“Powerless, But Not Helpless”: Exploring critical consciousness among adolescents in Germany

Critical consciousness (CC) is a robust framework to understand how adolescents navigate inequitable societies and engage in issues meaningful to them. This qualitative study explores how CC unfolds among adolescents in Germany, a relatively understudied context. Participants were 16 adolescents ( M age = 16.06 years, SD = 1.23, range = 14–18) from large and medium sized cities. Data were collected through in-depth interviews and diaries and analyzed through reflexive thematic analysis. In response to calls to integrate complementary frameworks into CC research, we employed the frameworks of PVEST and psychological empowerment to guide our analysis. We established three themes that illustrate how critical reflection, sociopolitical efficacy, and critical action are expressed across the contexts of adolescents. Lastly, we offer recommendations for future research and insights on how to support adolescents as they navigate their sociopolitical worlds.