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- Title
Positive Development in a Disorderly World.
- Authors
Larson, Reed W.
- Abstract
Adolescents need to develop competencies to navigate an adult world that is complex and disorderly: a world of heterogeneous macro- to microecological systems containing contradictions and catch-22s. This exploratory essay examines adolescents' conscious processes of developing pertinent competencies for pursuing goals (agency) in these kinds of 'real-world' settings. It draws on qualitative longitudinal research on youth's experiences working on arts and community projects in which they encounter the irregular dynamics of complex human systems. I describe how youth develop 'strategic thinking': executive skills for formulating strategies based on forecasting dynamics in navigating these systems. I also describe how youth learn to manage emotions (in self and others) that arise in these real-world transactions and how they develop motivation that sustains their work toward goals. Even as we learn more about the biological hardware of development, I argue that we must study youth's conscious, proactive processes in developing their own 'software' to navigate complex and disorderly human worlds.
- Subjects
ESSAYS; TEENAGERS; SOCIAL conditions of youth; ADOLESCENT psychology; COGNITIVE ability; COMMUNITY development
- Publication
Journal of Research on Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), 2011, Vol 21, Issue 2, p317
- ISSN
1050-8392
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/j.1532-7795.2010.00707.x