Culture Counts: Examining the Effectiveness of a Culturally Focused Empowerment Program For At-Risk Black Girls

<p>Traditionally, many of the problems experienced by Black girls were overshadowed by the ongoing crises facing Black Males. Although important, the focus on Blackness and masculinity often implicitly leaves young Black girls on the sidelines and fails to recognize their unique obstacles. Fortunately, there has been a new surge of social concern revolving around the plight of Black girls in the school system. New estimates report that Black girls are facing an educational crisis in regards to disproportionate discipline practices and academics (Morris, 2012). To date, there has been very limited research in regards to school-based interventions that have been designed to help Black girls explore both their cultural and gender identity. This is problematic because Black girls are constantly confronted with deeply embedded stereotypes that reinforce racial and gender biases both in and outside the classroom (Morris, 2007). A key protective factor of combating negative messages and racial adversity is developing a positive racial identity (Case & Robinson, 2003). To address this problem, a mixed-methods study was conducted to investigate the feasibility and effectiveness of implementing an 8-week cultural empowerment program based on the Sisters of Nia curriculum. Qualitative results indicated a significant improvement in the participants’ racial identity and self-concept. In addition, single-subject data has found the Sisters of Nia curriculum to have a positive impact on verbal aggression, which was evidenced by a significant reduction in behavior for all four single-subject participants’. These findings serve as further support to incorporate culturally-based interventions at the school level.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

School Psychology

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Aston, Candice Nicole

Contributors dc:contributor

• Scott Graves
• Kara McGoey
• Temple Lovelace
• Tiffany Townsend

• Afrocentric Intervention; Black girls; Culture

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/161

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1170