Newswise — A study to examine whether and how Boy Scout programs affect the character, health and academic achievement of youths — as well as their contribution to community and democracy — will be launched in September by Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion and Tufts University’s Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development.
The three-year study, armed with major funding from the John Templeton Foundation and headed by Tufts, will evaluate an innovative Boy Scouts of America program that incorporates full-time executives to assist Scout troops by training the leaders, recruiting and retaining youths, and fund raising. Typically, local troops are staffed by volunteers.
Researchers will be Byron Johnson, Ph.D., director of the ISR and also of Baylor’s Program on Prosocial Behavior, and Richard Lerner, Ph.D., Bergstrom Chair in Applied Developmental Science and director of the Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development at Tufts.The study will be done in four waves in a geographic area in Philadelphia, Penn., that is served by the Cradle of Liberty Council Boy Scouts of America.
“It was necessary to select a jurisdiction that would generate a large and diverse number of study participants from rural as well as urban communities,” said Thomas Harrington, the CEO of the Cradle of Liberty Council.
Noted Johnson: “The program could become a model for recruitment and retention of diverse youth — especially boys from inner cities — in Boy Scouts, especially if the study shows that involvement in the Scouts enhances the youths’ character.”
The study will compare all boys ages 7, 8, 9 and 10 from three groups in the selected geographic area:• 36 randomly selected Cub Scout packs with full-time executives• 36 randomly selected Cub Scout packs without full-time executives• Comparable samples of boys who are not in Cub Scouts
All youths surveyed (approximately 3, 880) will be from the same schools or religious organizations and will be matched on demographic characteristics – other than age – that are related to the likelihood of being in Cub Scouts, Johnson said.
The youths will be re-tested in May 2014, September 2014 and May 2015, and any new youth entering the sample packs will be tested as well, he said.
Said Lerner: “Large longitudinal surveys of this kind are increasingly rare within the social and behavioral sciences.”
In addition to directing ISR and leads Baylor’s Program on Prosocial Behavior, Johnson is Distinguished Professor of the Social Sciences at Baylor. He was the principal investigator in a nationwide scientific survey of the impact of Eagle Scouts on society. In that study, released in spring of 2012 and funded by a two-year research grant from the John Templeton Foundation, Baylor researchers partnered with the Gallup Organization to survey 2,512 adult males. Findings demonstrated that Eagle Scouts went on to contribute significantly, from holding leadership positions in their workplaces and neighborhoods to voting, volunteering, protecting the environment and preparing for emergencies.
Johnson also completed a series of studies for the Department of Justice on religion’s role in prosocial youth behavior. He is recognized as a leading authority on the scientific study of religion, the efficacy of faith-based organizations, domestic violence and criminal justice. His research also has been used in consultation with the Department of Defense, Department of Labor and the National Institutes of Health.
Co-researcher Lerner has more than 500 scholarly publications, including 70 authored or edited books, among them The Good Teen. In that book, he supports a new conception of adolescence based on strengths rather than weaknesses, presenting five personality characteristics — competence, confidence, connection, character, and caring — that lead to long-term contributions to society.
He and colleagues at Tufts have published more 100 studies on the impact of the 4-H program on youths. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Research on Adolescence and of Applied Developmental Science and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association, and the Association for Psychological Science.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITYBaylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.
ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDIES OF RELIGIONLaunched in August 2004, the Baylor Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) exists to initiate, support and conduct research on religion, involving scholars and projects spanning the intellectual spectrum: history, psychology, sociology, economics, anthropology, political science, epidemiology, theology and religious studies. The institute’s mandate extends to all religions, everywhere, and throughout history, and embraces the study of religious effects on prosocial behavior, family life, population health, economic development and social conflict. While always striving for appropriate scientific objectivity, ISR scholars treat religion with the respect that sacred matters require and deserve. For more information, visit www.baylorisr.org
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