ABSTRACT
Over the past few years, my project team and I have been working to develop, implement, research, and evaluate a multi-component social and emotional competence enhancement program for urban African American school-aged children. We have pursued this work with an eye toward reducing risk for problem outcomes, but perhaps more important, with an interest in promoting desirable developmental competencies (Catalano, Berglund, Ryan, Lonczak, & Hawkins, 1999; Weissberg & Greenberg, 1997). It is fairly well known that African American children are placed at elevated risk for academic underachievement, substance abuse, aggression, and delinquency. Although eliminating risk for such problems is essential, what constitutes a well-functioning African American child has not been clearly articulated.
