Open AccessFrom Bootstraps to Hands-up: A Multicultural Content Analysis of The Depiction of Poverty in Young Adult Literature
Author(s) -
Crag Hill,
Janine J. Darragh
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
study and scrutiny
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2376-5275
DOI - 10.15763/issn.2376-5275.2015.1.2.31-63
Subject(s) - poverty , depiction , multiculturalism , content analysis , sociology , pedagogy , moral responsibility , multicultural education , work (physics) , psychology , political science , social science , law , literature , art , mechanical engineering , engineering
This article describes the findings of a qualitative critical multicultural content analysis of 71 young adult (YA) novels depicting poverty and published between 1996 when the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) was signed into law by President Bill Clinton and 2013. The study answers three research questions: In what ways does YA literature published after the PRWORA portray poverty? How do those representations compare to current statistics regarding poverty in the United States? What do these depictions mean for teachers of English? The authors urge that instructors who use novels that depict poverty in preservice and/or graduate courses in young adult literature help build awareness of the complexity of poverty.