TRIBAL PROGRAM NEWS
Protective Factors Help Young People
Protective factors are
conditions that buffer young people
from the negative consequences of
exposure to risks by either reducing
the impact of the risk or changing
the way a person responds to the
risk. Consequently« enhancing
protective factors can reduce
the likelihood of problem
behaviors arising.
Some youngsters who are
exposed to multiple risk factors do
not become substance abusers,
juvenile delinquents, school
dropouts, or teen parents. Balancing
the risk factors are protective factors
- aspects of people’s lives that
counter or buffer risk. Research has
identified protective factors that fall
into three basic categories:
individual
characteristics,
bonding, and healthy beliefs
and clear standards.
To build bonding, three
conditions
are
necessary:
1) Opportunities, 2) Skills, and
3) Recognition.
Children must be provided
with opportunities to contribute to
their community, family, peers, and
school. The challenge is to provide
children
with
meaningful
opportunities that help them feel
responsible and significant.
Children must be taught the skills
necessary to effectively take
advantage of the opportunity they
are provided. If they don’t have the
necessary skills to be successful,
they experience frustration and/or
failure. Children also must be
recognized and acknowledged for
their efforts. This gives them the
incentive to contribute and
reinforces
their
skillful
performance.
Individual
Characteristics
Healthy Beliefs and
Clear Standards
- Research has identified four
individual characteristics as
protective factors. These are
characteristics children are bom
with, or enculturated with early in
life, and are difficult to change:
gender, a resilient temperament,
a positive social orientation,
and intelligence. Intelligence,
however, does not protect against
substance abuse.
The people to whom youth
are bonded need to have clear,
positive standards for behavior. The
content of these standards is what
protects young people. When
parents, teachers, and communities
set clear standards for children’s
behavior, when they are widely and
consistently supported, and when
the consequences for not following
the standards are consistent, young
people are more likely to follow
the standards.
(Excerpted from Developing
Healthy Communities, WestCAPT,
1998;
original
source,
Communities That Care: Risk and
Assessment, 1994)
Bonding
Positive bonding makes up
for many other disadvantages
caused by other risk factors or
environmental characteristics.
Children who are attached to
positive families, friends, school,
and community, and who are
committed to achieving the goals
valued by these groups are less
likely to develop problems in
adolescence. Studies of successful
children who live in high-risk
neighborhoods or situations
indicate that strong bonds with a
caregiver can keep children from
getting into trouble.
16
community, family, school, and
individual. You may use this
information as a checklist to
identify risk factors for your
children, family, or self. Contact
Lisa Brown or Rusty Butler at
541 -444-8286, or 1 -800-922-1399,
ext. 238, to schedule a time to meet
in person or send you information
to answer your questions on how
these factors can affect you, your
community, or family.
Community
Environment
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Family
Environment
•
•
•
•
Family history of problem
behavior
Family management problems
Family conflict
Favorable parental attitudes
and involvement in problem
behavior
School
•
•
•
Risk Factors
Risk
factors
are
characteristics
that
occur
statistically more often for those
who develop alcohol, tobacco, and
other drug problems, either as
adolescents or as adults. Recent
research points to a considerable
number of such factors, which are
divided into “domains” classified as
Availability of drugs
Availability of firearms
Community laws and norms
favorable toward drug use,
firearms, and crime
Media portrayal of violence
Transitions and mobility
Extreme economic deprivation
Low neighborhood
attachment and community
disorganization
Early and persistent antisocial
behavior
Academic failure beginning in
late elementary school
Lack of commitment to school
Individual/Peer
e
e
e
e
e
Alienation and rebelliousness
Friends who engage in the
problem behavior
Favorable attitudes toward the
problem behavior
Early initiation of the problem
behavior
Constitutional (biological)
factors
It’s important to recognize
that risk factors are only indicators
for the potential of problem
occurrence. While they can be
helpful in identifying children who
are vulnerable to developing
alcohol, tobacco, or other drug
problems, they are not necessarily
predicative for an individual child.
Children growing up under adverse
conditions often mature into
healthy, well-functioning adults.
In addition, the use of risk
factors to label children poses its
own risk. Consequently, there is
increasing attention on those factors
that seem to protect children from
developing alcohol, tobacco, or
other drug problems.
There are no simple solutions
for helping youth at high risk for
developing alcohol, tobacco, or
other drug problems. Reducing risk
factors and fostering resiliency are
part of a comprehensive approach
to prevention, and are consistent
with a public health approach to
reducing problems.
Information compliments of
1996 Developmental Research and
Program, and CSAP’s publication
“Breaking New Ground for Youth
at Risk. ”