Search Institutes 40 Developmental Assets

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Search Institutes 40 Developmental Assets
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Principals of Asset Building

• All children and youth need assets
• Relationships are key.
• Everyone can build assets.
• Asset building is an ongoing process.
• Delivering consistent messages is crucial.
• Duplication and Repetition are necessary.

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Eight Asset Types

• EXTERNAL ASSETS
• Support
• Empowerment
• Boundaries and Expectations
• Constructive Use of Time

• INTERNAL ASSETS
• Commitment to Learning
• Positive Values
• Social Competencies
• Positive Identity

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EXTERNAL ASSETS
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External assets refer to the positive
developmental environments and experiences that
surround young people. The main builders of
these assets for young children are parents and
other caregivers. As children grow older,
especially through adolescence, external assets
accumulate through interactions with parents,
neighbors, educators, congregations, coworkers,
and peers.
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Asset Type SUPPORT
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Support assets refer to the ways young people
experience love, affirmation, and acceptance, as
well as the kinds of environments where young
people feel welcome, safe and comfortable.
Children and youth need to experience support,
care and love from their families and many
others. They need organizations and institutions
to provide positive supportive environments.
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Family Support

• Family life provides high levels of love and
  support

64
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Positive Family Communication

• Young person and her or his parent(s) communicate
  positively, and young person is willing to seek
  advice and counsel from parent(s)

26
10
Caring School Climate

• School provides a caring encouraging environment

24
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Asset Type EMPOWERMENT
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Empowerment assets address everyones need to be
valued and feel valuable. Empowerment focuses on
the communitys perception of youth and the
opportunities that youth have to contribute to
society in meaningful ways. Children and youth
need to be valued by their community and have
opportunities to contribute to others for this
to occur, they must be safe and feel secure.
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Community Values Youth

• Young person perceives that adults in the
  community value youth

20
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Safety

• Young person feels safe at home, school, and in
  the neighborhood

55
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Asset Type BOUNDARIES
AND EXPECTATIONS
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Boundaries and expectation assets provide clear
signals about what is approved of and celebrated,
as well as what is not. Children and youth need
to know what is expected to them and whether
activities and behaviors are in bounds or out of
bounds. These messages should be consistent in
family, school, and community settings.
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Family Boundaries

• Family has clear rules and consequences and
  monitors the young peoples whereabouts

43
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School Boundaries

• School provides clear rules and consequences

46
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Positive Peer Influence

• Young persons best friends model positive,
  responsible behavior

60
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High Expectations

• Both parent(s) and teachers encourage the young
  person to do well

41
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Adult Role Models

• Parent(s) and other adults model positive,
  responsible behavior

27
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Asset Type CONSTRUCTIVE
USE OF TIME
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Constructive Use of Time assets involve creating
environments which offer opportunities for
meaningful experiences and skill development.
Children and youth need constructive, enriching
opportunities for growth through creative
activities and lessons, positive relationships,
supervision, youth programs, congregational
involvement, and quality time at home.
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Youth Programs

• Young person spends three or more hours per week
  in sports, clubs, or organizations at school
  and/or in the community

59
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Time at Home

• Young person is out with friends with nothing
  special to do two or fewer nights per week

50
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INTERNAL ASSETS
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Internal assets refer to the resolve, skills, and
values needed for strong character. Parents and
other caregivers nurture these assets from
infancy to adolescence. During the teen years,
these assets help provide young people with an
internal compass that guides them to make wise
choices.
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Asset Type COMMITMENT
TO LEARNING
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Commitment to Learning assets are crucial to
success in the workplace and for engaged
citizenship. Parental attitudes, encouragement,
involvement, and modeling are essential.
Children and youth need to develop a lifelong
commitment to education and learning.
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Achievement Motivation

• Young person is motivated to do well in school

63
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Bonding to School

• Young person cares about her or his school (shows
  spirit)

51
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Asset Type POSITIVE
VALUES
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Positive Value assets help develop the belief
system and convictions that guide positive
decisions and behaviors. Children and youth need
to develop strong values that guide their choices
such as caring, justice, integrity,
responsibility, and restraint.
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Caring

• Young person places high value on helping other
  people

43
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Integrity

• Young person acts on convictions and stands up
  for her or his beliefs

63
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Honesty

• Young person tells the truth when it is not easy

63
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Responsibility

• Young person accepts and takes personal
  responsibility

60
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Restraint

• Young person believes it is important not to be
  sexually active or to use alcohol or other drugs

42
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Asset Type SOCIAL
COMPETENCIES
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Social Competency assets are the attitudes and
skills that help youth function as independent
and capable individuals. Children and youth need
skills and competencies that equip them to make
positive choices, to build relationships, and to
succeed in life.
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Planning and Decision Making

• Young person knows how to plan ahead and make
  choices

29
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Interpersonal Competence

• Young person has empathy, sensitivity, and
  friendship skills

43
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Cultural Competence

• Young person has knowledge of and comfort with
  people of different cultural/racial/ethical
  backgrounds

35
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Resistance Skills

• Young person can resist negative peer pressure
  and dangerous situations

37
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Peaceful Conflict Resolution

• Young person seeks to resolve conflict
  nonviolently

44
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Asset Type POSITIVE
IDENTITY
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Positive Identity assets help develop in young
people a sense of direction, purpose, and
initiative. Children and youth need a strong
sense of their own power purpose, worth, and
optimism about their future.
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Personal Power

• Young person feels he or she has control over
  things that happen to me

45
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Self-esteem

• Young person reports having a high self-esteem

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Sense of Purpose

• Young person reports that my life has a purpose

55
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Positive View of Personal Future

• Young person is optimistic about her or his
  personal future

70
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It's a Fact

• The more assets children and adolescents possess
  has been shown to increase healthy development
  among children and youth.
• The more assets children and youth have, the less
  likely they are to engage in risk-taking
  behaviors fighting, bullying, alcohol and drug
  use, becoming depressed, attempting suicide,
  becoming sexually active, and developing an
  eating disorder.

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• All organizations, institutions, and individuals
  in a community play a role in building assets for
  children and youth.

• Girls typically have more developmental assets
  than boys. However, boys are more likely to have
  the following safety, youth programs,
  self-esteem, and sense of purpose.
• Asset building requires consistent messages. For
  asset building to be woven into the fabric of
  community life, it needs to be reinforced
  throughout all sectors of the community.