Framing Youth Development for Public Support (PDF)

Since 1999, the nonprofit FrameWorks Institute has investigated howAmericans think about social issues--from children and youth toeducation and race--and how scientists, policy experts, andadvocates can do a better job of engaging the public in solutions.FrameWorks Institute's empirical approach integrates essentialconstructs from the cognitive and social sciences to investigatethe worldviews and patterns of thinking that ordinary people enlistwhen considering social problems. The goal of this approach is todeliver communications strategies that are grounded in research andhave the potential to change the public debate if they areeffectively deployed.

This volume focuses on the theory, research, and practice ofFrameWorks' decade of work in evidence-based communicationsstrategies for child and youth issues. The articles explain wherethis approach is situated within the broader conversation oncommunications for social change; why an iterative, multimethodprocess is necessary to determine the communications strategiesthat will elevate the public dimensions of children's and youth'sdevelopmental trajectories; and how experts and advocates areapplying these evidence-based communications strategies to theirwork on behalf of children and youth.

This is the 124th volume of New Directions for YouthDevelopment, the Jossey-Bass quarterly report seriesdedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helpingyoung people, including scholars, practitioners, and people fromdifferent disciplines and professions. The result is a uniqueresource presenting thoughtful, multi-faceted approaches to helpingour youth develop into responsible, stable, well-roundedcitizens.