Claire Rudolph came to a harsh realization when speaking to one of her students about life in the inner city. He came from a high school where students experienced deadly violence on a regular basis and the teachers’ fear of their own students became an impediment to learning. To this student, Syracuse University seemed a different world entirely from his home.

This realization pushed Rudolph, director of continuing education for SU’s School of Social Work, Keith Alford, an assistant professor of social work at SU and their colleagues in the College of Human Services and Health Professions toward organizing a workshop on the lives of troubled African-American youth in the inner city.

Rudolph said the workshop, conducted this past Monday, was timely considering the recent actions by the city to end violence among young people in the inner city. They designed the workshop, ‘Reaching Out with Interventions for African-American Youth,’ with the objective of teaching its attendees the skills necessary to effectively reach out to troubled youth.

‘There are so many strengths that these troubled youth bring to the table, which they are not aware of,’ Alford said. ‘The fact that they are able to get up each morning and endure the difficulties in their lives is reason enough for society to applaud them. The youth are well aware of how society views them, and it is a hollow feeling. We have to restore the feeling of validation so that they truly believe they are contributing members of society.’

Poverty, racism, inadequate education, poor nutrition and the lack of job training afflict inner-city youth. These commonplace struggles can cause the affected young people to perceive themselves as second-class citizens, unable to envision themselves as members of society at large.

The desire to bridge this gap between these youths and the world that exists outside their home sparked Rudolph’s interest in culturally-driven solutions.

While Rudolph and other SU faculty members have recognized the importance of discovering ways to effectively reach out, it would be erroneous to think that there are not already a number of local programs and individuals dedicated to the integration and education of inner-city kids.

Geneva Hayden, a Syracuse resident, has for a number of years single-handedly operated an after-school program for inner-city kids out of her home. Hayden, an African-American woman, works to keep kids in her neighborhood off the streets by offering to teach them to read and expand their skills. Rudolph called Hayden one of the many ‘unsung heroes’ who have been proactive in encouraging positive change in troubled communities.

By researching such localized solutions, Rudolph and her colleagues hope to gain insight that will help them make recommendations for programs that will reach inner-city youths on a much larger scale.

‘There are African-American youth doing well navigating these challenges,’ Alford said. ‘We need to look at these youth and build upon their strengths.’

The workshop featured presentations from three speakers, each communicating a different approach toward having a positive influence on troubled youth. Alford focused on African-American males. Carla R. Bradley, an associate professor of counselor education at Western Michigan University, talked about issues distinctive to female social service clients. Kenneth V. Hardy, a professor of marriage and family therapy at SU, concentrated on the need for interventions that incorporate family and community.

Monday’s workshop was attended by a cross-section of people, including teachers, social workers, members of the faith community and the superintendent from a local school district. This wide-ranging interest in the workshop inspired its organizers to plan for a second seminar to be held in the next year.

Participants in the workshop were introduced to a variety of strategies for effectively reaching out to African-American youth. One method has the youth look to their role models for guidance on how to live their lives. Another technique encourages the youth to relate to the positive messages in the music they listen to, which opens the door to discussion of the problems in their lives.

‘Oftentimes, adolescents say they don’t want anyone to control them or tell them what to do,’ Alford said, ‘when in fact they are crying out for direction, structure and for someone to extend an open arm to them. We have to look beyond their tough exterior to recognize that there is often a lot of loss, pain and heartache which is compounded by their experiences with racism. We need to be there with a listening ear, and a lot of patience.’

The workshop looked to solutions deeply rooted in cultural norms. Alford stressed the need for mentors and social workers with aptitude in ‘direct service’ with the ‘consumers,’ or recipients, of social services. A social worker can achieve this by developing ‘cultural competence,’ which requires one to research the culture, background and experiences of the individual client. Social workers do their best to help, he added, but cannot be effective in aiding inner-city youth overcome unless they facilitate more cultural enrichment experiences and strengthen social and family supports.

‘(Social service workers) must have the empathy to develop the trust and respect of their clients,’ Alford said.

The workshop also addresses a number of novel approaches to reaching out to urban, African-American youth that have proven effective in case studies throughout the world. Alford’s presentation addressed the successes of contemporary rites of passage programming. This believes that youth can be reached if programs are designed in cooperation with the various support networks that exist within the minority community.

Contemporary rites of passage programs strive to teach young, African-American men to learn about both their African and African-American heritages in order to make them more conscious about the manner in which they govern themselves.

‘Learning that you come from a great history is very fulfilling,’ Alford said.

The youths in these programs are also taught life skills, including how to properly interact with their peers. An elaborate ceremony celebrates the development of new skills in each child. In these, family members and community leaders assemble to commend the young person on his acquisition of skills. Professor Alford and other advocates of rites of passage programs hope that the program will better prepare its young participants to deal with their community’s ‘negative rites of passage,’ such as gang violence and drugs.

This promotion of programming takes a culturally-driven approach to changing lives in the inner city and builds upon the existing programs in individual communities.

‘Culturally-driven interventions validate the youth by showing them that the practitioner is taking the time to understand both their struggles and triumphs,’ Alford said. ‘Helping the youth to feel good about their identity makes a big difference, but you can’t do that from an approach that doesn’t take into consideration the issues associated with the African-American community. It is important for the practitioner to build cultural knowledge in order to relate to the youth from a perspective that they are familiar with.’

Published on September 16, 2003 at 12:00 pm