Structural oppression and systemic inequity are interwoven into the fabric of American society. One need only reflect on the past decade to see the continued pernicious influence of racism, sexism, classism, ableism, nativism, heterosexism, transphobia, and multiple other forms of marginalization on the rights, freedoms, and humanity of large segments of our society. We live in a system of white supremacy and patriarchy that patterns not only our history but our current society, institutions, interactions, and beliefs about each other and ourselves (Bonilla-Silva, 2006). To be Black, Brown, Indigenous, immigrant, differently-abled, gay, gender-expansive, female-identified – among many other identities – means being subjected to systems and structures that, at best, limit access to the resources and privileges others take for granted and, at worst, take away fundamental rights to life, liberty, and choice. To be white, straight, able-bodied, male-identified, and more (e.g., Christian Protestant) means wielding privilege one may or may not know one has, but that contributes to the maintenance of these inequities.

Research has established critical consciousness (CC) as an important developmental competency, yet less is known about how to promote it, particularly for privileged youth. Service-learning experiences hold promise as context of CC development, but more research is needed to understand if they foster CC, for whom, and under what circumstances. This study examines the development of CC within what we term a critical service learning experience: the Resilience, Opportunity, Safety, Education, and Strength (ROSES) advocacy program. We connect specific features of this experience to expected growth in CC components among a group of educationally privileged university students serving as advocates for juvenile legal system-impacted girls. We delineate how engagement with ROSES is likely to influence critical consciousness among advocates themselves, then leverage exploratory data from advocates to empirically examine changes in CC over the course of ROSES. We examine changes in advocates’ interpersonal skills, critical reflection, critical motivation, and critical action as a result of participation in ROSES. We discuss patterns in these findings and examine how key characteristics of advocacy intervention implementation influenced skill development. We end by theorizing further on mechanisms of change in CC due to ROSES program participation and other service learning experiences.

Youth today face a sociopolitical moment in which the systems of oppression that have long patterned American society are in bold relief (Bonilla-Silva, 1997, 2006). White supremacy, structural oppression, and systemic inequity are woven into the fabric of our society. They shape our present and future, as well as our past, and influence all aspects of our individual, social, and communal well-being. Developing critical consciousness (CC) (Freire, 1968/2000; Watts et al., 2011) – learning to critically “read” social conditions, feel motivated and empowered to change those conditions, and engage in action toward that goal – is fundamental to helping youth navigate and resist these oppressions, and in contributing to the fight for justice and liberation.

Critical consciousness (CC) is a key tool for combatting injustice and has been associated with positive developmental outcomes for youth of color. Thus, it is crucial to identify the kinds of activities and settings that can facilitate youth’s CC. A small body of scholarship suggests that participation in social justice art (art that intentionally engages youth in addressing social injustice) can effectively build youth’s CC. Additionally, general art (art that does not intentionally address social injustice) has been associated with increased CC as well. However, further research is needed to understand how engagement in these two kinds of arts participation relate to each CC component, and whether certain art modalities (for example, music and dance) are more conducive to youth’s CC than others. A sample of 1,469 high school youth of color were included in this secondary analysis of data from the Stanford Civic Purpose Project (Damon, 2011–2013). Results from structural equation modeling suggest that different kinds of arts participation and modalities associate with CC in nuanced ways, revealing complexities in the relationship between arts programming and CC among youth of color. Findings point to the need to integrate a social justice focus into more traditional arts programming, with implications for youth’s engagement in the arts within school and out-of-school time settings.

In this chapter, we review the quantitative measurement of critical consciousness that has emerged within developmental and applied research over the last few decades. We provide a brief history and offer an overview of the current status of critical consciousness measurement. We also introduce four “phases” of critical consciousness measurement, which we refer to as (1) proxy measurement; (2) scale development; (3) scale expansion and (re)specification; and (4) scale refinement and adaptation. Due to their central role in critical consciousness measurement, we pay particular attention to instruments appearing in phase two, the scale development phase. After summarizing each phase, we identify opportunities for advancement and innovation in critical consciousness measurement and point to important new directions for measurement work in this area of scholarship – many of which are addressed more extensively in subsequent chapters of this volume.