Exploring American Indian adolescents’ needs through a community-driven study

The purpose of this community-driven ethnographic study was to learn and then describe the needs of adolescents from Southeastern American Indian communities. This approach involved the adolescents as well as family and community members. Data was gathered in an open-ended workshop setting, through participants’ discussion, comments, and art making. Art making, in this context, was utilized as a medium for conveying thoughts, feelings, and perceptions about the culture of American Indian youth. Analysis was conducted using NVivo 8 software to identify and compare themes based on initial observations resulting from interviews and art productions. The findings from this study indicated that tribal identity can be a source of pride, and some participants felt this needed to be reinforced; community involvement was one of the most referenced themes in the interview; and the prevalence of ongoing discrimination experience within this Southeastern tribal community.

► Tribal identity was shown to be a source of pride and some participants felt this needed to be reinforced.
► An unexpected finding was just how prevalent and ongoing discrimination has been for this Native community.
► Community involvement was one of the most referenced themes in the interviews.