"Who’ll even listen to me"? The Cognitive-Emotional Spiral Effect of Integrating Volunteer Youth into Emergency Teams

Abstract

Examining the implications of recruiting youth for local community emergency team (CET) in a small rural settlement near Israel's eastern border, is at the center of this chapter. Three different perspectives were examined: The contribution to professional operations of the emergency team, to community social capital and to youth empowerment. The article is based on a study which included participant observation and in-depth interviews with youth CET members and their parents, and with adult CET organizers and members. Findings show that the program improved the community‘s emergency response preparations, empowered the community, and strengthened self-efficacy and self-esteem of the participating youth. The emotional aspect was found to be a central factor in setting change processes in motion, both in the functionality of CET youth and their relationships with adults. Evidently, by being incorporated into the program, adolescents experienced emotional empowerment which affected them personally, deepening their understanding and attitudes towards the collective. The case study presents a holistic picture of an ongoing cognitive-emotional spiral of youth-community relationships based on research of the emotional overflow, understandings and insights that have arisen following the YCET project.