Utilizing Affinity Groups to Enhance Intergroup Dialogue Workshops for Racially and Ethnically Diverse Students

U.S. adolescents continue to report interracial conflict and discrimination. School-based interventions are needed to help youth understand complex intergroup relations and reduce intergroup conflicts within academic contexts. We present the development and implementation of an intergroup dialogues workshop for 64 racially diverse students at a progressive, independent high school. During this workshop, students self-selected 1 of 5 racial affinity groups and then came together for intergroup dialogues. We describe outcomes, including observations and content analysis of open-ended evaluation questions. Finally, we make recommendations for utilizing this intervention to promote personal, interpersonal, and institutional change within other contexts.