Positive Youth Development

Abstract

IntroductionA review of the literature on mainstream child psychology and related disciplines showed that there has been much emphasis on child and adolescent developmental problems for a long time. While it is perfectly legitimate to look at child and adolescent problems, there are two problems with this approach. First, over-emphasis on problems would reinforce a pathological orientation. As such, children and adolescents may be seen as "problems" or "issues" to be fixed. Second, this approach may overlook talents, potential and abilities in young people.Because of the limitations of the "deficiency" or "pathological" approach in understanding children and adolescents, there has been a greater interest in positive youth development programs in recent years with a shift from looking at the negative to turning the related programs and approach into something positive and highlighting the positive side of youth development. This has resulted in a focus on talents, strengths, interests and potential in order to facilitate a stronger and better youth development. Instead of viewing children and adolescents as "problems" or "issues" to be resolved, they should be regarded as "resources" and "assets" to be developed. In particular, it is argued that it is important to nurture the developmental assets such as psychosocial skills in children and adolescents. The notion of positive youth development bears a striking resemblance to the beliefs of Chinese medicine which maintain that when a person has inner strengths, the chance of becoming ill would be reduced.Different models on the developmental assets of children and adolescents have been proposed. For example, Benson (1) proposed that there are 40 developmental assets that are conducive to the holistic development of adolescents. Besides, psychosocial competencies (such as behavioral, cognitive, social, and emotional competencies) have been regarded as the building blocks of healthy development in children and adolescents (2).From the successful programs on positive youth development, Catalano et al. (3) found that 15 positive youth development constructs were intrinsic to the successful intervention programs. These constructs include bonding (such as the presence of healthy adults and positive peers), social competence (such as interpersonal skills and ethnic identity), emotional competence (such as the recognition and management of one's emotions), cognitive competence (such as the ability to think critically and creatively), behavioral competence (such as saying "no" to peer pressure), moral competence (such as differentiating right from wrong), self-efficacy (such as the belief in one's own ability), development of prosocial norms (such as the promotion of prosocial behavior), resilience (such as fostering recovery in the face of adversity), self-determination (such as setting goals and making wise choices), spirituality (such as developing one's own meaning of life and choice of values), beliefs in the future (such as optimism and positive orientation to the future), clear and positive identity (such as self-esteem and positive self-image), opportunity for prosocial involvement (such as the promotion of voluntary work), and recognition for positive behavior (such as rewarding positive behavior of young people).Obviously, there is a need to develop evidencebased positive youth development programs which can help to promote holistic youth development. Typically, there are several steps involved. First, a well-articulated theory must be chosen as the theoretical model of the developmental asset under focus (e.g., self-concept theory, self-efficacy theory and moral competence perspective). Second, curriculum materials based on the chosen area are developed. In particular, experiential learning approach and activities are commonly used. Besides, strategies pertinent to teaching and learning are devised. Third, we need training for potential program implementers. …