For more than 45 years, Dr. Peter C. Scales (A.B. (honors) Psychology, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Child & Family Studies from Syracuse University, 1976) has been a developmental psychologist, researcher, author, and speaker, internationally recognized as one of the world’s foremost authorities on the positive development of children and youth. With the late Dr. Peter L. Benson, he became the world’s leading researcher on the role of Developmental Assets–positive relationships, opportunities, values, attitudes, and skills–in the lives of children and youth. He was a senior leader in producing and disseminating the 40 Developmental Assets Framework, which in large measure because of his research became the most widely-cited approach to positive youth development in the world. He also co-created the institute’s more recent Developmental Relationships Framework for understanding and promoting positive, empowering relationships in young people’s lives. His special expertise is child and adolescent development, the reduction of inequities in developmental opportunities, and the development of healthy families, schools, and communities where all children and youth can thrive.
The surveys he has developed have been completed by more than 5 million elementary, middle, high school, and college-age youth worldwide. One of the surveys he helped to create, the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP), has been used to measure positive youth development in more than 30 countries outside the U.S., including in war refugee camps. Dr. Scales has overseen its translation into 30 languages other than English. He has received numerous grants, media coverage, and awards, including being named one of “America’s Visionaries for Children” by the Association of Child Advocates, and receiving the United States Administration for Children, Youth, and Families Commissioner Award for exceptional work in preventing child abuse, and a “spirit which is an inspiration to others.”
As Search Institute’s Senior Fellow for 23 years, he was a major contributor to Search Institute receiving the 2018 Society for Research on Adolescence Award for Organizational Excellence in Research and Programming for Youth. The award recognizes organizations that have made a major contribution to understanding youth and improving their lives. “Search Institute has shown exemplary leadership in its research-to-practice and translational work, which has positively influenced both research on adolescence and the lives of youth from diverse backgrounds, communities, and countries. Moreover, the Developmental Assets Framework has contributed to theory and research as evidenced by its prominence in the scholarly literature. As our field attempts to make more of a difference in the lives of young people and their families and communities, we know that your efforts to stimulate relevant research and practice are paving the way.”
In addition to his scholarly work, Dr. Scales is also a tennis teaching pro, certified by the U.S. Professional Tennis Association, and head JV tennis coach at Parkway South High School in Manchester, MO, where he has coached both boys’ and girls’ teams since 2008. Coach Pete’s Spring 2017 boys’ team achieved the first undefeated JV tennis season in South High’s history. In 2018, the boys’ team also went undefeated, becoming the first tennis team at any level to have back-to-back undefeated seasons in South High’s 42-year history. Coach Pete also has served as Mental Strength Consultant for the Washington University in St. Louis Men’s & Women’s Tennis Teams, and as Assistant Coach focusing on mental and emotional strengths for the Webster University (St. Louis) Men’s & Women’s Tennis Teams.
His book, Mental and Emotional Training for Tennis: Compete-Learn-Honor, was published in 2019 by Coaches Choice. Reviews from staff at the United States Tennis Association and the Positive Coaching Alliance, among others, call it “outstanding,” “exceptional,” “wise,” “practical,” and “inspiring.” The National High School Tennis Coaches Association called it one of the best books ever on the mental game. The book won the Finalist Award–Sports in the 2020 Best Book Awards sponsored by AmericanBookFest.com. Mental and Emotional Training for Tennis: Compete-Learn-Honor is available at https://www.amazon.com/Mental-Emotional-Training-Tennis-Scales/dp/1606794477, and coacheschoices.com.