Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Department

Social Work

Document Type

Thesis

Abstract

Literature on premarital counseling groups and five factors of the African American experience were researched to design a six-week premarital counseling group curriculum specifically for African American couples. The five researched factors of the African American experience were history, economics, education, structure of American society, and social life within the African American community. This program responds to the falling marriage rates within the African American community and the absence of services available to address the issue. The Umoja Curriculum was designed to equip participants of African descent with the skills necessary to build and sustain a healthy marriage utilizing psycho-educational workshops, psycho-drama activities, and African and African American cultural dynamics. Equipping African American adults with the skills to build and stabilize healthy marriages is a two-fold initiative. The immediate goal of this program is to teach and reinforce basic characteristics and overall importance of a healthy marriage. The end goal of this program is to increase the number of healthy households within the African American community in an effort to lower rates of poverty, inadequate education, and social deviance, thus rebuilding the family standard within the African American community. The overall impact has positive relevance for society as a whole.

Advisor(s) or Committee Chair

Dr. Saundra Starks

Disciplines

Social Work

Included in

Social Work Commons

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