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An Integrative Review Of Youth Development Research In Selected United States Recreation Journals, Jason Bocarro, P. Brian Greenwood, Karla A. Henderson

Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration

Youth have been a focus of recreation and leisure programmers for over a century. During that time, assumptions have been made about the value of recreation for young people. More recently, a resurgence of interest has occurred related to positive youth development. The purpose of this paper is to describe the results of an integrative review done to examine research conducted with youth as a focal point in four prominent U.S. based recreation journals over the past 21 years (1985-2005). We sought to discern thematic patterns in topical areas and to review the approaches and methods used. Systematic content and …