IHAF Urban Black Youth Urban Black Youth
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Addressing the Developmental
Needs of Urban, African-American
Youth: A Preventive Intervention
Michael D’Andrea
This article describes the design and implementation of a multiservice,
community-based intervention aimed at promoting the personal and career
development of urban, African-Americanyouth.
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I t is estimated that there are 31.3 million African-American persons
in the United States. More than one third of these persons are younger
than 18 years (10.4 million), with another 3.5 million identified as
being between 18 and 25 years of age (US.Bureau of the Census,
1992).This large group of young persons constitutes almost half of the
total African-American population in the United States.
In light of thisdemographic profile, it is tragic the degree to which many
African Americans endure major impediments in their personal,
educational, and career development. Close scrutiny of the results of
natiod survgrs pertaining to educational attainment, unemployment, and
poverty r a b among Afiican Americans in general, and Black urban youth
in particular, reflect continuing (and in many instances worsening) trends
that call out for immediate attention and sustained action by professional
counselors and educato~~.
Regarding educational attainment, it is reported that 36% of all
African Americans who are 25 years of age and older do not possess a
high school diploma in this country. This is in sharp contrast to a 22%
rate for White Americans of the same age (U.S. Bureau of the Census,
1992). To make matters worse, there are currently more Black youth
“receiving their ‘education’ in US. prisons than in college” (Rvera,
Jackson, &Jackson, 1993, p. 1).
Recognizing that an individual‘s level of educational attainment is often
related to his or her employment status, it should not be surprising to find
a higher than average unemployment rate among Afiican Americans.
What is distressing, however, is the fact that the national Black
~~
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~~~
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT
Michael D’Andrea is an associate professor with the Department of Counselor Education
at the Uniuersity of Hawaii,M a n w Room 222 Wist Hall Annex 1776 Uniuersity Avenue,
Honolulu, HI 96822. H e is the former program coordinator for the “I Have A Future
Program”
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
57
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unemployment rate (13%)continues to remain two and a half times as
high as the unemployment rate for White persons (U.S. Bureau of the
Census, 1992). When focusing on African-American youth residing in
the central cities of the United States, it is not uncommon to find the
unemployment rate to increase to 50% to 60% in many metropolitan
areas (Rivera et al., 1993).Concern about these statistical fhdings should
be further heightened when it is recognized that, although these
unemployment rates are the same or slightly lower than any year in the
1980s, they are substantially higher than most years in the 1970s.
A combination of low educational attainment and high unemployment
predictably has a negative impact on other aspects of a person’s life. This
point is made most clear when examining the national poverty rates for
African Americans. In this regard, recent national studies indicate
that 32.7% of all African Americans are living below the federal
guidelines for poverty (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1992). When
attention is directed to subgroups within the total African-American
population, such as Black youth ( 17years of age and younger) and young
adults (18 to 25 years) residing in the urban areas, the poverty rates
increase to 50%and 37%, respectively (U.S. Department of Commerce).
These findings reflect the social and economic realities of life for
hundreds of thousands of urban, African-American adolescents and
young adults across the nation. Given this scenario, many youth find
the odds against entering a satisfying and legitimate career and rising
out of poverty so overwhelming that they channel their energies
instead toward more realistic, though less constructive, “street life
careers.”Interest in these alternative “careers”stimulates the development
of lucrative urban networks, commonly referred to as “youth gangs,”
whose “occupational interests” include drug dealing, auto theft, armed
robbery, and prostitution, to name a few.
Professional counselors are frequently called on to assist urban youth
in developing skills and attitudes necessary to successfully access
America’s labor market. Yet, a sober assessment of the cumulative impact
of these efforts over the past 10 years indicates that counselors are,in
fact, losing ground in this area. Despite this lack of success, it is suggested
that professional counselors are compelled to be persistent in reassessing
the limitations of past interventions, using the knowledge gained from
making such an assessment to develop innovative interventions that will
have a positive impact on this often underserved group of adolescents
in the future.
With this challenge in mind, program planners working with the “I Have
A Future Program” (IHAF) at Meharry Medical College in Nashville,
Tennessee, designed a multiservice career development project to serve
African-American adolescents residing in economically depressed parts of
z
58
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
that city. In deciding what kinds of services would be most useful in
working with this group of youth, the program planners focused on a
number of individual, educational, economic,and employment barriers that
were observed to impede the development of these adolescents.
Acknowledging that these barriers would have to be reduced ifteenagers in
the targeted communitieswere to have a reasonable chance of realking their
personal and career potential, the IHAF program planners designed a
comprehensive, community-based intervention consisting of three
interrelated service components that are discussed next.
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EXPANDING TRADITIONAL CAREER
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
In conducting a comprehensive community needs assessment before
designing this project (D’Andrea,Foster, &Arthur, 1987). the program
planners observed that 86%(N= 43 1)of 497 randomly selected “heads
of households” from the targeted communities identified “job training”
as one of the most desirable services that they would like to see
initiated in their communities. This broad-based level of support for
employmenttminingsmiceswasnot surprisinggiventhe high unemployment
rate among adolescents in the targeted areas and the elimination of many
job training programs that occurred in the 1980s (Taylor, 1990).
The program planners agreed that there are numerous traditional
career development counseling services that are useful in addressing
the skill deficits of urban youth. This includes services designed to
promote adolescents’job search, resume writing, and interview skills.
Accepting that counselors would do well to help promote these sorts
of career development skills among African-American urban youth,
the IHAF program planners designed a program that incorporated
such traditional counseling services. The program was introduced in
two of Nashville’s low-income housing projects in which 99% of the
residents were African Americans. The participants in this new program
ranged in age fkom 14 to 17 years. The IHAF Career Development Project
was designed to serve four specific purposes. This included (a)promoting
adolescents’career awareness, (b)facilitating the acquisition of a number
of preemployment skills, (c) increasing participants’ level of personal
discipline, and (d) cultivating effective problem-solving skills. To
accomplish these goals, the program planners developed a career
development training course that was specifically designed for the
target population. The program was composed of eight class sessions
(2 hours per session) that were held twice a week for 4 weeks.
The IHAF counselors used a variety of counseling and development
services in organizing the curriculum for these classes. MrsL this included
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
59
zyxwv
consulting with and recruiting several successful African-American
individuals who were viewed as experts in l d businesses and economic
development endeavors. These persons were selected because they were
considered to be positive role models who were willing to volunteer time
to participate in the program by sharing their knowledge of the current
and future employment trends in the community.
Second, the counselors designed a number of structured group
activities to stimulate adolescents’ critical thinking skills by posing a
variety of “career problems” that were discussed in small discussion
groups. During the class meetings, participants were asked to consider
different ways that they might approach these career problems. Next,
members of the group were asked to explain how they might go about
dealing with various career problems. Then, the other members of the
group were called on to offer constructive feedback regarding the
efficacy of the problem-solving strategies presented by their peers.
Third, the IHAF counselors orchestrated a number of job intenriew role
plays to help the adolescentsto develop more effective communication skiUs
in this sort of situation. At the end of the role plays, group members would
comment on the “actor’s”verbal and nonverbal “messages,”as well as the
appropriatenessor inappropriateness of his or her personal appearance for
a job interview. Other topics covered during these class meetings included
discussing strategies for conducting a job search and examining important
components to include when writing a personalresume.
Although this aspect of the program was composed of various
activities that are t y p i d y associated with traditional career development
interventions (i.e., such a s activities designed to increase awareness of
career trends and promote interview communication skills), the IHAF
project was distinguished h m many other conventional interventions by
the multicultural counseling orientation that was integrated into the
curriculum format. The following discussion describes how the IHAF
counselors integrated an Afrocentric perspective in the class discussions
and curriculum materials.
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MULTICULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
Programs designed to serve the personal and career development
needs of urban, African-American youth have more impact when they
reflect sensitivity to the unique cultural characteristics of this group
of adolescents (Lee & Richardson, 1991). Advances in the fields of
developmental and multicultural counseling over the past two decades
offer mental health professionals numerous theoretical models and
guidelines that practitioners may find useful when designing and
implementingcounselingstrategies that are developmentallyappropriate and
60
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
zyxw
zy
culturally sensitive for this group of adolescents. The “MinorityIdentity
Development Model” is one such framework (Atkinson, Morten, & Sue,
1993).
Counselors will find this five-stage model to be particularly helpful in
understanding the diverse psychological perspectives that characterize
African-American youth. For instance, individuals operating at Stage 1
(the Conformist Stage) tend to follow the lead of the dominant societal
group in choosing role models, lifestyles, and a personal value system.
In contrast, youth who are at the Resistance and Immersion Stage
(Stage 3)are observed to actively resist White middle-class values and
more strongly identify with an Afrocentric worldview (Asante, 1988).
Thus, youth operating from various stages of the Minority Development
Model will present counselors with a diverse set of challenges that
require different intervention strategies to effectively promote their
personal and career development.
Another important multicultural consideration involves the milieu in
which services are provided. In this regard, experts have suggested
that expecting minority youth to participate in career development
programs that are set up in predominantly White, middle-class areas
creates a host of problems that reduce the delivery of effective counseling
or training among this group of clients (Sue, 1981). One way of
overcoming this ditsculty is to develop neighborhood-basedinterventions
that stress community outreach and preventive mental health services
in their program philosophy (Lewis & Lewis. 1989).
In attempting to use this sort of community-based approach, I
coordinated consultation efforts with neighborhood residents, church
leaders, and local officials in setting up the IHAF Career Development
Program at two community centers located in targeted, low-income
housing areas. The results of these consultative-outreach services
helped to clarify the purposes of the planned intervention, provide a
forum for residents to have input into the planning of the project, and
consolidated support among the parents of the adolescents residing in
the targeted areas.
The IHAF project went a step further, however, in attempting to
address the unique cultural characteristics of those persons participating
in the project. The IHAF counselors integrated a variety of traditional
career development services (such as individual and small group
counseling sessions, and setting up job-readiness training classes)within
a context that reflected an Afrocentric worldview (Asante, 1988). This
multicultural counseling venue was built around seven life principles
called the Nguzo Saba (Kunjufu, 1986). Deliberate attempts were
consistently made to integrate discussions of these life principles
among the program participants.
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Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
61
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For example, one of the Nguzo Saba life principles is referred to as Nia,
meaning one’s “purpose in life.” From an Afrocentric perspective, an
individual‘s purpose is directly tied to helping build and strengthen one’s
family and community. Thus, in the IHAF classes, counselors initiated
group discussions that explored the adolescents’ Nia by exploring the
importance of working in achieving specific personal and career goals to
help promote the well-being of their families and community.
Another one of these life principles is referred to as Kujichaguha
(“self-determination’).Kujichagulia emphasizes the importance of having
persons define for themselves, create for themselves, and speak for
themselves instead of being defined, created, and spoken by others
(Kunjufu, 1986).To accommodate this life principle into the curriculum
format, the IHAF counselors used various values clarification and
assertiveness skill development activities with the youth participatingin the
career development classes.
The other Nguzo Saba principles include U m j a (“unity’’), Ujima
(“collective work and responsibility”). l.@unaa(“cooperative economics’),
Kuumba (“creativity”),and Imani (“faith’). Collectively, these principles
represent cultural values that reinforce the healthy development of
Afiican-American youth. Kunjufiis (1986) fiamework for motivating and
preparing Afiican-American adolescents for work was a quite helpful
resource in assisting the IHAF counselors in incorporating this
multicultural approach into the IHAF career development project.
Beyond increasing the availability of traditional career development
services within a context that reflected sensitivity and respect for the
cultural background of the program participants, the IHAF counselors
also directed their energies toward modifying other environmental
barriers known to interfere with the adolescents’ personal and career
development. These efforts were thought to be a very important
component of the program because the IHAF counselors realized that, if
the project was to be successful, a number of systemic changes would
have to be made in the communities in which they were working.
THE NEED FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGE: THE IMPORTANCE
OF INDIRECT COUNSELING SERVICES
America’s urban, African-American youth not only suffer from their
own personal, political, and economic impotency but by a lack of
concerted advocacy by politicians, private indushy leaders, and professional
counseling and education organizations. Serious advancements in the
personal and career development of poor, urban, African-American
youth requires a host of systemic changes including modifying public
policy, redirecting private industry training initiatives, creating new
62
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
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career development programs at the local level, and expanding
community education-organizing projects.
To become a relevant part of these changes, counselors are encouraged
to consider the usehlness of Lewis and Lewis’ Community Counseling
framework. In presenting this model, Lewis and Lewis (1989)discussed
numerous types of indirect counseling services that offer much potential
in promoting constructive systemic changes at the local level.
This approach was adopted by the IHAF counselors to improve the
career options of their clients. To help familiarize the IHAF counselors
with the community counseling framework, I scheduled several
in-service staff development conferences with the program counselors
to present the basic concepts of the community counseling model. As
a result of participating in these staff development training sessions,
the IHAF counselors gained an understanding of the theoretical
premises underlying this alternative counseling model and discussed
how the skills that they already possessed might fit into this model.
Following these professional development conferences, the IHAF
program coordinator met with the counselors on several occasions to
identify individuals within the local community whom the counselors
felt would be important to work with in attempting to promote
constructive changes in the neighborhoods where the youth resided.
The types of persons and the specific purposes for working with them
included the following:
Meeting with local and state elected officials to lobby for pending
legislation that would affect the welfare of urban, African-American
youth and their families in Tennessee
Networking with other human service agencies in the targeted areas to
enhance interagency awareness, develop a cooperative working
relationship with other community agencies, and strive to avoid
duplication of services
Consultingwith African-Americanchurch leaders concerning the role
of the religious community in assisting youth to become successful
and responsible adults
Meeting with public housing representatives to plan a number of
community events (i.e., such as Job Fairs, Youth Employment
Workshops, Pre-Employment Training Classes)
Recruiting various members of the African-American community,
who were viewed as positive role models, to speak in the IHAF
Career Development classes, and most importantly
Soliciting support from private industry to secure job placements
for those youth who successfully completed the IHAF program.
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Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
63
Increasing concern has been expressed by parents, educators,
counselors, politicians, and law enforcement officials about the
multiple problems associated with African-American urban youth.
Much of this concern centers around the inability of many of these
young people to secure employment and become constructive
participants in society. Unfortunately, statistical reports indicate that
these problems have not only been inadequately addressed during the
1980s but are likely to be exacerbated in the 1990s.
This article outlines numerous strategies that were used to address the
personal and career development needs of a group of African-American
youth residing in an urban environment. Although the IHAF counselors
used many traditional counseling services in their work, the
uniqueness of the project rested in the inclusion of a community
counseling approach within a culturally sensitive context. Ideally,
other practitioners will find the various components of this program
useful in planning future developmental interventions with this
at-risk group of youth.
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REFERENCES
Atkinson, D. R., Morten. G.. & Sue, D. W. (1993). Counseling American minorities: A
crosscultsual perspective. Madison, WI:Brown & Benchmark.
Asante. M. K. (1988). Afrocentricity.Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
DAndrea, M., Foster, H., & Arthur, C. (1987). The qualify oJliJe community needs
assessment survey. Nashville, TN: Meharry Medical College.
Kunjufu, J. (1986). Motivating and preparing black youth to work. Chicago, I L African
American Images.
Lee, C. C., & Richardson, B. L. (Eds.) (1991). Multicultural issues in counseling: New
approaches to diversify. Alexandria, VA American Association for Counseling and
Development.
Lewis, J., & Lewis, M. (1989). Community counseling:A human seruices approach New
York: Wiley.
Rivera, D.. Jackson, J.. & Jackson, J. (1993). Our current concerns. National
Rainbow Coalition Newsletter, 1 ( 12).
Sue, D. W. (1981). Counseling the culturally di@went: 7 k o y and practice. New York
Wiley.
Taylor, R. L. (1990). Improving the status of Black youth: Some lessons from recent
national experiments. Youth and Society, 22(1). 8 5 1 0 7 .
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1992). Current population reports. Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (1992). Pouerty in the United States: 1991. (Current
population reports: Consumer income series P-60, #181). Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
zyxw
64
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
zyxwvut
Addressing the Developmental
Needs of Urban, African-American
Youth: A Preventive Intervention
Michael D’Andrea
This article describes the design and implementation of a multiservice,
community-based intervention aimed at promoting the personal and career
development of urban, African-Americanyouth.
zyx
zyxwv
zyxwv
zyxwv
zyxwv
zyxwv
I t is estimated that there are 31.3 million African-American persons
in the United States. More than one third of these persons are younger
than 18 years (10.4 million), with another 3.5 million identified as
being between 18 and 25 years of age (US.Bureau of the Census,
1992).This large group of young persons constitutes almost half of the
total African-American population in the United States.
In light of thisdemographic profile, it is tragic the degree to which many
African Americans endure major impediments in their personal,
educational, and career development. Close scrutiny of the results of
natiod survgrs pertaining to educational attainment, unemployment, and
poverty r a b among Afiican Americans in general, and Black urban youth
in particular, reflect continuing (and in many instances worsening) trends
that call out for immediate attention and sustained action by professional
counselors and educato~~.
Regarding educational attainment, it is reported that 36% of all
African Americans who are 25 years of age and older do not possess a
high school diploma in this country. This is in sharp contrast to a 22%
rate for White Americans of the same age (U.S. Bureau of the Census,
1992). To make matters worse, there are currently more Black youth
“receiving their ‘education’ in US. prisons than in college” (Rvera,
Jackson, &Jackson, 1993, p. 1).
Recognizing that an individual‘s level of educational attainment is often
related to his or her employment status, it should not be surprising to find
a higher than average unemployment rate among Afiican Americans.
What is distressing, however, is the fact that the national Black
~~
zyxwv
~~~
zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUT
Michael D’Andrea is an associate professor with the Department of Counselor Education
at the Uniuersity of Hawaii,M a n w Room 222 Wist Hall Annex 1776 Uniuersity Avenue,
Honolulu, HI 96822. H e is the former program coordinator for the “I Have A Future
Program”
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
57
zyxwv
zyxwv
zyx
zyxw
zy
unemployment rate (13%)continues to remain two and a half times as
high as the unemployment rate for White persons (U.S. Bureau of the
Census, 1992). When focusing on African-American youth residing in
the central cities of the United States, it is not uncommon to find the
unemployment rate to increase to 50% to 60% in many metropolitan
areas (Rivera et al., 1993).Concern about these statistical fhdings should
be further heightened when it is recognized that, although these
unemployment rates are the same or slightly lower than any year in the
1980s, they are substantially higher than most years in the 1970s.
A combination of low educational attainment and high unemployment
predictably has a negative impact on other aspects of a person’s life. This
point is made most clear when examining the national poverty rates for
African Americans. In this regard, recent national studies indicate
that 32.7% of all African Americans are living below the federal
guidelines for poverty (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1992). When
attention is directed to subgroups within the total African-American
population, such as Black youth ( 17years of age and younger) and young
adults (18 to 25 years) residing in the urban areas, the poverty rates
increase to 50%and 37%, respectively (U.S. Department of Commerce).
These findings reflect the social and economic realities of life for
hundreds of thousands of urban, African-American adolescents and
young adults across the nation. Given this scenario, many youth find
the odds against entering a satisfying and legitimate career and rising
out of poverty so overwhelming that they channel their energies
instead toward more realistic, though less constructive, “street life
careers.”Interest in these alternative “careers”stimulates the development
of lucrative urban networks, commonly referred to as “youth gangs,”
whose “occupational interests” include drug dealing, auto theft, armed
robbery, and prostitution, to name a few.
Professional counselors are frequently called on to assist urban youth
in developing skills and attitudes necessary to successfully access
America’s labor market. Yet, a sober assessment of the cumulative impact
of these efforts over the past 10 years indicates that counselors are,in
fact, losing ground in this area. Despite this lack of success, it is suggested
that professional counselors are compelled to be persistent in reassessing
the limitations of past interventions, using the knowledge gained from
making such an assessment to develop innovative interventions that will
have a positive impact on this often underserved group of adolescents
in the future.
With this challenge in mind, program planners working with the “I Have
A Future Program” (IHAF) at Meharry Medical College in Nashville,
Tennessee, designed a multiservice career development project to serve
African-American adolescents residing in economically depressed parts of
z
58
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
that city. In deciding what kinds of services would be most useful in
working with this group of youth, the program planners focused on a
number of individual, educational, economic,and employment barriers that
were observed to impede the development of these adolescents.
Acknowledging that these barriers would have to be reduced ifteenagers in
the targeted communitieswere to have a reasonable chance of realking their
personal and career potential, the IHAF program planners designed a
comprehensive, community-based intervention consisting of three
interrelated service components that are discussed next.
zyx
zyx
zyx
zyx
zyxw
zyx
zyx
zyxwv
EXPANDING TRADITIONAL CAREER
DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
In conducting a comprehensive community needs assessment before
designing this project (D’Andrea,Foster, &Arthur, 1987). the program
planners observed that 86%(N= 43 1)of 497 randomly selected “heads
of households” from the targeted communities identified “job training”
as one of the most desirable services that they would like to see
initiated in their communities. This broad-based level of support for
employmenttminingsmiceswasnot surprisinggiventhe high unemployment
rate among adolescents in the targeted areas and the elimination of many
job training programs that occurred in the 1980s (Taylor, 1990).
The program planners agreed that there are numerous traditional
career development counseling services that are useful in addressing
the skill deficits of urban youth. This includes services designed to
promote adolescents’job search, resume writing, and interview skills.
Accepting that counselors would do well to help promote these sorts
of career development skills among African-American urban youth,
the IHAF program planners designed a program that incorporated
such traditional counseling services. The program was introduced in
two of Nashville’s low-income housing projects in which 99% of the
residents were African Americans. The participants in this new program
ranged in age fkom 14 to 17 years. The IHAF Career Development Project
was designed to serve four specific purposes. This included (a)promoting
adolescents’career awareness, (b)facilitating the acquisition of a number
of preemployment skills, (c) increasing participants’ level of personal
discipline, and (d) cultivating effective problem-solving skills. To
accomplish these goals, the program planners developed a career
development training course that was specifically designed for the
target population. The program was composed of eight class sessions
(2 hours per session) that were held twice a week for 4 weeks.
The IHAF counselors used a variety of counseling and development
services in organizing the curriculum for these classes. MrsL this included
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
59
zyxwv
consulting with and recruiting several successful African-American
individuals who were viewed as experts in l d businesses and economic
development endeavors. These persons were selected because they were
considered to be positive role models who were willing to volunteer time
to participate in the program by sharing their knowledge of the current
and future employment trends in the community.
Second, the counselors designed a number of structured group
activities to stimulate adolescents’ critical thinking skills by posing a
variety of “career problems” that were discussed in small discussion
groups. During the class meetings, participants were asked to consider
different ways that they might approach these career problems. Next,
members of the group were asked to explain how they might go about
dealing with various career problems. Then, the other members of the
group were called on to offer constructive feedback regarding the
efficacy of the problem-solving strategies presented by their peers.
Third, the IHAF counselors orchestrated a number of job intenriew role
plays to help the adolescentsto develop more effective communication skiUs
in this sort of situation. At the end of the role plays, group members would
comment on the “actor’s”verbal and nonverbal “messages,”as well as the
appropriatenessor inappropriateness of his or her personal appearance for
a job interview. Other topics covered during these class meetings included
discussing strategies for conducting a job search and examining important
components to include when writing a personalresume.
Although this aspect of the program was composed of various
activities that are t y p i d y associated with traditional career development
interventions (i.e., such a s activities designed to increase awareness of
career trends and promote interview communication skills), the IHAF
project was distinguished h m many other conventional interventions by
the multicultural counseling orientation that was integrated into the
curriculum format. The following discussion describes how the IHAF
counselors integrated an Afrocentric perspective in the class discussions
and curriculum materials.
zyxwv
zyxw
zyx
z
zyx
MULTICULTURAL CONSIDERATIONS
Programs designed to serve the personal and career development
needs of urban, African-American youth have more impact when they
reflect sensitivity to the unique cultural characteristics of this group
of adolescents (Lee & Richardson, 1991). Advances in the fields of
developmental and multicultural counseling over the past two decades
offer mental health professionals numerous theoretical models and
guidelines that practitioners may find useful when designing and
implementingcounselingstrategies that are developmentallyappropriate and
60
Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development / January 1995 / Vol. 23 / 57-64
zyxw
zy
culturally sensitive for this group of adolescents. The “MinorityIdentity
Development Model” is one such framework (Atkinson, Morten, & Sue,
1993).
Counselors will find this five-stage model to be particularly helpful in
understanding the diverse psychological perspectives that characterize
African-American youth. For instance, individuals operating at Stage 1
(the Conformist Stage) tend to follow the lead of the dominant societal
group in choosing role models, lifestyles, and a personal value system.
In contrast, youth who are at the Resistance and Immersion Stage
(Stage 3)are observed to actively resist White middle-class values and
more strongly identify with an Afrocentric worldview (Asante, 1988).
Thus, youth operating from various stages of the Minority Development
Model will present counselors with a diverse set of challenges that
require different intervention strategies to effectively promote their
personal and career development.
Another important multicultural consideration involves the milieu in
which services are provided. In this regard, experts have suggested
that expecting minority youth to participate in career development
programs that are set up in predominantly White, middle-class areas
creates a host of problems that reduce the delivery of effective counseling
or training among this group of clients (Sue, 1981). One way of
overcoming this ditsculty is to develop neighborhood-basedinterventions
that stress community outreach and preventive mental health services
in their program philosophy (Lewis & Lewis. 1989).
In attempting to use this sort of community-based approach, I
coordinated consultation efforts with neighborhood residents, church
leaders, and local officials in setting up the IHAF Career Development
Program at two community centers located in targeted, low-income
housing areas. The results of these consultative-outreach services
helped to clarify the purposes of the planned intervention, provide a
forum for residents to have input into the planning of the project, and
consolidated support among the parents of the adolescents residing in
the targeted areas.
The IHAF project went a step further, however, in attempting to
address the unique cultural characteristics of those persons participating
in the project. The IHAF counselors integrated a variety of traditional
career development services (such as individual and small group
counseling sessions, and setting up job-readiness training classes)within
a context that reflected an Afrocentric worldview (Asante, 1988). This
multicultural counseling venue was built around seven life principles
called the Nguzo Saba (Kunjufu, 1986). Deliberate attempts were
consistently made to integrate discussions of these life principles
among the program participants.
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For example, one of the Nguzo Saba life principles is referred to as Nia,
meaning one’s “purpose in life.” From an Afrocentric perspective, an
individual‘s purpose is directly tied to helping build and strengthen one’s
family and community. Thus, in the IHAF classes, counselors initiated
group discussions that explored the adolescents’ Nia by exploring the
importance of working in achieving specific personal and career goals to
help promote the well-being of their families and community.
Another one of these life principles is referred to as Kujichaguha
(“self-determination’).Kujichagulia emphasizes the importance of having
persons define for themselves, create for themselves, and speak for
themselves instead of being defined, created, and spoken by others
(Kunjufu, 1986).To accommodate this life principle into the curriculum
format, the IHAF counselors used various values clarification and
assertiveness skill development activities with the youth participatingin the
career development classes.
The other Nguzo Saba principles include U m j a (“unity’’), Ujima
(“collective work and responsibility”). l.@unaa(“cooperative economics’),
Kuumba (“creativity”),and Imani (“faith’). Collectively, these principles
represent cultural values that reinforce the healthy development of
Afiican-American youth. Kunjufiis (1986) fiamework for motivating and
preparing Afiican-American adolescents for work was a quite helpful
resource in assisting the IHAF counselors in incorporating this
multicultural approach into the IHAF career development project.
Beyond increasing the availability of traditional career development
services within a context that reflected sensitivity and respect for the
cultural background of the program participants, the IHAF counselors
also directed their energies toward modifying other environmental
barriers known to interfere with the adolescents’ personal and career
development. These efforts were thought to be a very important
component of the program because the IHAF counselors realized that, if
the project was to be successful, a number of systemic changes would
have to be made in the communities in which they were working.
THE NEED FOR SYSTEMIC CHANGE: THE IMPORTANCE
OF INDIRECT COUNSELING SERVICES
America’s urban, African-American youth not only suffer from their
own personal, political, and economic impotency but by a lack of
concerted advocacy by politicians, private indushy leaders, and professional
counseling and education organizations. Serious advancements in the
personal and career development of poor, urban, African-American
youth requires a host of systemic changes including modifying public
policy, redirecting private industry training initiatives, creating new
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career development programs at the local level, and expanding
community education-organizing projects.
To become a relevant part of these changes, counselors are encouraged
to consider the usehlness of Lewis and Lewis’ Community Counseling
framework. In presenting this model, Lewis and Lewis (1989)discussed
numerous types of indirect counseling services that offer much potential
in promoting constructive systemic changes at the local level.
This approach was adopted by the IHAF counselors to improve the
career options of their clients. To help familiarize the IHAF counselors
with the community counseling framework, I scheduled several
in-service staff development conferences with the program counselors
to present the basic concepts of the community counseling model. As
a result of participating in these staff development training sessions,
the IHAF counselors gained an understanding of the theoretical
premises underlying this alternative counseling model and discussed
how the skills that they already possessed might fit into this model.
Following these professional development conferences, the IHAF
program coordinator met with the counselors on several occasions to
identify individuals within the local community whom the counselors
felt would be important to work with in attempting to promote
constructive changes in the neighborhoods where the youth resided.
The types of persons and the specific purposes for working with them
included the following:
Meeting with local and state elected officials to lobby for pending
legislation that would affect the welfare of urban, African-American
youth and their families in Tennessee
Networking with other human service agencies in the targeted areas to
enhance interagency awareness, develop a cooperative working
relationship with other community agencies, and strive to avoid
duplication of services
Consultingwith African-Americanchurch leaders concerning the role
of the religious community in assisting youth to become successful
and responsible adults
Meeting with public housing representatives to plan a number of
community events (i.e., such as Job Fairs, Youth Employment
Workshops, Pre-Employment Training Classes)
Recruiting various members of the African-American community,
who were viewed as positive role models, to speak in the IHAF
Career Development classes, and most importantly
Soliciting support from private industry to secure job placements
for those youth who successfully completed the IHAF program.
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Increasing concern has been expressed by parents, educators,
counselors, politicians, and law enforcement officials about the
multiple problems associated with African-American urban youth.
Much of this concern centers around the inability of many of these
young people to secure employment and become constructive
participants in society. Unfortunately, statistical reports indicate that
these problems have not only been inadequately addressed during the
1980s but are likely to be exacerbated in the 1990s.
This article outlines numerous strategies that were used to address the
personal and career development needs of a group of African-American
youth residing in an urban environment. Although the IHAF counselors
used many traditional counseling services in their work, the
uniqueness of the project rested in the inclusion of a community
counseling approach within a culturally sensitive context. Ideally,
other practitioners will find the various components of this program
useful in planning future developmental interventions with this
at-risk group of youth.
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REFERENCES
Atkinson, D. R., Morten. G.. & Sue, D. W. (1993). Counseling American minorities: A
crosscultsual perspective. Madison, WI:Brown & Benchmark.
Asante. M. K. (1988). Afrocentricity.Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
DAndrea, M., Foster, H., & Arthur, C. (1987). The qualify oJliJe community needs
assessment survey. Nashville, TN: Meharry Medical College.
Kunjufu, J. (1986). Motivating and preparing black youth to work. Chicago, I L African
American Images.
Lee, C. C., & Richardson, B. L. (Eds.) (1991). Multicultural issues in counseling: New
approaches to diversify. Alexandria, VA American Association for Counseling and
Development.
Lewis, J., & Lewis, M. (1989). Community counseling:A human seruices approach New
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Rivera, D.. Jackson, J.. & Jackson, J. (1993). Our current concerns. National
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Sue, D. W. (1981). Counseling the culturally di@went: 7 k o y and practice. New York
Wiley.
Taylor, R. L. (1990). Improving the status of Black youth: Some lessons from recent
national experiments. Youth and Society, 22(1). 8 5 1 0 7 .
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1992). Current population reports. Washington, DC: U.S.
Government Printing Office.
U.S. Department of Commerce. (1992). Pouerty in the United States: 1991. (Current
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