Abstract
The issue that frames this volume is the strengthening of the human development infrastructure in American communities. This infrastructure is concerned with the patterns and rhythms of relationships, resources, opportunities, and experiences—and the programs and policies that undergird them—for raising competent, connected, and successful children and adolescents. Since 1990, my work, and that of my colleagues at Search Institute, has focused on an action research agenda designed both to understand the role of community in human development and to position communities as co-learners with Search Institute in creating sustainable strategies for unleashing their human development capacity. As of fall, 2001, nearly 700 American urban, suburban, and rural communities in more than 30 states have launched initiatives based on this work.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Belsky, J. (1981). Early human experiences: A family perspective. Developmental Psychology, 17, 3–23.
Benson, P. L. (1990). The troubled journey: A portrait of 6th–12th grade youth. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Benson, P. L. (1996a). Developmental assets among Minneapolis youth: The urgency of promoting healthy communities. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute
Benson, P. L. (1996b). Uniting communities for youth. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Benson, P. L. (1997). All kids are our kids: What communities must do to raise caring and responsible children and adolescents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Benson, P L. (1998). Mobilizing communities to promote developmental assets: A promising strategy for the prevention of high-risk behavior. Family Science Review, 11, 220–238.
Benson, P. L., Galbraith, J., & Espeland, P. (1998a). What kids need to succeed: Proven, practical ways to raise good kids. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.
Benson, P. L., Galbraith, J., & Espeland, P. (1998b). What teens need to succeed: Proven, practical ways to shape your own future. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.
Benson, P. L., & Leffert, N. (2001). Developmental assets in childhood and adolescence. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. New York: Elsevier Science.
Benson, P. L., Leffert, N., Scales, P. C., & Blyth, D. A. (1998). Beyond the “village” rhetoric: Creating healthy communities for children and adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 2,138–159.
Benson, P. L., & Libbey, H. (2001). Minneapolis promise: Reflections on the journey. The Center, (Summer), 54–67.
Benson, P. L., & Pittman, K. J. (Eds.). (2001). Trends in youth development: Visions, realities and challenges. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Benson, P. L., & Saito, R. N. (2000). The scientific foundations of youth development. Youth development: Issues, challenges, and directions, pp. 125–147. Philadelphia: Public/Private Ventures.
Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., Leffert, N., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (1999). A fragile foundation: The state of developmental assets among American youth. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., & Mannes, M. (in press). Developmental strengths and their sources: Implications for the study and practice of community building. In R. M. Lerner, F. Jacobs, & D. Wertlieb (Eds.), Promoting positive child, adolescent, and family development: A handbook of programs and policy innovations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Blyth, D. A., & Leffert, N. (1995). Communities as contexts for adolescent development: An empirical analysis. Journal of Adolescent Research, 10, 64–87.
Boyte, H. C. (2000). The struggle against positivism. Academe, 86, 46–51.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development: Experiments by nature and design. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bronfenbrenner, U., & Morris, P. A. (1998). The ecology of developmental processes. In R. M. Lerner (Ed.), The handbook of child psychology: Vol 1. Theoretical models of human development (5th ed., pp. 993–1028). Editor in chief: W. Damon. New York: Wiley.
Burt, M. R, Resnick, G., & Novick, E. R. (1998). Building supportive communities for at-risk adolescents. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Damon, W. (1997). The youth charter: How communities can work together to raise standards for all our children. New York: Free Press.
Dryfoos, J. G. (1998). Full-service schools: A revolution in health and social services for children, youth, and families. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Farkas, S. & Johnson, J. (1997). Kids these days: What Americans really think about the next generation. New York: Public Agenda.
Garmezy, N. (1985). Stress-resistant children: The search for protective factors. In J. E. Stevenson (Ed.), Recent research in developmental psychopathology. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry Book Supplement, No. 4 (pp. 213–233). Oxford: Pergamon Press.
Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Miller, J. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early childhood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 64–105.
Jessor, R. (1993). Successful adolescent development among youth in high-risk settings. American Psychologist, 48,2117–2126.
Jessor, R., Graves, T. D, Hanson, R. C., & Jessor, S. L. (1968). Society, personality, and deviant behavior: A study of a tri-ethnic community. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic Press.
Jessor, R., Van Den Bos, J., Vanderryn, J., Costa, F. M., & Turbin, M. S. (1995). Protective factors in adolescent problem behavior: Moderator effects and developmental change. Developmental Psychology, 31. 923–933.
Kretzmann, J. P., & McKnight, J. L. (1993). Building communities from the inside out: A path toward finding and mobilizing a community’s assets. Evanston, IL: Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research.
Leffert, N., Benson, P. L., & Roehlkepartain, J. L. (1997). Starting out right: Developmental assets for children. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Leffert, N., Benson, P. L., Scales, P. C., Sharma, A. R., Drake, D. R., & Blyth, D. A. (1998). Developmental assets: Measurement and prediction of risk behaviors among adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 2, 209–230.
Leffert, N., Scales, P. C., Vraa, R., Libbey, H., & Benson, P. L. (2001). The impact of developmental assets on adolescents’ academic achievement. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute (paper under review).
Lerner, R. M. (1982). Children and adolescents as producers of their own development. Developmental Review, 2, 342–370.
Lerner, R. M. (1986). Concepts and themes of human development (2nd ed.). New York: Random House.
Lerner, R. M. (1992). Dialectics, developmental contextualism, and the further enhancement of theory about puberty and psychosocial development. Journal of Early Adolescence, 12, 366–388.
Lerner, R. M. (1995). America’s youth in crisis: Challenges and options for programs and policies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Lerner, R. M., Fisher, C. B., & Weinberg, R. A. (2000). Toward a science for the people: Promoting civil society through the application of developmental science. Child Development, 71, 11–20.
Luthar, S. S., Cicchetti, D., & Becker, B. (2000). The construct of resilience: A critical evaluation and guidelines for future work. Child Development 71, 543–562.
Masten, A. S., & Curtis, W. (2000). Integrating competence and psychopathology: Pathways toward a comprehensive science of adaptation in development. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 529–550.
McKnight, J. (1995). The careless society: Community and its counterfeits. New York: Basic Books.
Norris, T., Ayre, D., & Clough, G. (2000). Facilitating community change. San Francisco: Grove Consultants International.
Pittman, K., Irby, M., & Ferber, T. (2001). Unfinished business: Further reflections on a decade of promoting youth development. In P. Benson & K. Pittman (Eds.), Trends in youth development: Visions, realities and challenges (pp. 3–50). Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Putnam, R. D. (1996). The strange disappearance of civic America. American Prospect, 24, 34–50.
Roehlkepartain, E. C. (1998). Building assets in congregations: A practical guide for helping youth grow up healthy. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Roehlkepartain, J. L., & Leffert, N. (2000). What young children need to succeed: Working together to build assets from birth to age 11. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit.
Roth, J., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). What do adolescents need for healthy development? Implications for youth policy. Social Policy Report, 14, 3–19.
Saito, R. N., Sullivan, T. K., & Hintz, N. R. (2000). The possible dream: What families in distressed communities need to help youth thrive. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L, Leffert, N., & Blyth, D. A. (2000). Contribution of developmental assets to the prediction of thriving among adolescents. Applied Developmental Science, 4, 27–46.
Scales, P. C., Benson, P. L., & Roehlkepartain, E. C. (2001). Grading grown-ups: Adults report on their real relationships with kids. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute and Lutheran Brotherhood.
Scales, P. C., & Leffert, N. (1999). Developmental assets: A synthesis of the scientific research on adolescent development. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Seligman, M. E., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55, 5–14.
Starkman, N., Scales, P. C., & Roberts, C. (1999). Great places to learn: How asset-building schools help students succeed. Minneapolis, MN: Search Institute.
Zigler, E. (1990). Preface. In S. J. Meisels & J. P. Skonkoff (Eds.), Handbook of early childhood intervention (pp. ix–xiv). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Zigler, E., Taussig, C., & Black, K. (1992). Early childhood intervention: A promising preventative for juvenile delinquency. American Psychologist, 47, 997–1006.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Benson, P.L. (2003). Developmental Assets and Asset-Building Community: Conceptual and Empirical Foundations. In: Lerner, R.M., Benson, P.L. (eds) Developmental Assets and Asset-Building Communities. The Search Institute Series on Developmentally Attentive Community and Society, vol 1. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0091-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0091-9_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-4919-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-0091-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive