Everyday courage
Subtitle: the lives and stories of urban teenagers
By: Niobe Way.
Series: Qualitative studies in psychology
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 310
Subjects: Urban youth -- United States -- Case studies; Urban youth -- United States -- Longitudinal studies; Teenagers with social disabilities -- United States -- Case studies; Teenagers with social disabilities -- United States -- Longitudinal studies; Adolescence -- United States
Genres: Case studies.; Longitudinal studies.
Description: What does it mean to be a teenager in an American city at the close of the twentieth century? How do urban surroundings affect the ways in which teens grow up, and what do their stories tell us about human development? In particular, how do the negative images of themselves on television and in the newspaper affect their perspectives about themselves? Psychologists typically have shown little interest in urban youth, preferring instead to generalize about adolescent development from studies of their middle-class, suburban counterparts. In Everyday Courage Niobe Way, a developmental psychologist, looks beyond the stereotypes to reveal how the personal worldviews of inner-city poor and working-class adolescents develop over time. In the process, she challenges much conventional wisdom about inner-city youth and about adolescents more generally. In these 24 adolescents, Way finds a cross-section of youngsters who want to make positive changes in their lives and communities while struggling with concerns about betrayal, trust, racism, violence, and death. Each adolescent wants most of all to "be somebody," to have her or his voice heard.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [293]-302) and index.