Abstract:
Critical agency (CA) refers to an individual’s feeling of power in relation to social inequalities. Research has demonstrated
that high CA is associated with positive adolescent outcomes, however, less is known about what supports are
important for its development. Moreover, a large majority of the literature is based on studies from the US and various
countries in Africa; although the UK is saturated with inequalities there is little research within a UK context. In this
paper we examine (a) the validity of using an existing measure of CA with a sample of UK adolescents and (b) the extent
to which resilience supports account for variance in CA. Our analysis identified two distinct factors of CA: justiceoriented
and community-oriented. High CA in both factors was explained by resilience supports associated with peer
relationships (p < 0.01). Our findings push us towards new relational, ecological ways of understanding adolescent CA.
We close by instantiating a translational framework for those devising policies in support of youth resilience and CA.
