Tapping Into Your Inner Superhero: Positive Interventions for At-Risk Youth Organizations
Penn collection
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poverty
positive psychology interventions
PERMA
Character Strengths
Teen
Youth Non-Profit
Child Psychology
Community-Based Research
Community Psychology
Counselor Education
Developmental Psychology
Education Policy
Industrial and Organizational Psychology
Race and Ethnicity
School Psychology
Social Psychology
Social Psychology and Interaction
Social Welfare
Urban Studies
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Abstract
Childhood poverty has been linked with gaps in physical, emotional, and cognitive outcomes. Previous research sheds light on potential interventions for helping at-risk youth. We combine these findings with proven positive psychology interventions to create a curriculum for an organization serving at-risk youth in Trenton, New Jersey. The workshops are geared towards teaching components that enable lasting well-being using existing positive psychology frameworks, such as Martin Seligman’s PERMA. We also adapt lessons using VIA Character Strengths and resiliency factors for an adolescent population, and leverage behavioral modeling, self-agency, and environmental mastery to create sustainable programming. If successful, these interventions may teach us how positive psychology can enable flourishing in at-risk youth populations.