Perhaps no other challenge is more pressing in creating
"developmentally - tentive community and society" (the theme of this
book series) than mobilizing adultstoplayactive,
constructiverolesinthelivesofchildrenandadolescents.In a society that
too easily defaults to designing programs as cure-alls for meeting young
people's needs, particular attention must be paid to understanding and
mobilizing the kind of positive, relational energy that prepares each
successive generation to assume its place in society. Although programs
and institutions certainlyplayimportantroles,
thekeyliesinthepersonalcommitment, invol- ment, and investment of adults
in young people's lives. In Mobilizing Adults for Positive Youth
Development: Strategies for Closing the Gap between Beliefs and
Behaviors, E. Gil Clary and Jean E. Rhodes have ass- bled the insights
of leading scholars from multiple disciplines and contexts for engaging
a broad cadre of adults as allies for youth development. As the editors
write, thequestionguidingthebookis,"Howcanwemosteffectivelyencourage
adults, both individually and collectively, to begin to behave
differently with - spect to the young people of a community, to do so
consistently, and to do so in a variety of ways?" What is being
proposed, then, is nothing less than a social movement that engages
individuals, small groups, neighborhoods, workplaces, schools, faith
communities, and broader social institutions in attending to the
well-being and healthy development of young people.