The Social Importance of Self-Esteem

Jacket Description/Back: Does the well-being of a society depend on the well-being of its citizenry? Does individual self-esteem play a causal role in chronic social problems such as child abuse, educational failure, teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse, welfare dependency, or crime and violence? In an attempt to answer these q questions, the State of California established the Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility in 1986. This body was charged, in part, with compiling research on the connections that might exist between self-esteem and social problems and with suggesting policy guidelines relating to the welfare of Californians and the expenditure of public resources. Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Biographical Note: Andrew Mecca is Executive Director of the California Health Research Foundation. Neil J. Smelser is University Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. John Vasconcellos is a California State Assemblyman. Table of Contents: "John Vasconcellos, " Foreword"Andrew Mecca, " Preface"Neil J. Smelser, " Self-Esteem and Society"Bonnie Bhatti, David Derezotes, Seung Ock Kim, and Harry Specht," The Association between Child Maltreatment and Self-Esteem"Martin V. Covington, " Self-Esteem and School Failure: Analysis and Policy Implications"Susan Crockenberg and Barbara Soby," Self-Esteem and Adolescent Pregnancy"Thomas J. Scheff, Suzanne M. Retzinger, and Michael Ryan, " Crime, Violence, and Self-Esteem"Leonard Schneiderman, " Self-Esteem and Chronic Welfare Dependency"Rodney Skager and Elizabeth Kerst," Psychological Research and Theory on the Relationship between Self-Esteem and Alcohol and Other Drug Use"Harry Kitano, " Alcohol, Drug Use, and Self-Esteem: A Sociocultural PerspectivePublisher Marketing: Is the well-being of a society dependent on the well-being of its citizenry? Does individual self-esteem play a causal role in chronic social problems such as child abuse, school drop-out rates, teenage pregnancy, alcohol and drug abuse, welfare dependency? In an attempt to answer these questions, the State of California established a task force on self-esteem and social responsibility in 1987. The aim of this body was to determine what connections might exist between these two factors and to suggest policy guidelines relating to the welfare of Californians and to the expenditure of public resources. The ten essays in this volume, prepared by faculty members of the University of California, draw on research in the social and behavioral sciences to explore these issues. They assess the substantive assertions and research findings in the field and make careful evaluations of their reliability and validity. In many cases strong connections between self-esteem and problematic behavior are established, in others the connections are weak, and in some the causal relationship is, as yet, imperfectly understood. One of the conclusions of the book is that research on these issues needs to be improved, particularly in the areas of comparative and longitudinal studies. Guidelines for future research are suggested, and some points of policy direction are elaborated. These essays may indeed promote additional research, for the premise that social stability and welfare are largely dependent on the psychological state of a people poses a challenging and provocative counter-emphasis to the assumption that social institutions are the primary determinants of individual welfare.

Contributor Bio:  Mecca, Andrew Andrew Mecca is Executive Director of the California Health Research Foundation. Neil J. Smelser is University Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley. John Vasconcellos is a California State Assemblyman. Contributor Bio:  Vasconcellos, John Vasconcellos is a member of the California State Assembly. Contributor Bio:  Smelser, Neil J Neil J. Smelser is a University Professor Emeritus of Sociology and former director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. He is a former president of the American Sociological Association, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. He joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1958 and has authored fifteen books, including "The Theory of Collective Behavior".