| Abstract: | The study replicates a previous investigation done with middle class children to examine their conceptions of prerogative and restriction, Weber (1999). For the present study, forty nine first, third and fifth grade children who were primarily African American, were drawn from two public schools in a small aging midwestern industrial city. They participated in two interviews which elicited responses concerning personal prerogative at home and school. The children identified areas of prerogative in both settings. They distinguished between personal and conventional issues at school. Children's claims to prerogative appeared to increase with age, as did the amount of disagreement and conflict over such issues. There appeared to be a flattening out of opportunity at school however, that did not occur at home. Unlike the middle class sample, these children sometimes used prudential and punishment reasoning to justify restrictions. Direct responses from the children clearly indicated that school should be different from home in prerogative offered them. They appeared to accept more narrow and rigid boundaries at school with little reservation. The totality of the children's responses, however, suggests the possibility of more complex attitudes. The flattening of provision at school, combined with some presence of punishment reasoning, suggests that there may be some interesting differences in approach between middle class and working class schools. |
