Lives in the Balance

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

"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

• IntroductionThomas M. Brinthaupt and Richard P. LipkaPart I: Defining the Self 1. Self as Narrative: The Place of Life History in Studying the Life SpanMark Freeman 2. A Multidimensional, Hierarchical Self-conceptHerbert 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 AgeRené L'Écuyer Part II: Measuring the Self 4. Reporting about the Self: Issues and ImplicationsThomas M. Brinthaupt and L. Jeanette Erwin 5. Multigroup Comparisons in Self-concept Research: Reexamining the Assumption of Equivalent Structure and MeasurementBarbara M. Byrne, Richard J. Shavelson, and Herbert W. Marsh 6. Significant Others in Self-esteem Development: Methods and Problems in MeasurementAnne McCreary Juhasz 7. He's Such a Nice Boy... When He's with Grandma: Gender and Evaluation in Self-with-Other RepresentationsRichard D. Ashmore and Daniel M. Ogilvie 8. Self-understanding Development in Cross-cultural PerspectiveDaniel Hart and Wolfgang Edelstein Summary and ImplicationsThomas M. Brinthaupt and Richard P. Lipka Contributors Subject Index Author Index