Youth’s perceptions of their social capital development within community-based programme experiences and counsellors' emerging role as social advocates

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore youth’s perceptions of their social capital development within Community-Based Programme experiences and counsellors’ emerging role as social advocates. Six participants were invited to reflect on their experiences and shared their thoughts and meanings ascribed to them. The study adopted an Interpretative Phenomenological Approach to collect and analyse the data generated through individual audio-recorded semi-structured interviews. A number of themes communicating the essence of the youth’s experiences emerged. These include self-confidence and self-efficacy, social relationships, coping with challenges, empowerment and counsellors’ role. Findings reveal: (a) the value in providing Community-Based Programme opportunities to youth within accessible community spaces; (b) recognition of youth’s alternative civic engagement actions; and (c) acknowledgement of youth’s ability to be active agents of their own social capital. The findings further suggest the necessity of self-efficacy to encourage community connectedness and active participation amongst youth. This research proposes recommendations for future research and implications for counselling practice, training and supervision. One major implication is that counsellors can advocate to promote youth’s development and self-empowerment by working in community settings.