Empowerment in Context: Lessons from Hip-Hop Culture for Social Work Practice

Abstract

Hip-hop culture can be used as a conduit to enhanced cultural competence and practice skills through the individual and community empowerment framework. This framework is introduced as a tool for direct practice that allows social workers to understand the competing messages within hip-hop culture and how they may impact youths by promoting or inhibiting positive youth development. The individual and community empowerment framework can inform direct practice skills for improved communication and relationships by providing a structure for collaborative development of goals and change strategies. The individual and community empowerment assessment tool and a sample music index are included.

Keywords:

• empowerment
• hip-hop
• cultural competency
• positive youth development

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted in conjunction with the “Hip-Hop and Youth Development Project,” a research project supported by a Texas State University Research Enhancement Grant awarded to Raphael Travis Jr. and Scott Wm. Bowman.