The 5 C’s – The Indicators of Positive Youth Development
The 5 C’s model is familiar to many who work in the youth development sector. While its origins and evidence base are largely American based, it has been applied in the youth context of Aotearoa for some time. This model focuses in particular on key areas to be developed and strengthened for each young person in order to support healthy development.
The 5 C’s have been framed over the years as the key indicators of Positive Youth Development (PYD). Introduced by Karen Pittman, Merita Irby and Thaddeus Ferber in 2001 [3], and researched in depth by Richard Lerner and colleagues [20], these 5 C’s provide a way to conceptualise what PYD looks like.
Psychologist Dr Richard Lerner later stated that a young person who is strong in the 5 C’s will, over time, be on a pathway to developing the 6th C which is ‘contributions’ to self, family, community and institutions of a civil society.
These 6 C’s have been linked to the positive outcomes of youth development programmes and are viewed as describing the characteristics of thriving youth [20].
The 5 C’s of Positive Youth Development
Competence: A positive view of one’s actions in specific areas, including social and academic skills.
Confidence: An internal sense of overall positive self-worth and self-efficacy.
Connection: Positive bonds with people and institutions that are reflected in exchanges between the individual and their peers, family, school, and community and in which both parties contribute to the relationship.
Character: Respect for societal and cultural norms, possession of standards for correct behaviours, a sense of right and wrong (morality), and integrity.
Caring: A sense of sympathy and empathy for others.
The Five C’s lead to a Sixth C – Contribution
Contribution: Contributions to self, family, community, and to the institutions of a civil society.
Working with young people to develop and strengthen the 6 C’s will contribute significantly to developing the whole person.
References
[3] Pittman, K., Irby, M., & Ferber, T. (2001). Unfinished business: Further reflections on a decade of promoting youth development in Public/Private Ventures (Ed.), Youth development: Issues, challenges, and directions, pp. 17–64. Philadelphia: Public/ Private Ventures.
[20] Lerner, R., Lerner, J., et al., (2013). The Positive Development of Youth: Comprehensive Findings from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development. National 4-H Council: Chevy Chase, MD.
Additional resources