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In a timely contribution to current debates over the psychology of boys and the construction of their social lives, On My Honor explores the folk customs of adolescent males in the Boy Scouts of America during a summer encampment in California's Sierra Nevada. Drawing on more than twenty years of research and extensive visits and interviews with members of the troop, Mechling uncovers the key rituals and play events through which the Boy Scouts shapes boys into men. He describes the campfire songs, initiation rites, games, and activities that are used to mold the Scouts into responsible adults. The themes of honor and character alternate in this new study as we witness troop leaders offering examples in structure, discipline, and guidance, and teaching scouts the difficult balance between freedom and self-control. What results is a probing look into the inner lives of boys in our culture and their rocky transition into manhood. On My Honor provides a provocative, sometimes shocking glimpse into the sexual awakening and moral development of young men coming to grips with their nascent desires, their innate aggressions, their inclination toward peer pressure and violence, and their social acculturation. On My Honor ultimately shows how the Boy Scouts of America continues to edify and mentor young men against the backdrop of controversies over freedom of religious expression, homosexuality, and the proposed inclusion of female members. While the organization's bureaucracy has taken an unyielding stance against gay men and atheists, real live Scouts are often more open to plurality than we might assume. In their embrace of tolerance, acceptance, and understanding, troop leaders at the local level have the power to shape boys into emotionally mature men.
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1
On My Honor
2010, University of Chicago Press
Electronic resource
in English
0226517039 9780226517032
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2
On My Honor: Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth
May 1, 2004, University Of Chicago Press
Paperback
in English
0226517055 9780226517056
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3
On My Honor: Boy Scouts and the Making of American Youth
November 11, 2001, University Of Chicago Press
Hardcover
in English
0226517047 9780226517049
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Book Details
First Sentence
"I have a rule that I turn off my car's music I ease off the state highway onto the crushed rock and dirt road that carries me toward the high mountain lakes where Boy Scout Troop 49 has camped each July for the past thirty years or so."
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- Created April 30, 2008
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September 16, 2021 | Edited by ImportBot | import existing book |
April 28, 2011 | Edited by OCLC Bot | Added OCLC numbers. |
August 12, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 30, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |