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A Bilingual “Neighborhood Club”: Intervening with Children Exposed to Urban Violence
Author(s) -
Ceballo Rosario,
Ramirez Cynthia,
Maltese Kelly L.,
Bautista Elida M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
american journal of community psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.113
H-Index - 112
eISSN - 1573-2770
pISSN - 0091-0562
DOI - 10.1007/s10464-006-9016-9
Subject(s) - club , ethnic group , multiculturalism , health psychology , mental health , psychology , diversity (politics) , public health , poison control , sociology , medicine , pedagogy , environmental health , nursing , psychiatry , anthropology , anatomy
Mental health practitioners have offered relatively little in response to the pervasive community violence faced by many children living in impoverished neighborhoods. The “neighborhood club” is a school‐based, short‐term, support group designed to assist children with the psychological impact of exposure to community violence. Ten “neighborhood clubs” were conducted in two public elementary schools in Detroit, Michigan. This paper reviews the implementation of a bilingual “neighborhood club,” undertaken to better serve the Spanish‐speaking Latino students in a school community. We discuss many of the rewards and challenges of conducting a bilingual, multicultural support group for children and conclude that a bilingual support group provides all children with a model that validates ethnic and cultural diversity while also building empathic bonds based on mutually‐reinforcing, common experiences.