Empowering Adolescent Girls: Examining the Present and Building Skills for the Future with the Go Grrrls Program - Review

Adolescence, Summer, 2001

LeCROY, Craig Winston, & DALEY. Janice. Empowering Adolescent Girls: Examining the Present and Building Skills for the Future with the Go Grrrls Program. New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2001. 308pp. $32.00 (h).

Until recently, the literature on adolescent girls has been scarce, lacking a serious professional review of the gender-specific issues unique to girlhood. The girl movement of the past few years has electrified the field, producing a brand new venue for girls' emerging voices and burgeoning social science research. Empowering Adolescent Girls combines this research with practical strategies to help social workers, psychologists, and educators tailor their projects to the needs of adolescent girls. LeCroy and Daley have designed a comprehensive program model that incorporates the latest information and research and conceptualizes gender-specific developmental tasks as part of a Go Grrrls curriculum. Part 1 of the book offers a thorough investigation of current and classic literature on the topics covered to provide group leaders with a solid understanding of the issues addressed throughout the program. Part 2 details the activities, materials, and procedures for conducting each of the group sessions. As girls move through the sessions, they encounter a variety of games, dialogues, and worksheets that help them confront the challenges of achieving a competent gender-role identification, establishing an acceptable body image, developing satisfactory peer relationships, understanding sexuality, obtaining help and accessing resources, and learning to plan for the future. The companion Go Grrrls Workbook contains all the journal assignments, handouts, and information sheets for each session, as well as supplemental activities, exercises, and facts for girls to peruse. Complete with a parent curriculum, materials lists, and evaluation forms, the appendices provide the final tools needed to plan, launch, implement, and evaluate an effective Go Grrrls program.