How Theater Within a Transformative Organizing Framework Cultivates Individual and Collective Empowerment Among Lgbtqq Youth
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQQ) youth experience oppression in their schools and communities, which creates barriers to their healthy development. Emerging research documents strategies to support LGBTQQ youth, but little is known about developing LGBTQQ youth empowerment. This study extracts qualitative data (key informant interviews, n = 8, and a focus group, n = 8) from a larger case study of an LGBTQQ youth organization that uses theater within a transformative organizing model to make their schools safer and more inclusive. Findings suggest that theater–both theater games used within the group and scripted performances for adult stakeholders–uniquely contributed to developing individual and collective empowerment through an iterative process of building community, cultivating critical consciousness, and providing opportunities to effect change. Encouraging creative expression alongside developing LGBTQQ youth's capacity to create change can contribute to the positive development of LGBTQQ youth.
Source: Journal of Community Psychology
DOI: 10.1002/jcop.21656
Institutions: Fordham University, University of Michigan
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Reduced inequalities
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1575930817