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.
55
CYC-Online July 2011 / Issue 149
“The Ed u ca tional Psychologiost says he has the view ing age of a twelve-year-old.”