Positive Youth Development Approach: a Model Specific to Türkiye

Abstract

Positive Youth Development (PYD) has received increasing attention among researchers worldwide and has played an important role in the creation of youth development strategies and policies across many countries. However, previous research in the field of PYD has suggested that separate studies should be conducted for each different context (especially culture). As a result, the need to determine the positive development indicators of young people in their own context has emerged. There is currently a lack of scientific research focused on developing adapting the PYD model specifically to the context of Türkiye. This study aims to test a PYD model applied to Turkish contexts by benefiting from the insights of experts working in the field of youth development. Using the Delphi Method, we determined the indicators/attributes in two consecutive stages with a panel of youth development experts (Stage 1: n = 715 and Stage 2: n = 334). In the first Delphi phase, we collected the responses of the participants (3,724 meaningful words, phrases, or sentences) with an open-ended question. In the second Delphi phase, we presented the 17 indicators/attributes we created through the data to the approval of the participants using a 5-point Likert scale. In the second phase, participants reached consensus on all 17 indicators/attributes (over 80% for 5 features and over 90% for 12 features). 56.2% of the participants chose morality, 40.4% the desire to learn, 30.8% responsibility, and 30.2% honesty as the most important indicators. All but two of the 17 indicators in the model (respect and awareness/consciousness) overlapped with one indicator of at least one of the current models in the literature. The findings showed that when determining developmental indicators/attributes for the PYD in Türkiye, the contexts in which young people live (especially culture) should be taken into account. In addition, the findings suggest that trying to adapt only one of the models developed in different contexts directly to young people in other contexts may cause other indicators that are seen as important and needed in their own contexts to be overlooked.