| Deficit perspectives, where youths are represented as problems to solve and risks to avert, are evident throughout the approaches of applied research on youth development. Contemporary approaches have begun to reshape the way youth are viewed and consequently studied; youth are beginning to be viewed as assets to be developed by educational and societal systems. Previous research has established lists of strengths or assets which are related to positive developmental trajectories. Examples of positive youth development models include the lists of assets generated by Masten (2001) and Benson (2003) where 30 to 40 youth and environmental characteristics are categorized. These models, however, (1) rely heavily on perceived assets and do not attempt to include actual developmental assets, (2) neglect child traits such as age, gender, and ethnicity, (3) lack evidence relating assets to psychological variables of positive youth development, such as self-efficacy, and (4) offer shallow understanding of relationships among assets, such as cumulative effects or the unique contribution of developmental assets on positive youth development.;This dissertation addressed these gaps in the literature by implementing a unique methodology in which participant photographs were coded to identify actual developmental assets available in urban youth development. Through both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analyses, this study examined differences in assets across youth traits (e.g., age, gender, and ethnicity), and investigated empirical relationships between assets and psychological youth outcome variables. Qualitative coding procedures validated the use of the photography technique as well as suggested several factors that comprise positive urban youth development. Quantitative results support an ecological model of development and highlight the need to include youth traits in positive developmental models. This study, however, found a lack of evidence relating assets to psychological outcome variables. Moreover developmental assets were not cumulative and did not uniquely contribute to positive outcomes. This study raises several critical questions about measuring developmental assets related both to survey instruments and photographic techniques. This exploratory study is a step towards understanding how the capacity of positive youth development approaches can improve the efficacy of programs, policies, and systems serving youth and their families. |
