Indicator: Youth With Caring Neighbors

Outcome (s): Children and youth respected, safe and nurtured in their communities

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 (Sampson et 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 Source 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.