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Dissertation Information for David Herbert Jenkinson

NAME:
- David Herbert Jenkinson

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (USA) (1982)

ADVISORS:
- K. C. McClasky

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Wesley Simonton

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Divorce as portrayed in selected juvenile fiction published in America between 1947 and 1977

Abstract: This study's purpose was to answer the question: What is the picture of divorce which emerges from examination of juvenile divorce fiction published in America between 1947 and 1977? This question was subdivided into six questions. Content analysis was selected for methodology; a Code Book and Guide were developed. To identify titles for analysis, annotations in Library Journal/School Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews were read for the period 1947 through 1977. Book length fiction suitable for grades four through twelve with an American setting corresponding to the publishing period and which had divorce as a major plot element were included; thirty-five titles were utilized.

Major findings were: typical divorcing families were white, middle class and nuclear in composition with one or two children having white-collar fathers and stay at home mothers who lived in single family homes in anonymous communities. Plots dealt with events before or following but avoided details of legal divorce and did not utilize vocabulary indicating legal dimensions. Explanations of marital breakup were limited to incompatability; legal reasons, with one exception, were not given for divorces. Juvenile characters were shown to be aware of parental unhappiness prior to divorce and learned from one parent that the marriage was to end. Post separation/divorce, most juveniles lived with mothers, the majority of whom worked because of lowered living standards. The majority of children from broken homes maintained contact with absent parents and kept their friends. Juveniles' major emotional responses were anger, sadness/grief and the most intense, reconciliation fantasies. A majority of the titles ended positively with juvenile characters adjusted to new family structures.


MPACT Scores for David Herbert Jenkinson

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-06-15 16:04:41

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