Case Studies and Transcendent Children

Abstract

The influential case study tradition initiated by the Chicago School (Thomas and Znaniecki, W. I. Thomas, and Shaw; modified by Lindesmith and Cressey) has languished of late. Recent developments, narrative analysis, standpoint theory, and analyses of textual voice (Hertz 1997), perhaps obscure the known virtues of case analysis. A well analyzed and constructed case connects selves and social structure and when integrated in a mosaic of studies, integrates social and ecological processes with life experiences that illuminate collective action (Becker 1966). The role of case studies in theorizing remains a lively question (Becker and Ragin 1992). This, the latest book of Lillian Rubin, contains lively case material that raises issues central to qualitative research. Lillian Rubin, a sociologist and therapist, author of challenging books tracing the imprints of social structure on individual development and family life (1976, 1994), has written a book well balanced between trade and academic markets. The Transcendent Child, constituted of eight brief case studies (of around 25 pages) asks how children "transcend" dysfunctional families. This theme shifts attention from failure and victimization to coping and achievement. The case studies illustrate the effects of race, class, and gender differences on socialization—a wealthy white woman; a woman of Mexican immigrant parents; a black man raised in a project in Chicago; a man and