Why This Is Important

Feeling cared for is a basic need, especially for young people. Part of feeling respected is feeling
cared for, and the ability to recognize that others care is associated with the development of
compassion for others. Research on violence in communities has found that "social cohesion
among neighbors" is a significant predictor of levels of violence in a community--the more
cohesion, the less violence (Sampsonet al, 1997). The bonding that can occur for a young
person as a result of feeling cared for and respected is a protective factor against risky behavior.

Where We Stand

Similar to previous results, 76% of all youth agree/strongly agree that “In my neighborhood or
town, there are a lot of people who care about me”. Only 9% of all respondents disagreed/strongly
disagreed with this statement.

Similar data was explored on a national survey of 6th to12th grade youth performed by the Search
Institute in 2003. The Search Institute utilizes two developmental assets of young people, asset 4,
“Caring Neighborhood,” and asset 5, “Caring School Climate.” They found that 37% of the respondents experienced caring neighbors while 29% felt that the school provided a caring, encouraging environment.

Data Sources and Context

This Maine Marks indicator is adapted from the work of the Search Institute
(www.search-institute.org) and their research into developmental assets of young people.
The developmental assets framework is popular with many who work in the field of youth
development. The data source for this indicator is a statewide random digit dial telephone
survey of Maine youth in grades 9 – 12 conducted by Critical Insights, a strategic marketing
research firm in Portland, Maine. A total of 402 youth participated in the interviews for this
2005 report, interviews were completed by January 2006. The youth were asked the following
question: “Please tell me how much you agree or disagree with the following statement: In my
neighborhood or town, there are a lot of people who care about me”. Due to funding limitations,
surveys were not conducted in 2003.

NOTE: For all years, only the data in the “all” column is statistically representative of
youth in this age group statewide; the gender and grade level breakdowns are provided for
descriptive purposes only and are not representative of all Maine youth in this age group.

National data comes from the Search Institute Profiles of Student Life: Attitudes and Behaviors
Survey. This 2003 survey reached approximately 150,000 6th to12th grade youth in 202 communities
across the United States. Complete results and explanation can be found at
http://www.search-institute.org/research/assets/assetfreqs.html.