Positive Youth Development and Youth Participation and Leadership: Linking Research and Application

Part 1

1. Key Facets of the PYD Perspective
   1. Emphasis on youth strengths and the promotion of PYD
   2. Belief that all youth have the potential to develop positively
   3. Youth are embedded in families, schools, and communities that can nurture their development
   4. Both youth and their ecologies are active contributors to the developmental process
   5. By aligning the strengths of youth with the resources for healthy development present in their ecologies, PYD may be promoted
2. The “Big Three” Program Characteristics that are Effective in Promoting PYD
   1. Promote caring and sustained adult-youth relations.
   2. Emphasize the development of life skills among youth.
   3. Promote youth participation in and leadership of every facet of the program.
3. Three Key Hypotheses of the 4-H Study
   1. PYD consists of “Five Cs:”

      The Five Cs
      Competence	→ Contribution
      Confidence
      Character
      Caring

   2. Across adolescence, positive youth development occurs (that is, youth “thrive”) when the strengths of young people are aligned with the resources for healthy development (“developmental assets”) present in their communities.

   3. Youth Development (YD) programs constitute key developmental assets promoting PYD.
4. The Conceptual Model Guiding the 4-H Study

   Model

Suggested Readings:

• Floyd, D. T., & McKenna, L. (2003). National youth organizations in the United States: Contributions to civil society. In D. Wertlieb, F. Jacobs, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.) Promoting positive youth and family development: Community systems, citizenship, and civil society (pp. 11-26). Volume 3 of Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Lauritzen, P., & Guidikova, I. (2003). European youth development and policy: The role of NGO’s and the Public Authority in the making of European citizens. In D. Wertlieb, F. Jacobs, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.) Promoting positive youth and family development: Community systems, citizenship, and civil society (pp. 363-382). Volume 3 of Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Reese, W. S., & Thorup, C. L. (2003). An alliance for youth development: Second-generation models of intersectoral partnering. In D. Wertlieb, F. Jacobs, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.) Promoting positive youth and family development: Community systems, citizenship, and civil society (pp. 53-84). Volume 3 of Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Tardieu, B. (2003). International poverty movements and organizations as spaces of freedom for the child, adolescent, and family development: The example of the fourth world movement. In D. Wertlieb, F. Jacobs, & R. M. Lerner (Eds.) Promoting positive youth and family development: Community systems, citizenship, and civil society (pp. 123-150). Volume 3 of Handbook of applied developmental science: Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development through research, policies, and programs. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
• Lerner, R. M. (2004). Liberty (Chapter 7).