Lisa L. Hosack

Relationships Matter — But Which Ones?

Everyone knows that relationships matter. But few of us pause to ponder exactly *which* relationships matter. Recently, I came across a study by the well-regarded Search Institute, a Minnesota research group whose early work identified a range of protective factors for young people — developmental assets — and has morphed in recent years to studying how to create resilient young people with strong character, whatever the child’s particular circumstances. Key to developing such young people, they’ve discovered, are what they refer to as *developmental relationships*, or those between a young person and an adult or peer that are characterized by the expression of care, the challenge to grow, support, shared power, and the expansion of possibility.