Building Self-Esteem in African American Males

Abstract

Adolescent African-American males constitute a population at risk. Most research to date has emphasized the identification and treatment of problem behaviors within this population, and little research on positive behaviors is available. For example, multiple studies reveal a widespread lack of self-esteem. Recent efforts to improve self-esteem of African-American males include specialized programs that have achieved some success. A Building Self-Esteem model based on group activities are proposed to strengthen selfesteem and provide encouragement in order to increase confidence in self and academic ability in African-American males.