Читать книгу Child Development From Infancy to Adolescence - Laura E. Levine - Страница 65

For many years, research in the field of child development came from a perspective that has been called a disease model (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The primary focus was on understanding the cause of problems in people’s lives and finding ways to restore their functioning and well-being. Beginning in the late 1990s, psychologists began to think more about people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses and to look for ways to foster optimal outcomes for all individuals, not just those who were struggling. Rather than fixing what is broken, the goal of positive psychology is to nurture what is best in the individual (Seligman, 2011; Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). Using this approach, researchers have identified a number of human strengths including courage, optimism, interpersonal skills, perseverance, and insight that allow all people not only to survive, but to flourish.

The influence of positive psychology on the study of child development is clearly seen in the positive youth development movement. The framework for positive youth development is based on a set of developmental assets that support optimal development for all children, not just those who are at risk. These assets not only allow the child to cope with challenges, but also to take advantage of opportunities. You will learn more about the positive youth development movement in Chapter 15, but research guided by the positive youth development perspective appears in many topics throughout the book.

Positive youth development: An approach to finding ways to help all young people reach their full potential.