Lives in the Balance: Youth, Poverty, and Education in Watts

by Ann Diver-Stamnes

Overview

This book is a wake-up call to the nation dealing with the realities of the lives of young people living in poverty in the inner city. The perspective is unique: it combines the voices of students attending a high school in the Watts community of Los Angeles with current research to create a clearer picture of the lives of people who live in poverty and some of the factors which serve to perpetuate that poverty. The author focuses on issues cited by individuals who blame the poor for their own plight as evidence that those living in poverty are responsible for the state of their lives: academic failure, problematic family dynamics, adolescent maternity, child abuse, substance abuse, and gang membership. She debunks the myths and negative stereotypes about inner-city youth and challenges those blaming the poor, thereby providing the reader the opportunity to explore the socio-political realities of living in poverty.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780791426685
Publisher:	State University of New York Press
Publication date:	10/06/1995
Series:	SUNY series, Urban Voices, Urban Visions
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	172
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ann C. Diver-Stamnes is Associate Professor at Humboldt State University.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Thomas M. Brinthaupt and Richard P. Lipka

Part I: Defining the Self

1. Self as Narrative: The Place of Life History in Studying the Life Span
Mark Freeman

2. A Multidimensional, Hierarchical Self-concept
Herbert W. Marsh, Barbara M. Byrne, and Richard J. Shavelson

3. An Experiential-developmental Framework and Methodology to Study the Transformations of the Self-concept from Infancy to Old Age
René L'Écuyer

Part II: Measuring the Self

4. Reporting about the Self: Issues and Implications
Thomas M. Brinthaupt and L. Jeanette Erwin

5. Multigroup Comparisons in Self-concept Research: Reexamining the Assumption of Equivalent Structure and Measurement
Barbara M. Byrne, Richard J. Shavelson, and Herbert W. Marsh

6. Significant Others in Self-esteem Development: Methods and Problems in Measurement
Anne McCreary Juhasz

7. He's Such a Nice Boy ... When He's with Grandma: Gender and Evaluation in Self-with-Other Representations
Richard D. Ashmore and Daniel M. Ogilvie

8. Self-understanding Development in Cross-cultural Perspective
Daniel Hart and Wolfgang Edelstein

Summary and Implications
Thomas M. Brinthaupt and Richard P. Lipka

Contributors

Subject Index

Author Index

Editorial Reviews

"Lives in the Balance literally explodes with images of youth culture within inner-city settings. Through observation and interview techniques, the author's close-up look at the effects of poverty on children's lives is staggering. Just the opportunity to hear 'insider' perspectives provides insights that other books with largely 'outsider' perspectives cannot. Not only has Diver-Stamnes taught in Watts schools, making her somewhat of an insider, but she also lets the reader meet the real insiders—the parents and children/youth of Watts who are her key informants—the mothers' perspectives, especially, become an important point of illumination." — Diane DuBose Brunner, Michigan State University

"The author's comprehensive coverage of the various social, political, and economic aspects of community impacting on the lives of the children and youth of Watts is very insightful. I especially was impressed by the author's ability to provide a social-political perspective that did not demean the experiences of her students and their families, but rather reaffirmed the life spirit that remains in the community of Watts despite the overwhelming social and economic problems faced by these people. By better understanding the lives of children and youth in urban poverty from 'the inside out,' perhaps professionals from alternative life experiences will be better able to 'empathize' with the experience of their students." — Christine C. Givner, California State University, Los Angeles

From the Publisher