Overview

Sisters of Nia presents a unique cultural enrichment program designed to reinforce and bring out the strengths of African American preadolescent and adolescent girls. In the Kiswahili (Swahili) language, the word nia means purpose or goal. This group counseling program helps girls plan and achieve their future goals as they make the transition from elementary to middle school and from middle to high school. Group sessions cover topics such as African and African American culture, positive female role models, leadership, relationship skills, analyzing community and media messages, personal hygiene, health, and education. The program helps girls in achieving the direction, identity, and critical consciousness that lead to more positive self-esteem and relationships with others, greater ethnic pride, and higher expectations for future accomplishments.

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9780878226061

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Dr Faye Z. Belgrave, Ph.D., is professor of psychology and the founding director of the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention at Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. Her programmatic and research interests are in the areas of drug and HIV prevention among African Americans and other ethnic minorities. Much of her work has been conducted collaboratively with community organizations and is aimed at promoting positive youth development by increasing positive cultural values and preventing risky behaviors. This has included work on gender and culturally specific interventions. Dr. Belgrave has published extensively in the area of African American psychology and is an invited speaker on this topic. She has been recognized with many awards for her research, teaching, and service, including awards from the Association of Black Psychologists, the American Psychological Association, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration. Dr. Belgrave received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and her BS from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Dr Valerie Rawls Cherry, Ph.D., has served as principal mental health consultant to the U.S. Department of Labor's Job Corps program for the past 11 years. In this capacity, she provides technical assistance, training, program development, and site reviews for health and wellness programs at over 120 Job Corps centers in the United States and Puerto Rico. Dr. Cherry is a licensed clinical psychologist with over 20 years of clinical and research experience working with at-risk youth and their families. Deborah S. Butler is currently a project director at the Center for Cultural Experiences in Prevention at Virginia Commonwealth University. The project is devoted to the study of cultural, family, and community factors that affect substance use among African American youth. Ms. Butler was the senior prevention specialist responsible for implementing Sisters of Nia with several hundred girls in the Richmond metro area. Prior to joining Virginia Commonwealth University, she worked in the Washington, D.C., area, developing and implementing prevention programs as a counselor for a youth program and as a team trainer for substance abuse prevention programming. Dr Tiffany G. Townsend, Ph.D., is currently on the faculty of Georgetown University's Department of Psychiatry. Her clinical and research activities focus on the implementation of community-based research and intervention programs to enhance the health and psychosocial functioning of ethnic minority children and their families. Currently, Dr. Townsend is principal investigator on the I.S.I.S. project, funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

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