Motivations for Joining and Engaging in Youth Organisations in the Italian Context

Understanding the multiple motivations for joining youth organisations can help civic and political organisers to to give voice and provide opportunities for action on social issues relevant for youth as emphasised from a critical perspective on active citizenship (Johnson & Morris,2010). Previous quantitative studies on prosocial participation (Vecina et al.,2013, Marta et al., 2006) and on civic and political participation have studied motivations to join and remain in civic organisations as linked to the dispositional and organisational variables that support youth identification with the organisation. Self- and other-oriented motivations (Omoto & Snyder, 1995) have been analysed considering the first as favouring sustained involvement while the second as related to initiation of civic engagement, thus affirming the importance of multiple motivations (Kiviniemi et al., 2002) related to participation. Studies on community participation (Cicognani & Zani, 2015, Chavis & Wandersman, 1990) further highlighted the motivations that can lead adolescents and young adults to experience belonging to an organisation, such as integrating needs and interests, having trustful relationship with peers and sharing emotions by joining community organisations. The emphasis on participation at local and community level and the construction of a peer community within the organisation is considered a first step to develop a sense of global citizenship (Arnett, 2002, Reysen & Katzarska- Miller, 2013). Building on these studies and using ethnographic cases as data, this chapter analyses the motivations of adolescents and young adults who sustain their involvement in civic organisations. 24 original narrative interviews from three different Italian youth organisations are considered as life stories of adolescents’ and young adults’ engagement. Qualitative results show that motivations for involvement are related to close peer relationships while motivations for remaining in the organisations are linked to positive emotions experienced in different phases of organisational life. Moreover, peer relationships can be considered an important factor that create new opportunities to act citizenship and to support civic and political development of youth, as highlithed in chapter 3. The construction of peer and friends network within the organisation, strengthen positive emotions and motivations to countinue to be involved in organisations, as stressed in chapter 6. Finally, the ethnographic method allows to give an in-depth lens to explore the relations among motivations of adolescents’ and young adults’ participation.