Text

theses

This dissertation focuses on the process of clarifying, designing and planning for the evaluation of a Women’s Empowerment Program for individuals who were members of, or affiliated with, a church in an urban community and were interested in self-improvement and growth. The program had been implemented initially by the First Lady of the church (the pastor’s wife). She had requested this evaluation process to assess the needs of the participants and to re-design the program. Maher’s (2000) program planning and evaluation framework was used to complete this process. Literature concerning working with African-American/Latina women and collaboration with faith-based organizations informed the design for the program. This dissertation was conducted with the intent to benefit the specific population of women involved in the program, to contribute to the literature, and to expand knowledge concerning mental health interventions in faith based organizations. Its intention was also to model reaching out to the community for resources in the treatment of diverse populations. Maher’s program planning and evaluation framework consists of four phases: clarification, design, implementation and evaluation. The implementation phase was beyond the scope of this dissertation but an evaluation plan was developed to be utilized during a future implementation. During the Clarification Phase, an assessment of the women’s needs and the relevant context was conducted. Results of the needs assessment revealed that women at the church had difficulties in the areas of (a) emotion-regulation; (b) problem-solving; (c) communication; and (d) spiritual growth, which had an impact on their daily living. The program was re-designed based on the needs identified in the Clarification Phase. The program was entitled the Women’s Empowerment Program and consisted of iii a monthly group designed to teach women skills to improve the identified needs. Following the program design, a plan for evaluation was created in order to provide a documented process that would lead to determining whether the program had added value and benefited the participants. Constraints of the dissertation are noted and recommendations are provided for future implementation and evaluation of the program. Implications for partnerships between faith-based organizations and mental health professionals are also provided.

ETD_4530

Psy.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Danielle Rene Narkaus

http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10001800001.ETD.000068536

doi:10.7282/T3D21W7S

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.