Faculty: Laura Wray-Lake

Social Welfare Hosts International Youth Conference Young people from 180 countries participated online and in-person during a conference presented in collaboration with United Nations entities

June 12, 2024/0 Comments/in Luskin's Latest Blog David Turner, Hector Palencia, Laura Wray-Lake, Randall Akee /by Les Dunseith

From May 30 to June 2, UCLA Luskin Social Welfare served as host during the 9th edition of the International Youth Conference, which brought together youth from around the world for a series of in-person and online discussions, workshops and collaborations. Hector Palencia of the field faculty was the Luskin School’s local representative to the organizing group, with assistance from students and staff that included Carmen Mancha, Lorraine Rosales and Tera Sillett. The sessions taking place in the Public Affairs Building at UCLA were made available to a global audience of more than 720,000 people via live streaming on IYC’s digital platforms. Participants from 180 countries attended the conference online and in-person. The overarching focus was on United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and youth inclusion in policymaking. In addition to Palencia, UCLA Luskin faculty members Laura Wray-Lake, Randall Akee and David Turner participated in conference events and panel discussions. They were joined by other scholars from UCLA and other universities, youth activists, civil society leaders and luminaries in international peace and security, science and technology, and global governance transformation. The media partner for this event was ABC7 in Los Angeles, which sent a news crew to campus to interview participants for a story that aired during a May 31 newscast.

View the ABC7 story

View photos from the conference

Watch a highlights video about the conference

UCLA Paper on Youth Electoral Engagement Wins UC-Wide Competition

May 28, 2024/0 Comments/in Luskin's Latest Blog Laura Wray-Lake /by Mary Braswell

Although today’s young people are civically engaged in many ways, they continue to vote at lower rates than older age groups. A white paper by UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Professor Laura Wray-Lake identifies the policy barriers keeping young citizens from the ballot box and offers several recommendations for building a more inclusive democracy in California. The paper won a competition among scholars from all University of California campuses, and Wray-Lake and her team of researchers will present the findings at a public lecture hosted by UC Center Sacramento on May 29. The competition is part of the UC system’s “Grow Our Own” initiative aimed at diversifying the academy by encouraging students to see their own potential. Wray-Lake and postdoctoral scholar Christopher Wegemer were commended for bringing three UCLA undergraduates onto the research team: public affairs major Leslie Ortiz, sociology and statistics major Ryo Sato, and philosophy and history major Amy Wong. Using multiple research methods, the team found that California has several laws that promote ease of access to registering and voting, yet more can be done to maximize participation by younger voters. Among the recommended policies is the designation of high schools as official voter registration agencies. California offers automatic voter registration (AVR) through the Department of Motor Vehicles, but young people today are much less likely to get their driver’s license. Since school enrollment requires identification and residency documents that also satisfy voter registration requirements, “establishing AVR in high schools would allow California to act on a commitment to bringing young voters to the ballot box,” the researchers write.

Read the white paper

View a recording of the public lecture

Breaking Old Cycles and Envisioning New Futures

March 18, 2024/0 Comments/in Luskin's Latest Blog Laura Abrams, Laura Wray-Lake /by Mary Braswell

A new book by UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Professors Laura Wray-Lake and Laura Abrams tells the stories of Black youth in Los Angeles who tap into the strength of their communities to challenge injustice. “Young Black Changemakers and the Road to Racial Justice,” written with a third lead author, Elan C. Hope of North Carolina State University, and several students and recent graduates, tells the stories of 43 young Black people and their journey into a life of civic engagement. Drawing strength from their Black identities, families, communities and civic organizations, they work for a future of dignity and equality for all Black Americans. “We aim not to intellectualize the Black experience but to portray young Black changemakers’ humanity by sharing their stories in their own words,” the authors write. The book’s subjects are 13 to 18 years old, a time when they are “actively figuring out who they are, who they want to be and what they stand for. … Because young people are less entrenched in ‘the way things are’ in society, they can better envision new futures and break old cycles.” Contributors to the book with UCLA affiliations include Mariah Bonilla BA ’23 in public affairs; Elena Maker Castro PhD ’23 in human development and psychology; social welfare doctoral students Domonique Kianna Henderson and Sara Bloomdahl Wilf; Dominique Mikell Montgomery PhD ’23 in social welfare; Victoria Millet MSW ’22; and Jason Anthony Plummer PhD ’22 in social welfare. Channing Mathews of the University of Virginia also contributed. Authors of the book will join some of the young people profiled at a March 21 book launch.

Study Finds Marginalization of Black and Latino Youth by Gun Violence Prevention Groups

June 14, 2023/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Laura Wray-Lake /by Stan Paul

An article in The Guardian cited research led by UCLA scholars exploring the marginalization of Black and Latino organizers by national gun violence prevention groups. Co-principal investigators Sara Wilf and Taylor Reed, both UCLA Luskin Social Welfare Ph.D. students, worked with a UCLA Luskin-based team, including Professor of Social Welfare Laura Wray-Lake, the faculty advisor on the project. The researchers interviewed young Black and Latino violence prevention advocates who have had experience with gun violence prevention organizations. Findings from the study, representing the last four years, include reports by interviewees of “being tokenized, silencing of racially conscious organizing and expectation to educate white person racism,” according to team members who presented their work at the annual Society for Social Work and Research conference held in Phoenix in January. The study, which is now being peer reviewed, is supported by a grant from the UCLA Initiative to Study Hate and the Franklin D. Gilliam, Jr. Social Justice Award.

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Wray-Lake Wins Grant to Study Youth Civic Engagement

November 2, 2022/0 Comments/in Luskin's Latest Blog Laura Wray-Lake /by Mary Braswell

Laura Wray-Lake, professor of social welfare, received a $200,000 grant from AmeriCorps as part of the 2022 National Service and Civic Engagement Research Project. The grant is one of 21 awards totaling $3.7 million to university scholars around the country to support research on civic engagement, social cohesion, volunteering and national service programs. Wray-Lake’s scholarship is primarily focused on youth civic engagement, and her study will seek to identify effective strategies for supporting adolescents and young adults working to create a more just and equitable society. Working in collaboration with Elan Hope of Policy Research Associates and Emily Greytak of the American Civil Liberties Union, Wray-Lake will document the varied experiences and goals of youth activists and explore the role played by racial, ethnic, sexual and gender identities. The team will employ a multi-method approach that includes a survey of 1,500 young social change agents and an assessment of a social justice training program. “Our youth hold abundant potential to address society’s problems on local, national and global scales,” Wray-Lake said. “This project will help identify how best to support and sustain their civic engagement over time.”

Luskin Scholars Join UCLA’s New Initiative to Study Hate

October 12, 2022/0 Comments/in Luskin's Latest Blog Aaron Panofsky, Laura Wray-Lake /by Mary Braswell

UCLA is launching the Initiative to Study Hate, an ambitious social impact project that brings together a broad consortium of scholars to understand and ultimately mitigate hate in its multiple forms. Supported by a $3 million gift from an anonymous donor, researchers including UCLA Luskin scholars will undertake 23 projects this year, the first of a three-year pilot program. Through his work with the UCLA Institute for Society and Genetics, Aaron Panofsky, professor of public policy and sociology, will map the ways white nationalist groups selectively use and reject science to perpetuate themes of otherization and dehumanization online. Researchers from UCLA Luskin Social Welfare will participate in three projects: Doctoral student Emily Maurin-Waters and associate professor Laura Wray-Lake will examine prejudicial violence against LGBTQ youth and the impact of whether it is framed as bullying or a hate crime. Doctoral student Taylor Reed will lead a team including Sara Wilf and Victoria Millet MSW ’22 to study racism and discrimination within organizing spaces, as experienced by Black and Latinx individuals taking part in youth gun violence prevention movements. And assistant professor Brian Keum and doctoral student Michele Wong will join a team from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health that will explore the spillover effect on the mental health of Asian Americans in the wake of the mass killing of spa workers in Atlanta, Georgia. From Urban Planning, master’s student Eliza Franklin Leggett will disrupt the built environment in an Alabama town with a history of white supremacy by inserting historical markers documenting hidden Black histories.

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Wray-Lake Finds Differences in Youth Development During Trump Era

May 19, 2022/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Laura Wray-Lake /by Zoe Day

Associate Professor of Social Welfare Laura Wray-Lake spoke to PsyPost about the findings of her recent study “Youth are watching: Adolescents’ sociopolitical development in the Trump era.” Wray-Lake and her colleagues gathered survey data from 1,433 students over five years to better understand how the Trump era may have affected youth’s political development differently depending on their political orientation, as well as how historical moments shape adolescents’ development in lasting ways. “The Trump era was a volatile and highly politically polarizing time for the country,” Wray-Lake said. She found that adolescents who disapproved of Trump exhibited increases in race consciousness, deliberation skills and awareness of inequality. Adolescents who approved of Trump, in contrast, exhibited declines in awareness of inequality and race consciousness but increases in voting intentions. “These findings may be reflective of growing political divides, especially around acknowledging racism and other inequalities,” Wray-Lake said.

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Measuring the Trump Era’s Impact on Adolescents’ Sociopolitical Growth

March 31, 2022/0 Comments/in Luskin's Latest Blog Laura Wray-Lake /by Mary Braswell

A new paper co-authored by Laura Wray-Lake, associate professor of social welfare, measures the impact of former President Donald Trump’s early months in office on the sociopolitical development of American adolescents. Published today in the journal Child Development, the paper found that adolescents translate what they observe in the political world around them through the lens of their existing beliefs. The study shows that growing divisions in society are also evident among the nation’s youth. The authors, including Wray-Lake, researcher Danielle Dunn and doctoral student Jason Plummer, examined whether approval, disapproval or having no opinion of Trump in 2017 predicted shifts in sociopolitical development in 2018. Using a sample of 1,433 students in 9th through 12th grades who were racially, ethnically, geographically and politically diverse, the researchers measured experiences of marginalization, critical analysis of race and inequality, deliberation skills, and intended and actual political actions. “Youth who disapproved of Trump, especially Latinx youth, felt targeted and marginalized, likely as a product of Trump’s hostile rhetoric and policies toward multiple groups including Latinx immigrants,” the authors wrote. “Meanwhile, young supporters of Trump showed less awareness of inequality and placed less value on racial equality and diversity, suggesting that they may be adopting values and beliefs of like-minded political leaders.” The study also found that both supporters and detractors of Trump increased their capacity to engage politically compared to youth with no opinion. The authors noted that the study is relevant beyond the Trump years, as it offers a reminder that many adolescents are actively paying attention to politics.

Wray-Lake Helps Launch Journal’s Series on Racism and Youth

March 15, 2022/0 Comments/in Luskin's Latest Blog Laura Wray-Lake /by Les Dunseith

UCLA Luskin scholar Laura Wray-Lake served as co-editor of the March issue of the Journal of Research on Adolescence that features 17 papers and four commentaries that address the sweeping impact of racism and other systems of oppression on Black youth. Titled “Black Lives Matter!: Systems of Oppression Affecting Black Youth,” the special issue calls for new ways to combat racism and intersecting oppressions and improve the lives of Black adolescents. In their introduction, Wray-Lake and co-authors Dawn P. Witherspoon of Pennsylvania State University and Linda C. Halgunseth of the University of Connecticut write that the commentaries “provide a historical view and future perspective to contextualize how far we have come and how much farther we need to go in our quest to combat racism and other systems of oppression and improve the lives of Black adolescents.” The issue kicks off a series in which the journal will be focusing on dismantling systems of racism and oppression during adolescence. Wray-Lake, an associate professor of social welfare at UCLA, will also be co-editor for the second and third parts of the series, and she will be lead editor for the fourth, which will appear in the September issue of the journal.

Journal Explores Power of Youth to Effect Political Change Special issue featuring UCLA Luskin contributions aims to amplify the voices of youth within a system that often ignores them

February 3, 2021/1 Comment/in Education, For Faculty, For Policymakers, For Students, For Undergraduates, Politics, Public Policy, Public Policy News, School of Public Affairs, Social Welfare, Social Welfare News Carlos Santos, Laura Wray-Lake /by Mary Braswell

A new issue of the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology sheds light on the power of young people to effect political change even as their contributions are devalued or disregarded.

Published in the wake of the tumultuous 2020 election year, the special issue includes seven research papers and two commentaries that expand our understanding of political engagement among American youth, said Associate Professor of Social Welfare Laura Wray-Lake, who co-edited the issue with Benjamin Oosterhoff of Montana State University.

“Rapid changes in technology, growing political division and persistent experiences of racial injustice create a civic landscape that will have lasting effects on how young people approach politics for years to come,” Wray-Lake and Oosterhoff wrote.

The volume aims to amplify the voices of youth within a system that often ignores them and provide guidance to policymakers seeking to promote civic responsibility.

“Investment in young people’s political development should be an ongoing endeavor to improve the democratic health and functioning of our nation,” the editors wrote.

The special issue includes a commentary by Associate Professor of Social Welfare Carlos Santos, who argued for expanding the use of qualitative research methods to capture lived experiences of youth and “uncover the unique interplay between multiple sources of oppression and privilege.”

Research led by Veronica Terriquez, who will join the Urban Planning faculty this fall, is also featured in the volume. Terriquez’s study of Latino youth in California’s Central Valley shows how peer-to-peer organizing can be effective in mobilizing political movements even in regions hostile to immigrants and other communities of color.

Other contributors weigh in on structural barriers to youth political participation, including voting age restrictions and socioeconomic inequalities; the ability of Black youth to use critical reflection and political action to cope with individual, cultural and structural racism; the different ways that young people are affected by political polarization; and the importance of digital spaces in civic education.

Social Welfare Hosts International Youth Conference Young people from 180 countries participated online and in-person during a conference presented in collaboration with United Nations entities

UCLA Paper on Youth Electoral Engagement Wins UC-Wide Competition

Wray-Lake Wins Grant to Study Youth Civic Engagement

Luskin Scholars Join UCLA’s New Initiative to Study Hate

Wray-Lake Finds Differences in Youth Development During Trump Era

Wray-Lake Helps Launch Journal’s Series on Racism and Youth

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