SCHOOL FACTORS IN SUBSTANCE-ABUSE PREVENTION AMONG YOUNG MALE AFRICAN-AMERICANS

Despite reports that substance abuse among young Americans is on the d ecline, the problem among young male African Americans continues to be of major concern. School-based prevention strategies offer promising alternatives for reducing the risk factors for substance abuse among t his group. The most successful of these programs appear to be those th at include the entire school ecology as part of the prevention strateg y and focus on the unique psychosocial development needs of these yout h. in this article we discuss the prevalence of substance abuse among male African American youth, examine school correlates and risk factor s, and review school-based prevention strategies that have shown varyi ng degrees of effectiveness in addressing the substance abuse problems , directly through changing values, attitudes, and behaviors, and indi rectly by reducing risk factors and strengthening protective mechanism s.