Children's competence and the ecology of communities: A functional approach to the evaluation of participation

Initiatives to involve children and adolescents in assessing, planning and managing their local environments are increasing around the world. How these initiatives are to be evaluated, however, has only begun to be discussed. A particular theoretical challenge to be faced is formulating an approach that has broad cross-cultural applicability while also remaining sensitive to the considerable sociocultural differences that exist. The development of competence, that is, the capacity to exercise control over valued spheres of life, is identified as a quality that characterizes psychological well-being universally, even as its specific expression is formed variously in different contexts. Drawing on concepts from ecological psychology, we consider qualities of environments that, are likely to support the development of competence and discuss how these concepts can inform efforts to evaluate children's participation in communities. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd.