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would include a prominent thank you to the research participants and would highlight project results that would be of interest to general readers. (The brochure could also be used as an informative handout for journalists, research groups, or other generalists.) This level of information is all most people really want; they are interested in whether the project came to a close and whether the research revealed anything significant. By giving each family a book, I was in a sense forcing the respondents to look at themselves from others’ perspectives. Some, such as the Yanellis, interpreted the way their lives were portrayed in the text as demeaning and false—a “slur.” Some readers, on the other hand, have told me that the Yanelli chapter made them understand how families who use corporal punishment could see the school as a threatening and powerful force. These readers said they found that insight truly helpful. But the fact that I, and some readers, may disagree with a family’s interpretation is irrelevant to the family and thus does nothing to lessen their pain.42 That is the key point.

There could be class differences in the likelihood of study participants seeking out the book on their own: middle-class respondents are likely to have the educational skills that would allow them to do so, and some may be more motivated to find the book than others. Still, the feelings that result from bringing study participants a copy of the book, and thus compelling them to consider a portrait of themselves that does not match their own self-vision, are likely to be more troublesome than those that arise after participants who actively sought out a copy of the research results read those results. If participants sought out and read the research report(s) and became very upset as a result, then, as with the families of Unequal Childhoods, I would try to engage them in a process in which we worked through the problems together. I would not withdraw from them (although, admittedly, this is a strong temptation). I would not ignore their feelings. Instead, I would directly and clearly interact with them about those feelings—that is, if they were willing to continue to see me. I would drop by from time to time, bringing bakery cakes and perhaps some wine or beer, to say hello and to see how they were doing. Even if research participants are blisteringly angry, I believe that it is still possible, in some cases, to be engaged in conversation in a way that can lead to a diffusion of anger.43 If the respondents are willing to continue a relationship with the researcher, clearly acknowledging their position and doing so at repeated intervals may eventually lead to people’s anger subsiding. I also think it is fitting for a researcher to invest time and energy in return visits, given that she or he is the cause of the respondents’ anger.

With the Unequal Childhoods participants, my efforts were rewarded. Some participants’ anger did diffuse over time. I continue to send cards and little gifts to the Yanellis, I give them big hugs whenever I see them, and they in turn greet me warmly.44 Others have been less forgiving. To expect forgiveness is to expect too much.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

In the appendix to his classic sociological study Street Corner Society, William F. Whyte describes the anger and sense of betrayal that many of the “boys” felt toward him after the publication of his book. “The trouble is, Bill, you caught people with their hair down,” one of the men tells him.45 The entire point of ethnography is to catch people in the routines of daily life, to reveal taken-for-granted aspects of their experience, and to make the background foreground. But researchers have often underestimated the level of anger and the sense of betrayal that can surface when they share their research results with participants. The dual process of seeking to reduce feelings of anger and pain while also accepting that such emotions may occur remains an enduring challenge.

CHAPTER 15

Unequal Childhoods in Context

Results from a Quantitative Analysis