This course has two aims: (1) to understand how risk and resilience processes and competence develop in social contexts and (2) to explore how preventions and interventions based on this developmental information can enhance competence. The course will emphasize how developmental processes of risk and resilience are affected by social contexts. Contexts to be studied range from the small-group, organizational, and community contexts up to the level of public policy and culture. The course will review strategies and systems of prevention and intervention that target change in these social contexts, and thereby reduce risk or increase adaptation. The course will also draw on multidisciplinary content from the fields of human development, education, developmental and community psychology, psychiatry, public health, and public policy. The first part of the course will focus on developmental theories relevant to a contextual approach to risk, resilience, and competence. The second part will explore, in depth, a range of strategies for prevention, intervention, and social change that show evidence of positive impacts on child and youth development.
Credits: 3.0