Dreams for My Daughter

• In Event: Developing Carefree Black Girls in a Restrictive World

Abstract

Black women are expected to be “tough” or “superwomen” despite the challenges they face. Black girls are socialized at a young age to take care of everyone else, but herself in homes, communities, churches and schools. The mother daughter program is a model of a culturally competent depression prevention intervention for mothers and their daughters that encourage self-care. Using basic research, we have identified factors that may put pre-adolescent African American girls, specifically, at risk for depression in adolescence. We also have found through research that urban youth in particular are better able to strengthen and use resiliency skills when they are taught and practiced within the context of a supportive adult relationship. The mother daughter program aims to build resiliency skills by not only teaching the girls but also their mothers so that their mothers become the change agents. In this way, mothers are able to reinforce, coach and support their daughters' skill attainment. The program is structured to match the cultural and contextual preferences of urban back families.

Author

• Sophia Duffy, DePaul University