Abstract
Two studies were conducted. In the first, developmental information was gathered on young people's efforts to construct and elaborate on an ideal society. The subjects were 54 white middle-class boys, equally divided among 8−, 11−, and 16-year-olds. The interview protocols suggested a typology consisting of (1) a personalistic, nongovernmental construction of society, based on the child's own life space, with a concern for biological needs such as food and shelter; (2) a construction of specific but unrelated governmental institutions; (3) a better-organized conception of how institutions are interrelated; (4) a commitment to abstract principles. In the second investigation, the task and typology were applied to the study of high school left-wing activists and nonactivists −93 in all. The activists were not clearly more committed to abstract principles, although they were entertaining utopian possibilities of a society with few laws. But the surprising finding was the activists' resemblance to the youngest children (type I); they too constructed a personalistic society potentially within their own life space and were concerned with biological life-supportive issues.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adelson, J. (1971). The political imagination of the young adolescent.Daedalus, pp. 1013–1050 (Fall).
Adelson, J., and O'Neil, R. P. (1966). Growth of political ideas in adolescence: The sense of community.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 4:295–306.
Adelson, J., Green, B., and O'Neil, R. P. (1969). The development of the idea of law in adolescence.J. Develop. Psychol. 1:27–32.
Block, S., Haan, N., and Smith, M. B. (1968). Activism and apathy in contemporary adolescents. In Adams, S. (ed.),Understanding Adolescence: Current Developments in Adolescent Psychology, Allyn and Bacon, Boston.
Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales.Educ. Psychol. 30:37–46.
Connell, R. W. (1971).The Child's Construction of Politics, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria, Canada.
Crain, W. C. (1972). Young activists' conceptions of an ideal society: idedogical dimensions and developmental considerations.Youth Soc. 4:203–235.
Easton D., and Dennis, J. (1969).Children in the Political System: Origins of Political Legitimacy, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Easton, D., and Hess, R. (1962). The child's political world.Midwest. J. Pol. Sci. 6:229–246.
Eisenberg, L. (1965). A developmental approach to adolescence.Children 12:131–135.
Flacks, R. (1967). The revolt of the advantaged: An exploration of the roots of student protest.J. Soc. Issues 23:52–75.
Flavell, J. (1963).The Developmental Psychology of Jean Piaget, Van Nostrand, New York.
Gallatin, S., and Adelson, J. (1971). Legal guarantees of individual freedom: A crossnational study of the development of political thought.J. Soc. Issues 27:93–108.
Greenstein, F. I., and Tarrow, S. (1970). Political orientations of children: The use of a semi-projective technique in three nations.Sage Prof. Papers Comp. Politics 1:479–558.
Haan, N., Smith, M. B., and Block, J. (1968). Moral reasoning in young adults: Politicalsocial behavior, family background, and personality correlates.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 10:183–201.
Hess, R., and Torney, J. (1967).The Development of Political Attitudes in Children, Aldine, Garden City, N.Y.
Inhelder, B., and Piaget, J. (1958).The Growth of Logical Thinking, Basic Books, New York.
Kahn, H. (1971). Herman Kahn thinks the unthinkable.New York Times Magazine, June 19.
Keniston, K. (1968).Young Radicals: Notes on Committed Youth, Harcourt, Brace and World, New York.
Keniston, K. (1970). Student activism, moral development, and morality.Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 40:577–592.
Kim, J. (1971). Predictive measures of ordinal association.Am. J. Sociol. 76:1.
Kohlberg, L. (1964). Development of moral character and moral ideology. In Hoffman, H., and Hoffman, L. (eds.),Review of Child Development Research, Russell Sage Foundation, New York.
Merelman, R. (1971). The development of policy thinking in adolescence.Am. Pol. Sci. Rev. 65:1033–1047.
Piaget, J. (1932).The Moral Judgment of the Child, Kegan Paul, London.
Piaget, J. (1954).The Construction of Reality in the Child (M. Cook, trans.), Basic Books, New York.
Piaget, J. (1971).Structuralism (C. Maschler, trans.), Harper and Row, New York.
Piaget, J., and Weil, A. M. (1951). The development in children of the idea of the homeland and relations with other countries.Internat Soc. Sci. Bull. 3:561–578.
Rebelsky, F., Conover, C., and Chafetz, P. (1969). The development of political attitudes in children.J. Psychol. 73:141–146.
Slater, P. (1970).The Pursuit of Loneliness Beacon Press, Boston.
Tapp, J. L., and Kohlberg, L. (1971). Developing sense of law and legal justice.J. Soc. Issues 27:65–92.
Werner, H. (1957). The conception of development from a comparative and organismic point of view. In Harris, D. (ed.),The concept of Development, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
White, E. (1969). Intelligence, individual differences, and learning in political socialization.Brit. J. Sociol. 20:50–68.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Study I in this paper — carried out by the second author was part of a doctoral dissertation, “Conceptions of the Political Regime in the Years 8 to 16,” submitted to the Department of Political Science, the University of Chicago, 1971. Study II was done by the first author. The coding manuals for Study I and Study II are available on request from the authors.
Received Ph.D. in Human Development from the University of Chicago and took a clinical internship at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. Main interest is in developmental theory and political attitudes.
Received Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. Main interest is in political theory.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Crain, W.C., Crain, E.F. The growth of political ideas and their expression among young activists. J Youth Adolescence 3, 105–133 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02215171
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02215171