Community-Driven Cultural Literacy to Reorient the Symbolic Meaning of Sopi: A Service-Learning Approach to Youth Delinquency Prevention
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67412/jppm.v2i2.51Keywords:
Community Engagement, Cultural Literacy, ormal Social Control, Service-Learning, Symbolic ReorientationAbstract
This study develops and evaluates a community-driven cultural literacy model grounded in service-learning to reorient the symbolic meaning of sopi as a cultural heritage of Maluku, with the aim of strengthening cultural identity, reinforcing informal social control, and preventing youth delinquency in Ambon City, Indonesia. The study addresses the transformation of sopi from a customary symbol of kinship, reconciliation, and social legitimacy into a marker of peer-group identity and recreational alcohol consumption among adolescents, a shift that has intensified social risks yet remains insufficiently addressed through culturally grounded interventions. A Community-Based Participatory Research approach with an embedded mixed-methods design was employed. Data were collected through focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, participant observation, document analysis, and a service-learning intervention involving universities, customary institutions, schools, families, religious leaders, and youth organizations. Program effectiveness was assessed using a pretest–posttest design complemented by reflexive thematic analysis. The findings demonstrate that community-based service-learning significantly enhanced participants’ cultural literacy, restored understanding of the symbolic values of sopi, strengthened positive cultural identity and community attachment, and reinforced informal social control, thereby reducing the social acceptance of sopi as a symbol of peer status. The study proposes the Community-Driven Cultural Literacy Model for Symbolic Reorientation, offering a culturally grounded framework for integrating indigenous knowledge into community engagement, youth development, and sustainable cultural preservation.
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