A Critical-Positive Youth Development Model for Intervening With Minority Youth at Risk for Delinquency

Minority youths who experience adversity in the forms of concentrated poverty, neighborhood violence, and social marginalization are at increased risk for delinquency. Yet, traditional approaches to reducing delinquency do not typically account for these social-structural risk factors. This article proposes a model of intervening that was developed to address this limitation. The current model was informed by the findings of a 9-month ethnography of a leadership development program for African American youths as well as positive youth development and critical theory frameworks. It delineates the roles of key intervention features in enhancing important assets among minority youths that help them to better navigate adverse social-structural conditions, decrease problem behaviors, and increase prosocial behaviors.