Empirical research and current statistics show that child sexual violence/abuse and its lasting effects, such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, are key issues in adolescent development and could be addressed in a novel fashion involving supervised peer-groups and the arts.

We propose a pilot program that would span twenty-two weeks, with ideally a maximum of twenty (20) students from a large, metropolitan-area of United States. These high school aged adolescents will have experienced trauma through sexual violence/abuse and also will have experienced academic and behavioral decline within six months of the initial trauma. Students will explore, through the medium of photography, a weekly-assigned issue that relates to their daily life.

After the twenty-two weeks have passed, we will continue to check in with the teens, parents, and teachers to see if any measured gains persist. My goal is to show that through the creative exploration of the self, coupled with the building a new social system, there will be an increase in academic performance, mental health, self-esteem, and behavior. As a pilot, I will be able to predict efficacy in advance of moving forward into a larger study.