Young people and community: responsibility and projects among young citizens of Naples and its province

This work starts in the context of studies about the sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) and the social participation of citizens, particularly referring to relationships between young people and with the communities they belong to. The main subject addressed regards the individual and collective sense of responsibility (Zamperini, 2005) and future planning within own community. To reach this purpose, 20 focus groups were set up with 120 young people about 20 and 25 age, who came from Naples and its province. Our aim was to look into the bond with community through the themes of ties to traditions, social aggregation, the sense of community and future aspirations. In fact the affective ties with the usual spaces of life, the feeling of being an active member of a community, the perception of influence and control over events, take part to define the way people relate to their local area in terms of engagement and involvement in social acts (Mannarini, 2004; Arcidiacono, 1999). Through the analysis of the focus groups, carried out thanks to Grounded Theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), the categories of meaning have been identified involving the differences that emerged among young people from Naples and those from its provinces. Reading about this phenomenon, a difference emerges with regards to the faculty to set out plans for the community, a difference that regards, on one hand, the perception of an individual responsibility influenced by information and will, and on the other hand a general responsibility, depending on the relationship with institutions and economic resources. These areas seem related to confident feelings in the inhabitants of the city and resignation in the inhabitants of the provinces. Finally studying this phenomenon has given some indications about aspects to be examined further in order to promote future effective interventions.