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This research falls into
three basic
forms:
content
analysis, general effects,
and
overcoming prejudices.
The content
analysis
is
the
most com
mon
type
of
study dealing
with
children's
literature,
possibly because it
is the
easiest to
conduct. Two of
the
most significant studies
in this
area were
performed
by David Cast
1967)
and Alma Homze f
1966).
Cast, investigating
minority
stereotypes
in recent
children's books, came to the con
clusion
that
although the more
objectionable
minority
stereotypes have
disappeared,
stereo
types (meaning an oversimplified, often
in
accurate view) still predominate. For ex
ample,
a
book
may deal with Negro
children,
but there
may be nothing
especially Negro
about them or the problems they face to dis
tinguish them
from
the
average suburban
white
child.
Cast
also noted that while Negro
and Japanese
children are usually
depicted
as
living
within
the
mainstream
of American
life,
Chinese,
Mexican, and Indian children
are depicted as set
apart,
either in Chinatown,
in
the
sleepy adobe pueblo, or on
the
reser
vation.
1
Homze,
in
a
much more extensive sur
vey,
examines children's
literature
from
1920-60 and notes
many
of
the
same
factors
as does Cast,
particularly
that the "middle
class white" child dominates the
field.
She
also finds evidence for
considering
children's
books a
mirror for
changes in American
family
trends over the
40-year
period.
The
more recent books, she
points
out, stress
re
liance on
self-sufficiency
and good relations
with the
peer
group in contrast
to older
books,
which emphasize the
importance of
family
and the need to depend
on
adults for guid
ance.-
The problem
with
content
analyses of
children's
books is
that they represent an
attempt to build
the house
by
working from
David K . Cast. "Minority Americans in Chil
dren's
Literature." E 2-23:
January 1967.
-
Alma Homze.
"Interpersonal
Relations in
Children's Literature."
E
3:
26-
28,
52; January 1966.
the roof down. It is impossible to gauge,
example,
the significance
of a
large or
sm
percentage of Negro characters
in rec
books until we know what
effect
the prese
or
absence
of Negro
characters
will have
children.
Until
we know that, mere
cont
analysis can
provide
little
more than
kno
edge of the books
themselves
and tren
within them. A researcher might just as w
study
the number
of fat characters,
or
c
dren who
wear
red shirts. Yet the
cont
analyses
remain the
best
studies
in
the fi
and certainly
the
ones least
open
to questi
Norine Odland, in
T
tates
the problem
p
fectly
It
is
also possible that, with the soph
cated and
refined
statistical treatments curren
available, work with affective responses
content analyses has
not been
encouraged
approved. It is difficult to
assign a mathemat
score
to a six-year-old's response to
the story
Mike
Milligan. '
1
The content of books
at least,
can
measured
and recorded statistically. The
sponse
of children to books cannot.
Fehl L . Shirley M969)
attempted
to
around
this
dilemma in a study of the
gene
effects
of reading
on concepts,
attitudes, a
behavior. Although the books to which
subjects responded
were not children's bo
(e.g.. B
he methods
of
the
stu
and its findings
are
worth noting.
Shirley asked 420
Arizona high
sch
students
to "report any changes in concep
attitudes, and
behavior
that they
had
exp
enced as
a
result of
reading." 4
Reactions
to
reading ranged
from
"T
Indifferent," who admitted to
never
hav
been influenced
by
any
sort of
reading,
to
'Decision
Maker," who was
influenced
make a specific change in his behav
through
something he had read. The exam
given is
that
of a student who decided to g
: i
Norine Odland.
T
hampaign,
Illinois:
Edu
tional Resources
Information
Center,
1969. p. 2
4
Fehl L.
Shirley.
"Influence of Reading
Concepts,
Attitudes, and
Behavior." J
2:
369-72, 407-13; February 1969.
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ally
with the pro
blem of children
's preju
ces and
re
ading.
They
a
re:
R
H
Tauran's
The Influences
of Readin
g
on the
Attitudes
f Third
Graders Toward
Eskimos 1967),
L
Fish
er's Influ
ence of Read
ing and
Dis
sion on
Attitud
es
of
Fifth
Graders Toward
ican
Indians
1965),
and
Evalene
P
's
Effect of Reading Upon
A
ttitudes
Negro R
ace
19
44).
Of
the
so far as the revie
wer
can
determin
e,
Jackson's study
has appeared
in a jour
e other two are
unpublished doctoral
sertation
s.
With
variations, the method u
sed by
of the three inve
stigators wa
s basically
sa
me. The subjects
were
d
ivided into
and
control groups and the
ir
des
toward
the
particular
ethnic
group
questio
n wer
e
recorded
by me
ans of a
naire
.
A
story or stories
dealing
with
ethnic group
wer
e
then read to one or
o
f
the
groups
an
d their
subsequent
were mea
sured with an
other
ques
Significant variations
in methodology
as follows:
1 Workin
g with two matched
groups of
white children
of
junior
high
age.
ck
son read a
story
favorable
to
Negroes
to the
mental
gro
ups. She
did not
read
to the
trol group.
2 Tauran
did not make use of a
co
ntrol
roup. Fa
vorable and
unfavorable stories deal
ing with
Eskimos
wer
e read to two groups
of
third grade classes.
3
Fisher
worked
with
three
g
roups of fifth
graders
. To the first group, six
stories
favorable
to Indians
were rea
d. In the second
group these
stories
were
read and discussed. The third group
acted as
a
cont
rol and stories w
ere
not
read to
t
hem.
Children's
stories
appear
to
have a
posi
tive
effect, at
least
fo
r a
while. Tauran,
Schneyer rep
orts, found t
hat
child
ren's atti
tudes toward Eskim
os were definitel
y shaped
by
the
stories they he
ard. Positive
ini
tial
atti
tudes
were
reinforced b
y
the
positive stories.
This
is in line with Fisher's
finding
.
Favorable stories
about Indians resulted
in
favorable
attitu
des
toward
Indians. Discus
sion of the
stories seemed
to make
the
chil
dren's
attitudes
ev
en more fa
vorable.
J
ackson noted the
same positive r
eaction
to the
favo
rable s
tories. Ho
wever,
unlike
Tauran and Fisher, Jacks
on administe
red
the same
attitude
test ag
ain
two
w
eeks
l
ater.
Whatever favorable attitudes toward
Negroes
the
children had gained
through the sto
ry
were
lost
o
ver that
period.
Afte
r
two
weeks
there
were
no
significant attit
udinal
d
iffer
ences
between the
experiment
al
an
d
control
groups.
S
chneyer's evaluation makes note
of
leading questio
ns in all three
questionnaires
which ma
y
have biase
d the resp
onses, and
raises
certain
d
oubts o
f how effe
ctive
an
instrument the
attitude
test
is, pa
rticularly
when used
as
both
a
pre-
and
post-test.
He
makes
a third general poi
nt which
is
esp
e
cially
significan
t for this
and for future
rese
arch:
One
important
element which needs f
ur
ther explanation i
s
the
influence of
the home,
community, and peer
group
in reinforcing or
opposing
the origina
l attitude.
Th
e three studies
might w
ell
be
exam
ined in
this light,
and also
in light of certain
investigations
of
the effect
of
mass media
(TV
and
m
ovies)
on
childre
n's attitudes,
as
noted
by
Mart
in and L
ois
Hoff
man:
H
immelweit
and associates
offer
the gen
eraliz
ation
that
children are more likel
y to be
influenced by the
media the less complete
their
knowled
ge is from
other sources.
This
vi
ew
would be consistent
with the Peter
son and
Th
urstone experience. While
the point has
not been fully dem
onstrated, it is reasonable to
suppose th
at in value
areas where
th
e parents
have strong, explicitly stated
views,
and where
the parents s
erve as
mo
dels for
their children's
actions, the
media
would
have little eff
ect. The
valu
es an
d
a
ttitudes which should be
most
vulne
rable
to
media
i
nfluence sh
ould be those
con
cerning which the
significant people
in the
c
hild's life have not tak
en a stan
d.
Furthermore,
ch
ildren
in
homes where the parents
do not
interac
t
frequently
wit
h their childr
en
sho
uld
be
m
ore
susceptible to me
dia influence than
J. W. Schne
yer.
Effe
cts of Reading on
Chil
dren's Attitudes.
T
3:
49:
October
1969.
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children
wh
ose relati
onship
with t
heir pa
rents is
m
ore
inte
nse.
With th
ese ideas in m
ind, it
is re
grettab
le
that
the
Taura
n
and Fish
er studies
d
id
not
make
use
of a
n evalua
tion af
ter
a period
of
tim
e. One
mig
ht, how
ever, m
ake cer
tain
hypotheses
in
the
hope
that
they will be
tes
ted in th
e futur
e.
Co
nsideri
ng
T
auran'
s study,
one
migh
t
expe
ct
the effe
ct of
the stories
to
be qu
ite
long
-lasting
, sin
ce Esk
imos
are a
group with
which few
children
have
an
y
fi
rsthand
conta
ct,
a
nd
one ab
out
which
,
ou
tside
of
Alaska
, there
w
ould
no
t
be s
trong
pare
ntal,
peer
or
c
ommun
ity know
ledge or
fee
ling.
I
n the same
light,
Jac
kson's s
tudy
is
extrem
ely enco
uraging
in tha
t she
was ab
le
to
elicit
a
positive
response
toward Negroes
at
all.
In this
case
one
w
ould
ex
pect p
eer,
par
ental,
an
d comm
unity att
itudes
to
ward
Negr
oes to
be w
ell-defi
ned
and fa
irly rig
id,
effec
tively
dis
couragi
ng d
eviatio
n. Under
these
circum
stance
s, one wo
uld
hard
ly expect
a
si
ngle st
ory
to have a last
ing eff
ect.
Fishe
r's
study raises
an in
terestin
g ques
ti
on.
S
ome hom
es and com
munitie
s,
espe
ciall
y in
the
Far
West, fo
ster negat
ive
atti
tudes
towa
rd Indi
ans, bu
t
conside
ring the
nation
as
a
whole most are probably
indif
fer
ent,
as not
many people
have
di
rect co
tact w
ith Indi
ans
or
k
now ve
ry m
uch a
bo
th
em. A
great
many unfa
vorable
attitu
d
toward
Ind
ians
are
genera
ted by
t
elevisi
and mov
ies.
Fische
r's
study
seems
to sho
that
in
itial attit
udes
can b
e overcom
e
th
rou
the
use of
sele
cted
re
adings
a
nd
a we
planned
discussion program.
A s
in
the ca
of Tau
ran's stud
y,
the quest
ion rem
ains h
o
long c
hildren
retain
the
se new
attitu
des. O
m
ight well
exp
lore the
probl
em of
wheth
or n
ot a
readin
g-discu
ssion
progr
am c
overc
ome an
d correc
t attitud
es
derive
d fro
TV a
nd movies.
Lookin
g
over
the t
otal fie
ld
of
resear
into how
chil
dren's readin
gs
affe
ct
child
re
v
alues,
one
c
an conclu
de that
book
s m
a
significant
part
in
shaping and reshapi
an indiv
idual's th
inking
;
yet the
m
eans
wh
ich the
y do
this and the
t
otal signifi
can
of
their
role
are mat
ters
stil
l
de
termin
lar
gely
b
y the
observ
ers
intui
tion. In ma
case
s childr
en's
re
adings
might
mome
ntar
af
fect their
respon
ses, but
how las
ting th
e
effe
cts are r
emains
to
be
det
ermine
d.
M
artin L
. Hoffm
an and
-
Lois Wlad
is
H
m
an. R
ume 1
New
Yor
k: Rus
sell Sag
e
Foun
dation,
19
p.
342.
Refere
nces
Davi
d
K
. Cas
t. Min
ority Ame
ricans
in Ch
il
dre
n's
Li
terature
.
E
4: 1
2 23;
Ja
nuary 1967.
A
lma H
omze. Inter
personal
Relat
ions
in
C
hildren
's
L
iterature
. E
3:
26-2
8
52:
Janua
ry
1966
.
Evalene P. J
ackson.
Effect
s of Readin
g
Upon
Attitude
s
Toward t
he Negro
Race. L
4: 47-54;
19 44 .
J.
W.
Schneye
r. Effects
of Readin
g on
Chil
dren's
Attitude
s
T
3: 4
9;
Oc
tober 1969
Fehl L.
Shirley
. Influe
nce
of Readi
ng on
A
dolescen
ts.
W
3:
256-6
0;
N
ovembe
r
1968
.
F. L.
Shirley.
Influe
nce
of Reading
on C
on
cept
s, Attitudes
, and
Behav
ior. J
12: 369-7
2 4
07-13;
Fe
bruary
1969.
Also
cit
ed, but una
vailable
for f
irstha
review:
F.
L. F
isher. I
nfluence
of Rea
ding an
d D
cu
ssion o
n
A
ttitudes
of
Fifth Graders
Toward
Am
ican Indian
s. Un
publishe
d disserta
tion, Un
iver
of
California at
Berkeley, 1965.
R
H.
Tau
ran.
The Influen
ces
of Reading
the
Att
itudes
of Th
ird G
raders Tow
ard
Eskim
Unpubl
ished diss
ertation.
Unive
rsity
of Mar
yla
College
Park, 19
67.
E
RIC A
. K IM
MEL
T
2
14
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