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...interventions court-involved youth.
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Youth development life-course research both offer promising new perspectives on the treatment of adolescent behavior problems, but their implications for practice have not yet been adequately explicated. In this article, we review the current literature on positive youth development and the life-course perspective as they apply to the development of problem behavior among those involved with the juvenile justice system. More specifically, we provide clinically relevant strategies for counseling court-involved youth.
The Youth Development Perspective
Several basic philosophies underlie the youth development perspective. First, it is an ecological, asset-based approach that promotes healthy development. By providing supportive environments, challenging yet developmentally appropriate activities, and community connections, this perspective allows for positive adolescent growth. Such growth, also known as "thriving," includes cognitive and behavioral competence, confidence, positive social connections, character, and caring during the second decade of life (Hamilton, Hamilton, & Pittman, 2004; King et al., 2005). Second, rather than focusing exclusively on reducing risk factors, the youth development perspective endorses strength-based programs in which youth are provided opportunities to build relationships with positive and supportive peers and adults through involvement with challenging activities. Third, the youth development perspective emphasizes the active role that youth should play in the selection, development, and evaluation of programs and services in which they participate. This perspective is in sharp contrast to traditional prevention or treatment programs in which youth are primarily viewed as unempowered recipients of such services (Hamilton et al., 2004). The final underlying philosophical theme of youth development is that when provided sufficient structure and opportunities, youth can build on their strengths and overcome traditional risk factors to successfully negotiate the transition to adulthood (Roth & Brooks-Gunn, 2003).
The Search Institute is one of the driving forces in both generating research on youth development and disseminating the youth development philosophy. Specifically, the Search Institute (n.d.) created the 40 Developmental Assets[R] (see Table 1). The assets framework conceptualizes children's social and psychological environments in terms of the series of assets or strengths that serve as the "building blocks of healthy development" (Scales & Leffert, 1999, p. 2). The assets are divided into two broad categories: those representing internal factors (e.g., commitment to learning, positive values, social competencies, positive identity) and those highlighting external factors (e.g., support, empowerment, boundaries and expectations, constructive use of time; Scales & Leffert, 1999).
Consistent with the Search Institute's perspective, the goal of youth development programs is to build the internal and external assets of children and adolescents, thus enabling them to develop prosocial behaviors and avoid negative or problematic behaviors (Roth, Brooks-Gunn, Murray, & Foster, 1998). Research indicates that the more assets youth possess, the less likely they are to exhibit those behaviors that bring them to the attention of the judicial system, most notably violence, substance abuse, and alcohol use (Scales, Benson, Leffert, & Blyth, 2000; Scales & Leffert, 1999). Several indicators of thriving are linked with having a greater number of assets, such as school success, maintaining good health, and delaying gratification. For example, a study of nearly 100,000 youth from more than 200 U.S. communities compared the presence (or absence) of assets with prosocial (or deviant) behavior (Scales & Leffert, 1999). Results supported the "pile-up hypothesis": The more assets youth possessed, the less likely they were to have engaged in risky behaviors and the more likely they were to have demonstrated positive behaviors (Benson, Scales, Hamilton, & Sesma, 2006). For example, of the youth with 0-10 assets, 61% experienced violent behavior, whereas only 6% of youth were violent who had 31-40 assets. The pattern is similar for both substance abuse (42% with 0-10 assets vs. 1% with 31-40) and problem alcohol use (53% with 0-10 assets vs. 3% for 31-40; Scales & Leffert, 1999). In contrast, whereas only 7% of adolescents with 0-10 assets succeeded in school, 53% of those with 31-40 assets succeeded. Only 27% of those with 0-10 assets delayed gratification, whereas 72% of those with 31-40 assets delayed gratification (Scales & Leffert, 1999). Communities that adopt the Search Institute's asset framework are encouraged to diagnose and prioritize community needs and to engage multiple community entities at a variety of levels in strengthening the availability and support of youth assets.
Other youth development programs have goals similar to that of the Search Institute. In a National Research Council report, Ecdes and Gootman (2002) highlighted the role that communities can play in promoting positive development by emphasizing the personal and social assets that enhance well-being. Many researchers, prevention-oriented scientists, and social service agencies have been drawn to the Communities That Care (CTC; Hawkins & Catalano, 2004) model another youth development approach. The appeal of the CTC framework is its precise and prescriptive nature, as well as its offer of rigorously tested evidence-based programs (Whitlock & Hamilton, 2003).
Although all youth development programs share an emphasis of promoting normal and healthy adolescent development, counselors and other service providers must still grapple with the reality of problem behaviors. A drug-addicted or delinquent adolescent is certainly not thriving and may have mental health needs that would not be sufficiently addressed solely through a youth development program. In fact, court-involved youth typically present with a variety of behavior problems, ranging from truancy to serious substance abuse problems--most of which co-occur with other mental health problems (Donovan & Jessor, 1985; Rutter, Giller, & Hagell, 1998). A series of developmental or life-course theories emerged during the 1990s that acknowledged the influence of early behavior problems and the tendency toward continuity over the life course (Kellam & Rebok, 1992; Moffitt, 1993). In the following section, we briefly review some of the most prominent developmental life-course theories and discuss their relevance to counseling court-involved youth.
Life-Course Research and the Development of Behavior Problems
Several researchers (e.g., Moffitt, 1993; Nagin & Tremblay, 2001; Patterson & Yoerger, 1997) have sought to specify and quantify differences in types of offending patterns based on the onset, persistence,...
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