Two Kinds of Assets

What’s the relationship between Family Assets and Developmental Assets?

First there were Developmental Assets, which Search Introduced to youth development in 1990. Now, there are Family Assets, which Search Institute is introducing in 2012.

Why two frameworks? What do they have in common? How are they different? How do they work together?

What Do They Have in Common?

Both Developmental Assets and Family Assets are . . .

  • POSITIVE: They share a philosophy that emphasizes strengths more than problems;
  • BASED IN GOOD SCIENCE: They are based in extensive scientific research;
  • RESONATE ACROSS DIVERSITY: They are relevant for different groups of people in society, while also recognizing the unique strengths and challenges of particular groups;
  • ACTIONABLE: They emphasize everyday experiences, relationships, and traits that people can change, empowering everyone to make a positive difference in their own lives and the lives of others;
  • RELEVANT TO PRACTICE: They reflect the wisdom and insights of practitioners, the public, and experts.
  • COMMON GROUND: They focus on factors that the vast majority of people value or see as important, thus creating common ground for community building and shared vision in a pluralistic society.
  • LINKED TO OUTCOMES: They are empirically related to positive outcomes.
  • COMPREHENSIVE: They are both balanced and holistic, emphasizing the “ecology” of development.

How Are They Different from Each Other?

Though Family Assets and Developmental Assets overlap, they are also different in important ways:

Family Assets Developmental Assets
  • Focus on what families need to be strong and successful together.
  • Focus on experiences, relationships and personal qualities that help children and youth succeed.
  • Focus on the roles that families as a whole play in promoting the well-being of all of its members.
  • Emphasize strengths that help individual young people succeed.
  • Highlight the dynamics within families as a whole (including how it connects to the community).
  • Highlight many strengths in many areas of a young person’s life, including personal, social, family, school, and community.
  • Includes factors that simultaneously benefit the family unit as well as the individual youth and individual adults.
  • Focus on factors that specifically benefit young people.

Download a PDF of the Family Assets Framework

Download a PDF of the Developmental Assets Framework

How Do They Work Together?

When linked, the Developmental Assets and the Family Assets provide the most thorough articulation, to date, from Search Institute of the contexts young people need to thrive.

  • Some of the assets in each framework are very similar to each other. They are direct links between the two frameworks, though the asset names, definitions, and measurement sometimes differ. (That’s partly because the Family Assets take into consideration the needs and perspectives of both youth and parenting adults.) Some of these overlapping assets include:
Family Assets Developmental Assets
  • Positive communication
  • Positive family communication
  • Shared activities
  • Time at home
  • Defined boundaries
  • Family boundaries
  • Neighborhood cohesion
  • Caring neighborhood; Neighborhood boundaries
  • Relationships with others
  • Other adult relationships
  • Enriching activities
  • Creative activities; Youth programs; Religious community
  • The two asset frameworks are mutually reinforcing. Family Assets (which could be thought of as one kind of “external assets” for young people) contribute to and benefit from young people’s internal assets, such as social competencies, positive values, and positive identity.
  • Developmental Assets can be a starting point for talking about Family Assets. If the focus of your efforts is on young people’s development, the Family Assets give a more in-depth look at the dynamics in families that help to build Developmental Assets. If your focus is on strengthening families, you can use the Developmental Assets to emphasize how individuals contribute to and benefit from a strong, asset-rich family.

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