Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology
Paginering:
Jaargang 6 (1977) nr. 1 pagina's 46-51
Jaar:
1977
Inhoud:
Children's literature provides information about societal values, norms, and views of deviant childhood behavior. In this study, 27 contemporary fiction books written in the past three decades for children aged 9-12 years were randomly chosen and content analyzed to determine salient patterns, causes, and outcomes of deviance on the part of story characters. Within the context of the collective stories, it was found that children's behavior is designated unacceptable and abnormal primarily and most effectively by peers, who have powerful effects on the deviants by rejecting them and/or by seeking to understand them. Children kelp their deviant peers by developing a rapport with them on a one-to-one basis. Parents are potent causes of children's deviance, but are remote and disengaged from the deviance they induce, and provide minimal help in the resolution of problems. Teachers are notably absent as helpful adults. Girls exhibit more deviant behavior than boys, in frequency, intensity, and scope, and are also more susceptible to peer influences. Their deviance is highly consistent with traditional and stereotyped sex-roles and sex-linked behaviors. The study suggests further research on the attribution of childhood deviance, given that it is a relative and variable phenomenon.
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