Internal and External Developmental Assets Among African American Male Gang Members

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Abstract
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.