Physical and psychological safety research review
- The University of Minnesota Center for Research and Outreach. (2017). Physical and psychological safety research review. Retrieved from: www.MilitaryREACH.org
- Positive youth development is supported by a myriad of individual, family, and community factors. These factors, both positive and negative, comprise youth’s environments. Nurturing, positive environments (e.g., youth programs, schools) have an important role in increasing positive youth development (Biglan, Flay, Embry, & Sandler, 2012; Bradshaw, Waasdorp, Debnam, & Johnson, 2014). In other words, youth programs are one of the aspects of youth’s environments that can bolster their development. One way youth programs successfully support positive youth development is by creating an environment where youth, youth workers, and administrators are safe from physical and psychological harm. Many youth report attending youth programs to avoid violence in their neighborhoods (e.g., Halpern, Barker, & Mollard, 2000), so it is imperative that youth programs offer a safe alternative within youth’s communities. The presence of physical and psychological safety in youth programs helps to provide a setting where youth can maximize learning new skills, engagement in enjoyable activities, and development of positive personal characteristics and relationships (Eccles & Gootman, 2002). As such, safety, both psychological and physical, is regarded as one of eight features of a high-quality youth program (Yohalem & Wilson-Ahlstrom, 2010).
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Research summaries convey terminology used by the scientists who authored the original research article; some terminology may not align with the federal government's mandated language for certain constructs.