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The Sisterhood Group: A Culturally Focused Empowerment Group Model for Inner City African American Youth

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Journal of Child and Adolescent Group Therapy

Abstract

The author presents a model for group work that is designed to empower youth by helping them feel good about themselves, centering them in their culture and values, and promoting prosocial peer networks. The model has been used predominantly with African American females in the District of Columbia through a school-based program called the “Sisterhood Group.” By emphasizing principles designed to build and sustain an African American community that affirms moral values and is capable of defining and defending its interests positively and productively, the group model enhances self-esteem, empowers individual group members, and promotes a sense of group unity. Dr. Maulana Karenga's (1999) Kawaida philosophy informs the model which incorporates rituals, symbols, affirmations, African proverbs, rhythm and song in establishing a group-as-a-whole culture that empowers its members.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. District of Columbia Department of Mental Health, Village Learning Center Charter School, Washington, D.C

    Charneta C. Scott (Mental Health Specialist)

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  1. Charneta C. Scott
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Scott, C.C. The Sisterhood Group: A Culturally Focused Empowerment Group Model for Inner City African American Youth. Journal of Child and Adolescent Group Therapy 11, 77–85 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014793731071

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1014793731071

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