Disconnected youth in rural communities: a case study

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the negative effects and impact disconnected youth have on the rural communities they live in. The study was conducted in small rural communities in Arizona, and only youth ages 16 to 24 who were not in school and not working were invited to participate. The study aimed to examine the thought processes and behaviors of disconnected youth, and pair those findings with various struggles in rural communities to find correlations of the information obtained. Both surveys and interviews of disconnected youth were the basis of the research, and this information was compiled and analyzed to provide a more accurate picture of their impact of these small rural communities. The findings of the study are reported in the final chapters