Aida B. Balsano

Individual and Ecological Assets and Thriving Among African American Adolescent Male Gang and Community-Based Organization Members A Report From Wave 3 of the “Overcoming the Odds” Study

The third wave of the Overcoming the Odds longitudinal study involves data about individual and ecological developmental assets and thriving among African American male adolescents in inner-city Detroit gangs (N = 43) or in youth development, communitybased organizations (CBO; N = 50). Both groups had comparable levels of either low or high assets across the three waves. Stability in asset levels was not related to either of two measures of thriving or to a second measure of assets. The CBO youth had higher thriving and asset scores. More so for gang youth than CBO youth, there was evidence that asset and thriving scores were interrelated within this wave. Program and policy implications of these group differences are discussed.

Positive Individual and Social Behavior among Gang and Nongang African American Male Adolescents.

To explore potential bases of positive development among gang youth, attributes of positive individual and social behavior were assessed in individual interviews with 45 African American adolescent male members of inner-city Detroit gangs and 50 African American adolescent males from the same communities but involved in community-based organizations aimed at promoting positive youth development. As anticipated, the groups differed in regard to the majority of interview questions and to positive attribute scores pertaining to parents/family, peer relations, school/education, drug use, sexual activity, religious activities/religiosity, racial/ethnic identity, role models/confidants, and neighborhood/safety. The correlations of attributes scores were more often significant (i.e., coupled) for the gang than for the nongang youth. Consistent with the ideas that all young people have resources pertinent to positive development and that, therefore, gang and nongang youth would have some resource comparability, across the nine attributes, about one quarter of the gang youth had total positive attribute scores that were above the average total positive attribute score for the nongang youth. Implications of these findings for both research and applications to programs seeking to promote positive youth development among diverse youth are discussed.

Internal and External Developmental Assets Among African American Male Gang Members

The presence of individual and ecological assets for positive development was assessed through data derived from individual interviews with 45 African American adolescent male members of inner-city Detroit gangsand50 African American adolescent males living in the same communities but involved in community-based organizations (CBOs) aimed at promoting positive youth development.The CBO youth had higher levels of both domains of assets. However, all gang members possessed at least one asset, and 15.6% of the gang youth had a total mean asset score that was above the total mean asset score of the CBO youth. In turn, the asset scores for the former group were significantly more likely to be correlated than was the case for the later group. The implications of these findings are discussed in regard to the idea that all youth possess the potential for positive development and to the nature of policies and programs pertinent to enhancing the life chances of diverse youth.