ABSTRACT
In chapter 1, we foreshadowed what this book would be about and summarized why people might want to understand organized activities as developmental contexts. We began by defining organized activities as activities “characterized by structure, adult supervision, and an emphasis on skill-building” (p. 4) and pointed out that participation in such activities is often voluntary and heavily dependent on access. We discussed the hypothesis that participating in such organized activities should facilitate the attainment of age-appropriate competencies, which in turn should “allow an individual to take advantage of personal and environmental resources that promote positive functioning in the present, reduce the risk for developing problem behaviors, and increase the likelihood for healthy adjustment in the future” (p. 6). We also provided a brief review of the evidence to support this hypothesis and discussed the characteristics of programs likely to moderate the impact of participation on development as well as the opportunities for, and barriers to, participation that influence access.
