The Moral Ecology of South Africas Township Youth [Paperback]

This book provides an engaging account of the moral lives of young black South Africans once the struggle against apartheid ended and took away their object of political resistance. It shows how partial-parenting, partial-schooling, and pervasive poverty contributes to how a group of young people construct right and wrong and what rules govern their behavior.Introduction The South African Moral Context The Study of Youth Morality in a Context of Poverty South Africa's Fractured Morality 'What World is This?' Youth Morality in the Aftermath of Apartheid Constructing Moral Codes of Right and Wrong Positioning Others and Locating the Moral Self Moral Processes: Decision-making and Dissonance Making Meaning of Moral Influences Applying Contextual Moral Knowledge Moral Capital  Working at Being Good Implications for Homes, Classrooms and Communities Appendices

Written with tempered passion, Sharlene Swartz s award winning research heralds a powerful new voice, one who can clarify the ambiguity and ambivalence of moral development under difficult conditions - Professor Robert L. Selman, Harvard University

An important, deeply moving study of the moral thinking and behavior of young black people in a South African township. This book is reported with affection and critical analysis. It should be useful for educators everywhere who work with populations that have suffered discrimination and exploitation. - Professor Nel Noddings, author of Critical Lessons: What Our Schools Should Teach.

Sharlene Swartz has given us a stunning, prize-winning account of the morality of township youth. The brilliance of her ethnography brings to life young people s struggle to define right and wrong so as to survive in an unjust violent world. This book marks a definitive shift in sociological studies of youth and the field of moral education by demonstrating the power of empirical research into moral formations. - Professor Madeleine ArnlC(