Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jappdp Reasons youth engage in activism programs: Social justice or sanctuary? Thomas Akiva a,⁎ , Roderick L. Carey b , Amanda Brown Cross a , Lori Delale-O'Connor a , Melanie R. Brown c a University of Pittsburgh, United States b University of Delaware, United States c Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United States ABSTRACT Youth activism programs have been studied for their impact on societal change and their contribution to youth development; however, less is known about what motivates youth to engage in such programs. In this study, we draw on survey and focus group data from eight youth activism programs to understand reasons that youth attend. We find that engaging in social justice work was the highest rated reason for participation, followed closely by sanctuary, and lastly, relationships with adults and peers in the program. Analysis of qualitative data highlights the importance of sanctuary—not limited to psychological safety, but with an emphasis on celebrating aspects of identity. Findings also point to important intersections between social justice work and sanctuary, with youth expressing a desire to impact change from protected and affirming spaces that are liberating and allow them to take risks. 1. Introduction Youth organizing or activism programs 1 engage young people in events and campaigns to promote societal improvement (Braxton, Buford, & Marasigan, 2013). Youth organizing programs can be under- stood from the youth development tradition, as an enhancement of youth programming with the additions of critical consciousness devel- opment and community organizing activities (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2007; Kirshner, 2015). These programs may also be understood from a community organizing perspective, as an outgrowth of social justice campaigns, which have always involved crucial—though not always visible—contributions from young people (Delgado, 2015). Similarly, we may consider youth organizing programs in terms of (a) their impact on societal change and movement building or (b) their contribution to the development of the youth who participate. Some, but not all, re- search on youth organizing addresses these two important aims and perspectives (Ginwright & Cammarota, 2007; Ginwright & James, 2002; Kirshner, 2009, 2015). However, less is known regarding youths' motivation to attend youth activism programs—and the identity-related factors at play in their decisions to join programs with social justice aims. Motivation theory (particularly in education) and research on youth decisions to attend to other types of programs and activities can certainly provide direction. For example, youth motivation to attend youth development programs has been studied from Self-Determination Theory and Expectancy-Value Theory perspectives (summarized below). Similarly, research about the reasons people volunteer in general—and in parti- cular, youth motivations to participate in voluntary community servi- ce—may shed some light on youth motivation to attend and earnestly engage in social justice programs (also discussed below). Aspects of youth activism programs make them unique in this context. Unlike service learning programs, for example, youth orga- nizing programs are structured to support youth from communities that are marginalized in leadership roles and to involve youth in addressing injustices that affect them directly (Flanagan & Levine, 2010). Youth in these programs are not volunteering to help others in need; they are engaging in social justice work for themselves and others, thus their motivations to attend may be different. Relatedly, youth with social identities that are marginalized may seek a space for safety and be- longing—and youth activism programs may address this motivation. In the present investigation, we juxtapose the motivation of joining programs in order to participate in community organizing around social justice with the motivation of seeking a protected space in which to experience safety and belonging. Understanding the reasons youth participate in youth organizing programs entails more than simple de- cisions about what to do after school; rather, it gets to the core of these programs, their purpose, and how they relate to youth identity and development, especially for traditionally marginalized young people. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2017.08.005 Received 12 February 2017; Received in revised form 19 August 2017; Accepted 31 August 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail address: tomakiva@pitt.edu (T. Akiva). 1 We use the phrases youth organizing programs and youth activism programs interchangeably. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 53 (2017) 20–30 0193-3973/ © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. MARK