The Influence of a Prosocial Community Action on Privileged Adolescents’ Sense of Awareness
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2708-9355/7661Keywords:
adolescent, sense of awareness, gratitude, poverty, privileged, prosocial action, social responsibilityAbstract
The aim of the study was to explore and describe the influence of participating in a prosocial community action on privileged adolescents’ sense of awareness. A qualitative descriptive design was incorporated to purposively select 10 female and 6 male racially diverse privileged adolescents between 17 and 18 years who participated in a voluntary house-building project in a semi-rural community. The data were gathered by using focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews, supported by a creative artwork activity. A thematic analysis suggested that the adolescents acquired an awareness on an intrapersonal level, an awareness of the socio-economic divide in their community, an awareness of a social responsibility, and an awareness of their individualistic culture. Prosocial community actions appear to engender positive introspective reflection among adolescent school learners, and an awareness of the circumstances of others of which they otherwise would not have taken notice.
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References
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Accepted 2021-07-05
Published 2021-12-08
