YOUTHS AND COMMUNITIES - TOWARD COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGIES FOR YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

Society's conventional response to problems of young people-such as te enage pregnancy, school dropout, substance abuse, juvenile delinquency , and violence-is to target a specific problem and develop interventio n or prevention programs for individuals who manifest the problem or a re at high risk of it. Research shows that overlapping risk and protec tive factors affect the occurrence of all of these problems and that p revention strategies aimed at enhancing youths' development, reducing communities' specific risks, and strengthening protective factors are likely to be more successful than programs addressing the problem beha viors themselves. Among such strategies deserving wider consideration are ''comprehensive community initiatives'' that create collaborative partnerships among public officials, service providers, primary instit utions, and citizens to promote the wellbeing of children, youths, and families.