Abstract of

LOST IN TRANSITION: AN ANALYSIS OF ALL-GIRL SUPPORT GROUPS ON THE SELF-ESTEEM OF GIRLS OF COLOR

by

Katherine Fox

Sacramento State

Statement of Problem

Middle school girls suffer from low self-esteem. Self-esteem is defined as "the individual's global positive or negative attitude toward himself or herself" (LeCroy & Daley, 2001, p. 33). While self-esteem is deemed one's positive or negative attitude toward oneself, girls generally focus upon the negative aspects, thereby resulting in lower self-esteem. Low self-esteem in girls has become a cycle that is causing young women distress, depression, and lower academic achievement.

One group of young women has been found to not be affected as negatively by the media, African American girls. As reported by Turnage (2004), mothers "further indicate that as a result of her efforts, and in spite of the negative social messages directed towards African American females, African American girls consistently achieved higher global self-esteem levels than European American girls the same age, socioeconomic background, and academic performance level" (p. 157). The reasoning behind the higher self-esteem of African American girls lies in the fact that contributing factors to the global self-esteem of African American girls differ from that of European American girls.

Sources of Data

Literature and research covering the socialization of African American girls and girls of color by authors such as Beverly Tatum, Barbara Turnage, and Signithia Fordham. I will also review literature and research covering the self-esteem of adolescent girls from the AAUW, Girls, Inc., LeCroy & Daley, the Empower Program curricula, Rosalind Wiseman, David and Myra Sadker, Nel Noddings, among others. Through this literature, I will cover reasons why African American girls may have higher self-esteem due to the methods in which they are raised and socialized in society. The literature and research will cover topics such as reasons for low self-esteem, and statistics of girls with low self-esteem.

Conclusions Reached

Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Survey was administered as a pre and post survey to measure any increases and/or decreases in the overall self-esteem of the 13 participants. The quantitative data from this study shows improvement in the overall self-esteem and self-worth of the girls who participated in GIRLPOWER based upon the found themes. Three of the 20 statements showed a significant increase in scores on the four-point Likert scale that reflects the positive influences GIRLPOWER had on the overall feelings of sense of self of the girls.