Issue 149: july 2011

Be long ing:  par tic i pat ing  in  a  ther a peu tic

girls’ lunch group;

 

Mas tery:  learn ing keyboarding skills to fa -

cil i tate her goal of work ing in an of fice and 

al low ing her to com plete her com mu nity

ser vice in the school’s front of fice by fos -

ter ing  her  strength  in  com mu ni ca tion

skills; 

In de pend ence:  par tic i pat ing  in  a  sub -

stance abuse treat ment pro gram to fos ter

self-con trol  and  re spon si bil ity  of  her  ad -

dic tive  be hav iors  and  de velop  pos i tive

cop ing  strat e gies;  and 

Gen er os ity:  read ing to and tu tor ing youn -

ger stu dents by tar get ing her strength and

in ter est  in  read ing. 

En list ing the Young Per son on the

Search  for  Re stor ative  So lu tions 

As maladaptive pat terns are chal lenged, 

new in sights and strat e gies to deal with

chal lenges are formed. These are in cor po -

rated  into  the  stu dent’s  De vel op men tal

Audit and growth plan. The im por tance of 

en list ing the young per son is val i dated by

neu ro sci ence (Baker, 2007). Youth who

can  com mu ni cate  about  con flict  and

trauma are able to de velop new neu ral

path ways for re sil ient cop ing. The per -

son’s story is piv otal in ther apy (Baker,

2007). Tell ing a co her ent story about one’s 

life en ables the brain to in te grate mem ory, 

knowl edge, and feel ing (Siegel, 1999).

Young peo ple are able to make sense of

what has al ways seemed ir ra tio nal and to

en vi sion more promising outcomes

(Baker, 2007). 

Con clu sion 

Un der stand ing  the  in di vid ual  youth  is

the ul ti mate goal of as sess ment. Tra di -

tional  as sess ment  tech niques  mea sure

youth  against  norm-ref er enced  cri te ria,

and al though use ful, these in stru ments

pro vide scant in for ma tion about the func -

tion or pur pose of the be hav ior and the

in ter ven tions  that  might  pro duce  growth

and change (Buetler & Malik, 2002).

Blend ing  real  world  in for ma tion  di rectly

from  the  ul ti mate  ex pert  (the  in di vid ual

youth)  with  tra di tional  as sess ment  in for -

ma tion from mul ti ple data sources

pro vides  a  foun da tion  for  de vel op ing  re -

stor ative goals and pos i tive growth plans.

The  De vel op men tal  Audit  fos ters  a  re -

spect ful  al li ance  and  re sil ient  cop ing

strat e gies. The Audit is the missing link in

merging assessment process with

strength-based interventions. 

Ref er ences 

Adler, A. (1932). Un der stand ing  human  na ture.

Lon don: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd. 

Baker, P. W. (2007). Neu ro sci ence and the

help ing pro cess. In N.J. Long, W.C. Morse,

F.A. Fecser, & R.G. Newman (Eds.), Con flict 

in the class room: Pos i tive staff sup port for

trou bled  stu dents  (6th ed.) (pp. 695-708).

Aus tin, TX: PRO-ED. 

Brendtro, L., Brokenleg, M., & Van Bockern, S.

(2002). Re claim ing youth at risk: Our hope for 

the fu ture (Rev. ed.). Bloomington, IN:

Na tional  Ed u ca tional  Ser vice. 

Brendtro, L., & du Toit, L. (2005). Re sponse

Abil ity Path ways: Re stor ing bonds of re spect.

Cape Town: Pre text Pub lish ers. 

Brendtro, L., du Toit, L., Bath, H., & Van

Bockern,  S.  (2006).  De vel op men tal  au dits

with  chal leng ing  youth.  Re claim ing  Chil dren

and Youth, 15(3), 138-146. 

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Brendtro, L., & Shahbazian, M. (2004). Trou bled

chil dren and youth: Turn ing prob lems into

op por tu nity.  Cham paign, IL: Re search Press. 

Buetler, L., & Malik, M. (Eds.). (2002). Re think ing 

DSM:  A  psy cho log i cal  per spec tive.

Wash ing ton,  DC:  Amer i can  Psy cho log i cal

Association.

Cantrell, M. L., Cantrell, R. P., Valore, T. G.,

Jones, J. M., & Feeser, F. A. (1999). A

re visi ta tion  of  the  eco log i cal  per spec tives

on  emo tional/be hav ioral  dis or ders

[Mono graph].  CCBD Mini-Li brary Se ries, 3, 8.

Hobbs, N. (1982). The trou bled and trou bling

child. San Fran cisco: Jossey-Bass. 

Koehler, N. (2006). Team plan ning to CLEAR up 

prob lems.  Re claim ing  Chil dren  and  Youth,

15(3), 155-161. 

Long, N. J., Wood, M., & Fecser, F. A. (2001).

Life  space  cri sis  in ter ven tion:  Talk ing  to

chil dren and youth in cri sis. Aus tin,  TX:

PRO-ED. 

Redl, F. (1966). When we deal with chil dren. New 

York: The Free Press. 

Seligman, M., & CSikszentmihalyi, M. (2000).

Pos i tive  psy chol ogy:  An  in tro duc tion.

Amer i can  Psy chol o gist,  55(1),  5-14. 

Siegel, D. J. (1999). The  de vel op ing  brain  mind:

How re la tion ships and the brain in ter act to

shape who we are. New York: Guilford

Press. 

From: Re claim ing  Chil dren  and  Youth,

Spring 2008, pp24-27.

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CYC-Online July 2011  /  Issue 149

“The Ed u ca tional Psychologiost says he has the view ing age of a twelve-year-old.”

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