NCJ Number
164009
Journal
Journal of Adolescent Research Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1996) Pages: 68-96
Date Published
1996
Length
29 pages
Annotation
A program known as SUPER STARS has been developed as a preventive intervention for children and their parents; based on a protective factor approach emphasizing the family, individual cultural and ethnic identification, and bonding with family and culture, the program matches children without participating parents to other important adults in their lives.
Abstract
The SUPER STARS program consists of a series of nine sessions, each 2 hours in length, that are attended by young people and their parents or parent surrogates. Program goals are to strengthen family bonding and functioning and to enhance a sense of racial pride and cultural bonding. Families involved in the program were identified and recruited through various community agencies serving low-income urban families in Atlanta. Participating youth were educationally and economically disadvantaged, and most were from single-parent households. The program used a variety of artistic modalities to convey messages, provided experiences related to culture and family, and taught individual behavioral skills. An evaluation of the program using process measures and a pretest-posttest design showed youth had more positive feelings about themselves and their heritage after participating in the program. Parents reported improved family functioning, increased ability to deal with stress and conflict, and more positive feelings about themselves and their families. The authors conclude that parent surrogates can act as viable companions for children participating in family programs and that family, culture, and artistic modalities appear to complement each other in the context of delivering programmatic content. Implications for program replication are discussed. 48 references, 5 tables, and 4 figures