Think Globally, Act Locally: A Global Perspective on Mobilizing Adults for Positive Youth Development

Abstract

Educators, social scientists, and human service workers have contributed importantly to theorizing youth development and to investigating and defining normal development and its vicissitudes. More recently, those with applied interests have designed and evaluated programs and engaged in more hands-on advocacy with and for youth. Despite this crucial work the editors of this volume, among others, argue that a large percentage of the adult population is not involved with youth, and they urge that we consider new strategies for mobilizing adults for positive youth development. A series of questions emerged for us as we considered this mandate from the perspective of our international fieldwork and years of collaborating with youth and adults in community-based psychosocial and development programs. Specifically, we have been challenged to consider: What do youth today really need? And, what do they want? Who is best positioned to identify, evaluate, prioritize, and address youth’s needs and concerns? It is perhaps a truism among social scientists today that the development and best interests of youth are likely to be defined differently in different social contexts. Based