities for skill-building (Eccles & Gootman, 2002). Moreover, there are several other factors, such as youth’s developmental age and youth programs’ goals, that have an impact on how the structure and supervision within youth programs are determined. Youth programs that have appropriate structure and supervision enable both youth and youth workers to better understand each other’s roles within the program and improve their ability to work collaboratively. Further, structure and supervision are related in that the level of adult supervision helps to determine the amount of structure in the youth program. Although there is consensus that appropriate structure and adult supervision are important aspects of youth programs (Eccles & Gootman, 2002), there is limited empirical research that explores how both concepts are related to positive youth development within youth programs. In order to provide context on the role both structure and supervision have in youth programs, the following review will focus on three main areas. First, there will be a review of the definitions structure and supervision from the literature. Second, the child and youth development literature exploring theories related to structure and supervision will be reviewed. Third, there will be a discussion of how these concepts have been found to relate to aspects of positive youth development and of the methodological issues to consider when collecting data. The paper concludes with a review of the implications of structure and supervision for youth programs.
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Research summaries convey terminology used by the scientists who authored the original research article; some terminology may not align with the federal government's mandated language for certain constructs.