Inter­nal assets focus on the inner life, and guide an individual’s choices and actions. Com­mit­ment to learn­ing, pos­i­tive val­ues, social com­pe­ten­cies, and pos­i­tive iden­tity are the four inter­nal cat­e­gories of human development.

Exter­nal assets are pos­i­tive devel­op­men­tal expe­ri­ences. The social­iz­ing sys­tems of the com­mu­nity should pro­vide chil­dren with sup­port, empow­er­ment, bound­aries and expec­ta­tions, and con­struc­tive use of time as pos­i­tive devel­op­men­tal expe­ri­ences of human development.

The Search Insti­tute devel­oped a frame­work of forty devel­op­men­tal assets for the first decade in a child’s life. Fam­i­lies, neigh­bor­hoods, schools, busi­nesses and other orga­ni­za­tions are respon­si­ble for the pro­vi­sion of build­ing blocks for healthy child devel­op­ment. Car­ing for chil­dren or the shared vision of healthy child devel­op­ment reflects the society’s health.