Native American Children and Youth Well-Being Indicators

Proposed Model to CompareHuman Well-Being ConceptsA model is proposed here that portrays twoviews of human well-being that influence thedevelopment of well-being indicators for childrenand youth. This model is based on the ecologicaltheory (Hepworth, Rooney, & Larson, 1997), theperson in the environment perspective (Kemp,Whittaker, & Tracey, 1997), and symbolic interaction(Blumer, 1993). These theories provide aframework from the behavioral and social sciencescontext to orient one’s thinking andassumptions about the proposed model.The Two Views of Well-Being Model is illustratedin Figure 1. Human well-being is separated intotwo major components: the compartmentalizedworldview and the relational worldview. 13 Thesetwo views of human well-being are opposite infocus: one favors the individual in an individualisticsociety (Western world), and the other favorsthe group in a collective tribal society (Indigenousworld). Different cultural norms, beliefs, societalvalues, and assumptions support each of thetwo worldviews.Using the compartmentalized worldview (basedon a Western worldview of how life is conceptualizedand organized), mind, body, and spirit areconsidered to be separate and unique entities. Inthe compartmentalized worldview, there are fourelements: influences from the deficit perspective,orientation towards pathology, a focus on disease,and support for the medical model. Thesefour elements influence how behavior, affect, andcognitive aspects are viewed. The spiritual elementis separated from the other elements and isseen as less important or unrelated.The compartmentalized worldview is linear indirection with time, movement, and conceptsseparated into complete units on their own.These elements create and affect one’s thinkingabout how well-being indicators are defined andcategorized. The deficit perspective is utilized asa mechanism of how to view the behavior of childrenand families. Measurements of social,health, education, employment, and many otherareas of human behavior become the mainsource of societal well-being indicators. Wellbeingindicators are analyzed by national organizations,and these data generate local, state, andfederal reports and documents to evaluate howwell children are doing in our society over time.Examples of the well-being indicators are infantmortality, child death, teenage birth, low birthweight, and children living in poverty. These indicatorsreflect at-risk behaviors that need to beidentified, and eventually this informationbecomes the basis of developing programs toimprove these social and cultural areas. Theseindicators are illustrated in the boxes as separateentities in a linear position. The proposed modelillustrates how the compartmentalized worldviewinfluences human behavior and how this behavioris described and organized.20