The effects of alcohol and other drug abuse are recognized as a serious problem in U.S. communities. Policy efforts and increased law enforcement have only a minimal impact if prevention strategies are not consistent with the community's level of readiness, are not culturally relevant, and are not community-specific. A model has been developed for…

Questions whether the expansion of English and other dominant languages, an intrinsic part of contemporary globalization, serves to encourage and promote other languages and cultures or the reverse. Argues that there is overwhelming evidence of linguicide, with speakers of "world languages" as active agents in the demise of other…

Relates how a Native American single mother and former drug user turned her life around and went to college to become a substance abuse therapist. During therapy groups with other Native Americans, she promotes healing by stressing the importance of family, parenting, self-esteem, and relationships, as opposed to focusing on the participant's…

Dr. Terry Tafoya relates his experiences as a student and a therapist and integrates traditional Native American stories to illustrate the importance of balancing Western knowledge with traditional culture and values. Stresses the importance of approaching the acquisition of knowledge from different perspectives when developing graduate programs…

A Cree teacher-researcher in Alberta enrolled in a graduate education program in hopes of gaining insight into the low achievement of students in reserve schools. Courses taught from an Indigenous perspective and her own research with reservation students led her to the notion of inherent wisdom, expressed in the metaphor of a tree whose roots…

This article reports on a project responding to the need for culturally relevant alternatives to existing assessment practices in the identification of giftedness among rural Mexican Americans in the southwestern United States. Students identified using multidimensional and holistic procedures showed similar cognitive and performance profiles to…

Examines the pedagogical practices of an exemplary male African American middle school teacher in an affluent neighborhood, discussing principles guiding his efforts to enhance African American students' moral, intellectual, and spiritual development and noting how his emancipatory pedagogies provide a fertile learning ground. This case study…

Describes features of a Training Innovations computer-based training system in which guided paths can be dynamically adapted to learning style or capacity, skill or knowledge level, and cultural background. It also allows program authors to work with scripted graphics and desktop publishing tagging without extensive expertise, and even exhibits…

American Indian "cultural models" of substance dependency and recovery were developed based on discourse analysis during ethnographic studies at an Indian rehabilitation clinic and with New Mexico Pueblo youth. Incorporating such social constructions of everyday life into the design and implementation of prevention and intervention…

On 21 September 1999, a 7.3 magnitude earthquake in Taiwan destroyed more than 100,000 houses, causing 2,294 deaths and 8,737 injuries. In the aftermath of the earthquake, a great number of social workers and cultural workers were thrust into Nantou County and Taichung County of central Taiwan, the epicentre of the earthquake, to assist the…

Providing appropriate health care to a client can be accomplished only in an environment that is sensitive to the cultural values and beliefs of the client. As the population of first-and second-generation Chinese immigrants increases in the United States, the need to develop culturally sensitive health care becomes significant. Chinese immigrants…

This article describes cross-cultural research on the relation between how people conceptualize nature and how they act in it. Mental models of nature differ dramatically among populations living in the same area and engaged in similar activities. This has novel implications for environmental decision making and management, including commons…

For the past six years, the American College Health Association (ACHA) has had two cooperative agreements from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Adolescent and School Health. Both cooperative agreements focus on the prevention of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) among college students, particularly for…

The Kaffa ceremony is a unique, culturally appropriate, group counseling intervention for female East African refugees. A counseling group is described in which the Kaffa ceremony was instrumental in helping to bridge the gap between Western counseling and East African culture, providing a context for the group members to resolve long-held trauma.…

For 20 years, Robert Mestas, a Native American biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, has devoted his career to the study, conservation, and management of endangered birds of prey. The study of his own Yaqui culture and of other traditional Indian cultures has deepened his conviction regarding the cultural significance of preserving…