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Transforming Pathology into Purpose: A New Vision for Positive Youth Development
For over three decades, Search Institute’s applied research has been foundational to the practice field of youth development across multiple sectors and systems. Together with other innovators in the field, our work sparked the Positive Youth Development (PYD) movement, which coalesced around the belief that all young people have strengths and reshaped how youth-serving programs and professionals as well as neighborhoods, families, businesses, health care providers, religious institutions, and other resources within young people’s developmental ecosystem understood and approached adolescence.
Search Institute and the field are now reaching a critical juncture. We’re at a moment with an opportunity for a knowledge transfer to a new generation of PYD scholars that are coming into leadership with both a deep respect for the first wave of PYD and with new sensibilities to more effectively address issues of equity, inclusion, and justice. This is also a time when the newest generation of youth workers – most of whom grew up in the shadow of No Child Left Behind and the hyper-focus on grades and accountability – are hungry for the energy, possibility, and connectedness that come from the deep well of applied knowledge and research available in PYD, particularly when integrated with the new generation of research.
Recognizing and nurturing strengths is particularly salient in a time when young people are being increasingly portrayed as trapped in a mental health crisis, victims of predatory social media empires, and/or as reckless perpetrators of crime. These narratives risk disempowering young people, families, peers, educators, youth workers, clergy, and others from their genuine capacity to make a difference through their everyday interactions with and advocacy for youth. Furthermore, the nation’s polarization and its mindsets about young people also bring urgency to regenerating a shared commitment to a strength-based shared vision for young people in the United States and globally. It is time to move beyond a pathology-based narrative toward a purpose-based vision that harnesses the incredible potential that all youth have to thrive when provided equitable access to relationships and resources.
As we continue to achieve our mission of promoting PYD and advancing equity for young people, we are deeply invested in identifying ways to scale our impact sustainably. This work is motivated by a central question, “How might we empower action across the broad youth support ecosystem with a reimagined approach to positive youth development, enabling all youth to thrive?”
In this talk, Ben will share some of the ways Search Institute is thinking about this central question in hopes of stimulating meaningful dialogue and generating fresh perspectives. The goal is to inspire collaborative action and innovative approaches that not only honor the legacy of PYD but also adapt it to meet the complex challenges of today's world. Together, we can forge a path that ensures every young person has the opportunity to thrive.
Speaker:
Dr. Benjamin Houltberg, a developmental scientist, former tenured faculty member and experienced marriage and family therapist, has been president and CEO of Search Institute since 2021. He feels strongly about the role of youth development work and has a sense of purpose around investing in a generation that will have tremendous impact not only on the future, but the here and now. As CEO, he amplifies the message of a shared responsibility to promote youth thriving, while also inspiring Search Institute to always have the organization’s vision in mind. He works closely with Search Institute’s many partners and is focused on recruiting a diverse group of talented individuals to address the needs of the communities that the organization serves. He is widely published on topics such as adolescent social and emotional development, resilience through relationships, and character and identity development through sports.