Building Bibliotherapeutic Practices

Building Bibliotherapeutic Practices: Bettering Education and Breaking Generational Cycles Through the Strategic Implementation of Bibliotherapeutic Literature

One out of every seven children in the United States of America lives in a household with a net income that falls below the poverty line: almost 11 million children in need of financial aid. For a country of such wealth, this number should be unimaginable; however, the harsh effects of poverty are ones that 14% of children face every day. With the realization of the detrimental effects of poverty on children and adolescents, reformation needs to be pursued in the one area most children and adolescents have in common and have access to: school. This essay will analyze?The Outsiders, The Kite Runner,?and?Perfectly Good White Boy?to host a discussion on the effectiveness of implementing them into classroom curriculum as a form of bibliotherapy that will then inspire a discussion about the stigmas associated with the effects of class division.??

??????Researchers at Harvard Medical School, as well as psychologist Kevin M. Simon, say that experiencing poverty in early childhood is often seen in correlation with student and medical patients that exhibit “lower school achievement; worse cognitive, behavioral, and attention-related outcomes; higher rates of delinquency, depressive and anxiety disorders; and higher rates of almost every psychiatric disorder in adulthood” (Simon). Poverty continuing from childhood to adulthood is linked to depression and depressive disorders, anxiety and anxiety disorders, psychological distress, and even in extreme but not rare circumstances, suicide. The evidence and correlation between poverty and mental health concerns are at the forefront of research. However, the issue is a much more complex problem since both medical and sociological studies suggest that poverty leads to severe mental health and developmental issues that prevent individuals and families from ever escaping the cycle of poverty. As Simon’s research indicates,” the problems that poverty creates for developing individuals will last them a lifetime.?

While the United States has a diverse population, this population is not always represented in children’s books. The 2019 Cooperative Children’s Book Center reported that "books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. represent nearly three quarters of children's and young adult books published in 2019.” Underrepresenting such a large part of the American population has impacted the foundation of literacy in children of all identities. Engagement begins to decrease when someone feels their voice is not represented in literary material. This decrease in literary engagement shows an exact correlation with a child's ability to reach their full academic potential in young children. They do not have the skill of literacy to drive them into their studies. One problem that has been created by the cycle of poverty and its effects on literacy is the mental health concerns that arise when a child does not feel that their skills have been developed to an adequate level. Embarrassment and hopelessness arise because students believe that there is no solution since there is no dialogue about the issue. Stigmas arise around poverty, illiteracy, and mental health concerns because conversations are often steered away from the topics. Therefore, the stigma associated with seeking mental health assistance and advocacy creates an intergenerational cycle of poverty and poor mental health.

This country could start dismantling the stigma surrounding mental health concerns associated with the poverty cycle by providing representation for adolescents in a classroom. Introducing strategic literary choices can create a safe space and opportunity for children to feel heard, represented, and supported due to the dialogue that the intentional curriculum can start. The United States Federal Government has exercised its power to establish welfare programs to assist families who have been stuck in the generational cycle of poverty in increasing their quality of life. Although the government-established welfare programs have not fully reversed the overwhelming issue of poverty, there is a difference to be seen after the efforts. So, with the power that the government holds in presenting tools to the people that it serves and with the emerging concept of bibliotherapy: a creative therapy that uses specific texts and literature to treat mental or psychological disorders. Bibliotherapy could be implemented as a technique in the public school system to lower the number of students with mental health concerns by representing a large population and erasing the stigma surrounding dealing with poverty-driven emotional and mental challenges.?

When dealing with depression, anxiety, or suicidal ideations, it can be challenging for a developing individual to make sense of what is happening in their mind or even their body, especially if the individual finds themselves in an environment where they do not have anyone or anything to relate to their personal and individual experiences. This frustration and confusion can lead to some previously mentioned behavioral effects. While an uncomfortably large percentage of the population finds themselves falling beneath the poverty line, the 14% is still thankfully not the majority. So, based on this statistic, children that fall into that 14% may not have a neighbor or a peer that they can witness living the same way as them to learn how to battle the adverse effects of their situation. Thus, bibliotherapy becomes helpful in this confusing situation.?

What is Bibliotherapy

Bibliotherapy is an implementable theory discovered by doctors which allows people to seek guidance from books. According to researchers Barbara Lindeman and Martin King in their article “Bibliotherapy: Definitions, Uses, and Studies,” bibliotherapy can be denotatively defined as “an interaction between readers and certain literature which is useful in aiding personal adjustment.” The interaction that one has with literature can spark a dialogue within specific settings that allows for healing and representation. Although the definition concretely highlights the purpose of bibliotherapy, the theory goes much deeper. Occasionally, it can be hard to understand what is happening inside one’s mind and body in individuals, especially if the individual has never experienced a particular emotion or internal challenge before. Implementing bibliotherapy into an individual’s life serves to bridge the gap in understanding what emotions they have unlocked by providing information, support, and guidance in reading because the individual can learn from and relate to the speaker, author, or author characters in the book.

??????Although the term bibliotherapy is becoming more popularized, the word bibliotherapy and the idea of using literature as a way for readers to make sense of the internalized (e.g., anxiety or depression), externalized (e.g., aggression), and prosocial (e.g., attitude towards others) behaviors is not a new concept. The concept of bibliotherapy dates back to 300 BC as inscriptions addressing healing were placed over the doors of libraries because the literature within the buildings was “healing for the soul” (McLaine). Though the concept of using literature to heal the soul has been around for centuries, the word bibliotherapy did not begin to surface until 1916 when the American minister Samuel Crothers combined the Greek words “biblion,” which means book, and “therapia,” which means healing to create the specific term bibliotherapy. In Crothers’s mind, the word defines the process in which “specific literature, both fiction and non-fiction, was prescribed as medicine” for the challenges that one can face when understanding their mental state or emotions” (McLaine).?

Using literature as a healing tool can also be linked back to the teachings of Greek philosopher Aristotle and renowned author William Shakespeare. The two men are the backbones for many curriculum objectives, including rhetoric, logic, and classic literary works. Besides their commonly known literary and philosophical theories, both men shared their beliefs that literature had healing powers and that with the reading of literature, “sorrow would disappear” (McLaine). Though Shakespeare and Aristotle never put bibliotherapy into clinical practice, they served as advocates for the idea that books could act as the connection between cognition and emotion to provide relief for those seeking healing.?

According to Susan McLaine, a bibliotherapy researcher, relief can be offered by one of four types of bibliotherapy. The first type is?creative?bibliotherapy. Creative bibliotherapy often takes place in a group setting in which stories, poems, and fiction pieces are used to connect the reader to a character that they can relate to and then discuss with their peers their reactions to this relation and thoughts about their emotional findings through the eyes of the character. For example, by introducing?War and Peace?by Leo Tolstoy to a specific group of readers, one can push readers to consider the themes of beauty and meaning within life. In reading a book like?War and Peace,?one might begin to consider their appreciation for life’s beauty; ultimately, this new way of thinking can shift readers' perception and allow them to rewire a new outlook on life. The second type of bibliotherapy is?developmental,?often used in education settings to explain childhood or adolescent issues. One place that developmental bibliotherapy can be observed is when, for example, parents use books to explain puberty to their children. The third form of bibliotherapy is?therapeutic.?Therapeutic bibliotherapy uses literature in adjunct with other modes of psychological treatment to manage an emotional or behavioral issue. Literature that serves as a good example of therapeutic bibliotherapy are books in which the narrator provides insights into internal struggles like grief or abandonment.?In the Language of Miracles?by Rajia Hassib is a story in which the characters experience grief after the traumatic death of their son. For someone who has recently experienced trauma or loss, this book would work well with traditional therapeutic practices in helping the reader process their grief. Finally, the last form of bibliotherapy is?prescriptive?bibliotherapy. Using self-help books either in a clinical setting or on one’s own to modify thought patterns, feelings, or actions is a form of prescriptive bibliotherapy. Though the last mode of bibliotherapy that researchers have put into practice does not use fictional literature, it is still a helpful tool in understanding how bibliotherapy can be applied as treatment.

All four of the modes of bibliotherapy have been found to be effective through case studies and research performed on the subject by institutions like Harvard and publications like the Journal of The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. As discussed in “The Long-Term Effects of Bibliotherapy in Depression Treatment,” bibliotherapy is effective as a long-term form of treatment for adults with mild depression. Researchers found that after “a follow up period of three months to three years, six adults showed a decrease in depressive symptoms” (Gualano). “Effectiveness of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction Bibliotherapy” illustrates the findings of another study conducted on college students that suggests that after just ten weeks of mindfulness-based bibliotherapy, they saw a significant reduction in stress and anxiety as well as an overall increased quality of life. The two cases are not where the research ends but serve as an effective foundation to prove how effective and necessary bibliotherapy can be for developing individuals.

Each type of bibliotherapy can be implemented in one way or another in the school setting. Great results will be seen when literature with powerful messages or relatable characters is implemented. Using books in the classroom as bibliotherapy is not an arduous task. A book does not need anything other than the ability to help someone understand the emotion or behavior by reading about someone going through the same personal and social adjustment. Subconsciously, people have been implementing bibliotherapy for years, and now it is time to implement it intentionally and effectively.

The Outsiders

S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders is an example of a novel that is already used widely in a classroom setting.[1] The novel is often credited with the emergence of young adult literature because it was written by a teenager and represents the difficult lives of young adults from the eyes of a young adult. Because of the author’s identity, Hinton offers a progressive, eye-level commentary on challenges that arise in the lives of young adults when society is divided by social class. The social commentary, though buried under a fictional story about two groups of kids, injects itself into the novel because the message is something that is relatable to a lot of young-adult students.

???????????The Outsiders follows the story’s narrator and protagonist, Ponyboy, through his experience growing up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 1960s. Ponyboy paints context for the readers of the Hinton novel by addressing the dynamic of the two classes, the Socs and the Greasers. In the fictional society, readers can see the effects that living in a divided society has on the children of the novel. By viewing the negative effects of division through the eyes of the characters in The Outsiders, students can start to digest classism from a distance. The same students, therefore, become one step closer to being able to digest the effects of the class divide on their education.

The Outsiders sets up the theme of class divide for the readers through the vocabulary used when referring to the divided Socs and Greasers. The way that the Socs and Greasers talk about the often-vilified opposite social group is a prominent point of analysis because of the social climate in which the characters find themselves. From the start of the novel, the narrator, Ponyboy, tells readers that the central driving factor of the conflict will be the class divide. He describes the Soc and Greaser social groups as “gangs” and tells readers that the rivalry between the “gangs” could be accurately related to a “warfare between social classes” that no one is able to win (Hinton 11). By calling the Socs and the Greasers “gangs” that participate in “warfare,” Ponyboy is creating a comparison between the social groups and a negatively connotated word that lasts for the rest of the novel. Traditionally, “gang” is used in a negative light because gang not only has a negative connotation, but it also has a negative denotation that many readers might overlook.[2] Members of gangs also often join out of necessity or the desire to feel accepted somewhere. Readers see the same thought process occur to the characters in the novel. Most of the characters feel in danger or lonely without people of their specific social group there to defend them. This thought process is not far from reality. "Gang" is not used in a positive light to describe the divided social classes. In fact, one could decern that by describing the divided social groups as a gang, Ponyboy is commenting on the dangerous and predetermined lifestyle that one must become accustomed to because of the social group they are forced into.?As a member of the lower class that is seen as “hood” by members of the Socs, like Cherry, Ponyboy feels as though he has nothing to lose in his behavior. He sees this same mentality in many of his friends and discusses how Greasers often end up in trouble because they do not know what else to do. Society perpetuates this belief in the characters, and Ponyboy does not see any change on the horizon. Ponyboy, initially, does not explicitly talk good or bad about one social group or the other instead, he just acknowledges the class divide in a “that is how life has been and will continue to be” tone; however, in referring to them both in the language in which he did, the reader is able to understand that the divided dynamic of society in the novel is negatively perceived because of the way the author compares the groups to gangs in a time of war.

The image of war painted in the gang comparison is also worth consideration. Ponyboy illustrates a constant war between the two opposing groups; however, Ponyboy starts to show his social identity when he starts to discuss how the “war” is unjust. In discussing the figurative “war" dynamic, Ponyboy says that the Socs always win. Because of their social class, “they’ve got all the breaks and even whipping them isn’t going to change that fact” (Hinton 11). Ponyboy knows that the war he faces on class divide is unjust; however, because of the society that he and his friends are in, they have no option but to continue fighting just like rival gangs. The fighting from the perspective of the Greasers, the social group that Ponyboy and the other characters in the story identify with, is something of necessity. Like actual soldiers, the Greasers fighting to keep their credibility and remain somewhat in control keeps them alive.

The characters’ reputations and credibility are two contributors that fuel the “war” and growing divide between the two groups. A minor yet vital example of an exchange where reputation is on the line can be seen in the scene where Ponyboy and Cherry interact for the first time. In the scene, Two-Bit (a Greaser) and Johnny (a Soc) get into an altercation. In the same way, gang members would defend their fellow members, the rest of the boys join the fight. Cherry is frightened by the fight as she is afraid that she or someone she cares about might get injured. Ponyboy reassures Cherry and tells her that he was just fighting to uphold his “tough” reputation. In the words of Ponyboy, the greasers use the words?tough?and?tuff. To the group, “tough is the same as rough,” and “tuff means cool, sharp” (Hinton 12). To Ponyboy and his friends, it is a compliment to look?tough?and?tuff. Like in a war between countries, toughness indicates strength and power, and the people fighting will uphold their toughness however they must. The Greasers have nothing to lose but their lives and ability to appear tough and in control. Although they are not in an actual time of war, the passage shows that the characters in the novel are fighting a constant battle for control because their society has driven a gap between the two groups.?

On the other hand, readers see how the only power Cherry has, as a Soc, is to fight for her reputation as well. After the same fight where Ponyboy felt he must portray a tough attitude, Cherry was forced to repress her desire to become friends with the Greaser boys. She enjoyed her time with them, but because of her reputation, she had to dismiss Ponyboy and his friends because of how she thought it would affect society’s perception of her. Cherry comes across as flippant in telling the boys not to say hello to her in public because “she couldn’t let her parents see her with them” (Hinton 46). Initially, a reader might take this as Cherry being blatantly and intentionally rude; however, as the novel progresses, those readers can see that Cherry, in fact, does not intentionally disregard the boys, but instead, she is just accustomed to upholding her reputation. Cherry tells Ponyboy, “I’ll bet you think the Socs have it made…things are rough all over” (Hinton 34-35). Cherry’s flippant speech indicates how her ingrained perception of class disregards the struggles of others because “things are rough” for everyone. However, when Ponyboy responds that “things were rough all over, all right…all over the East Side,” it shows how this long-instituted system so casually disregards people in his position. Neither of the characters are shocked by one another reaction because that is how their society has been structured for so long. Though the society at hand is one pulled from a story, there is a direct relation to society in the United States where complacency fuels the need to uphold one's reputation, which perpetuated the growth of the class divide.

???????????In the story, readers can see that Cherry does not realize the power of her words and that the Greasers are content with the language used because that is how it has always been. The Greasers have grown complacent after years of fighting a battle they never win. The constant state of fighting but never winning, but also never losing, is something that is perpetuated by the class divide. Some people are granted “all the breaks,” while others are just fighting to stay afloat. As the story progresses, through Cherry’s language and Ponyboy’s emotion, it is revealed to readers that this unjust system of class division harms everyone. Cherry does not realize that she is handed everything. Before being enlightened, through her exposure to Ponyboy’s hardships, she does not realize the negative effects on her character. The same system that drives Cherry’s ignorance at the start of the novel is the same system that encourages the “gang-war” between classes. People like Cherry frequently shoot down Ponyboy and his friends, making them feel discouraged in their abilities.

???????????In the same way that the society-accepted system inspires complacency in the Socs, the system also inspires complacency in the Greasers because they are discouraged by things like the unintentional language used by Cherry. Cherry’s word choice instills ideas in the minds of the Greasers that they are only as good as their class and that society could “never believe a greasy lookin’ mug could be a hero” (Hinton 107). The Greasers stay to themselves, and the Socs stay to themselves because both groups know ways to end the cycle of class divide due to ignorance of what the other is thinking. Cherry does not know that her words hurt Ponyboy, and Ponyboy does not know that Cherry feels pressure to guard her reputation by her parents. So, the two groups just keep fighting a never-ending war due to a lack of knowledge about the system of inequality. If they knew what the other side was thinking, then maybe they could turn their efforts onto fighting the bigger issue: class divide.

This overarching theme of class divide is precisely why this book works so well as bibliotherapy. By introducing literature, like?The Outsiders, educators can provide students with a distant view of how class divide is perpetrated and how the cycle will not end if there is no end to the complacent mindset of many. Requiring the reading of literature like this can be the tool needed to stir the emotions of many students and have them reflect on complacency in their own lives. No social group is perfect and people associated with all types of social identity struggle with internal conflict, and reading?The Outsiders?is a way that students of all ages can begin to understand this. For students who identify with Ponyboy, after reading the novel, they can see how Cherry is plagued with the constant feeling that she must live up to people’s expectations of her.?

The readers can then understand how Cherry’s actions are not driven by arrogance but out of necessity. Cherry and her friends are just “[people] are all. Things are rough all over,” even for the Socs (Hinton 118). For readers who identify more with Cherry, the characters make it obvious that the actions and vocabulary of the Socs drive the actions of the Greasers. Readers who identify with the Socs can see how life is hard for Greasers because of the unjust way that they are treated. Ponyboy is clear in relaying how Greasers have a hard time making it in a world. He describes how his peers are presented with little to no opportunities because of the role that they have been placed in. Sodapop was forced to drop out of school, and Darry was forced to be the head of the household. Both boys are too young to have responsibilities like that, but they do what they must to make ends meet. Both the Socs and Greasers mirror different readers’ real-life experiences and hardships. Therefore, introducing this novel to new readers will begin to expand the awareness of the existing system that perpetuates class divide.?

???????????Even if someone has not seen how knowledge from a new perspective can work to inspire people to seek change, through the character development of Ponyboy, the readers can see how knowledge and awareness are important in dismantling the system of class divide. By the end of the novel, Ponyboy is able to see all perspectives of those affected by the class divide. He then tells Dally about the death of Johnny, but it is too late as Dally has died too. He is stricken with grief and realizes that the class divide is the villain in their society, not the opposing social group. Ponyboy cries saying,

“I could see boys going down under streetlights because they were mean and tough and hated the world, and it was too late to tell them that there was something good in it, and they wouldn’t believe you if you did. There should be some help, someone should tell them before it’s too late. Someone should tell their side of the story, and maybe people would understand then and wouldn’t be so quick to judge a boy by the amount of hair oil he wore” (Hinton 179).

Ponyboy comes to the realization that one can be so much more than their stereotype, but because of the society that they live in, they are only seen as their social identity. Unfortunately for the characters in the story, this realization comes too late. However, if literature like?The Outsiders?is introduced to students in their youth or adolescents, the realization will come in time for them to enact the change that Ponyboy could not.

???????????Creating a parallel between?The Outsiders?and real-life, S.E. Hinton, thus, allows students who are reading the novel to feel represented or grow their social knowledge. These two things are the first steps in processing mental health issues to inevitably end generational cycles. Every student in the classroom may not be able to relate to the specific experiences of the characters in the novel. However, this novel is just one of many that students can connect to and start a classroom conversation around. This open classroom conversation can then lead to students' voices being brought out to speak on their own experiences. Bringing underrepresented voices to light is the goal of bibliotherapeutic practices; when literary studies are facilitated in the direction of bibliotherapy, even the fictional world of?The Outsiders?can connect a student’s real-life to the conversation ending the stigma around differences that affect students’ mental health and therefore their academic performance.

The Kite Runner

???????????The Outsiders?provides its students with Ponyboy’s clear perspective of the class divide present in the novel. Some readers will identify directly with Ponyboy -- gang violence and legal troubles -- while others who have not directly experienced this might still be able to sympathize with the class conditions that place Ponyboy in such circumstances. Close reading and analysis can help tease out these parallels. Whether directly relatable or not, Ponyboy’s experiences with gang culture, perpetuated by the youth in the novel, are experiences that readers can see direct parallels within their own communities if not within their individual lives. Ponyboy witnesses the death of two friends as an accessory to a murder and is forced to run away from home at the age of fourteen. The story creates a clear understanding of the negative effects of the class divide, which students can relate to the feeling of experiencing, but the central conflict is not one in a majority of high school students have seen first-hand. Therefore, incorporating various pieces of bibliotherapeutic literature into the curriculum is crucial to inspire a well-rounded, digestible conversation that will ultimately serve to end generational cycles perpetrated by stigmas.??

??????A piece of young adult literature that can help marry the gap between the relatable theme of inequitable class division presented in?The Outsiders?with a plot relatable to more consumers is Khaled Hosseini’s?The Kite Runner. The Kite Runner?is, similarly to?The Outsiders, an already widely known book amongst young adult readers. [3]?Though they have different levels of relatability, when strategically implemented, the novels serve as complementary pair in terms of bibliotherapy.?

???????????The Kite Runner?tells the story of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, Afghanistan, in the face of tumultuous events from the fall of Afghanistan’s monarchy to the rise of the Taliban regime. Though most readers in an American classroom do not relate to the specific social backdrop of the story, they can relate to the coming-of-age development within Amir that takes the forefront of the story as well as the conflict present in the development of the relationship between Amir and his peers. The novel is opened during the present day, adult Amir who now lives in the United States. The novel flashes back to tell the story of Amir’s childhood in Afghanistan and the effects that his experiences have on him. In addition to typical childhood experiences, the novel follows Amir’s struggles to shape a closer relationship with his father, Baba, determine how he feels towards Hassan, his servant, and peer, and eventually determine how to atone for the mistakes of his pre-adolescence. In all of this, it is a struggle for Amir to navigate the complex socio-economic environment in Afghanistan, where he falls into the socio-economic category of a privileged person yet does not feel like he is a privileged member of his own family. After moving to America later in the novel to try and escape persecution, Amir and Baba realize that their past struggles cannot be buried. When their personal battles caused by their lives in Afghanistan rise again, Amir must return to his home country to face the decisions of his youth with little chance of redemption.

???????????In analyzing the dialogue between characters and Amir’s narrator in The Kite Runner, one can understand how the failing government causes a more significant class divide and how that class divide affects the main characters’ relationships and interpersonal development. Gathering an understanding of the effect of the social and political climate on the character’s emotions due to their strained relationships will allow readers to understand why discussing the class divide is essential.

??????????From the beginning of the novel, the main character and narrator, Amir, reflects on his childhood experiences in Afghanistan. He talks about how he was taught about the world from his single father, Baba, remembering how his father taught him about the “world in black and white.” Amir addresses how his father’s perception of good and evil, wealthy and poor, right and wrong were divided as crisply and juristically as black and white. Being around his father’s complacent perspective for so long, Amir resent his relationship with Baba because, to Amir, it is impossible to “love a person who lives that way without fearing him too. Maybe even hating him a little” (Hosseini 15). Baba’s perspective of the world around him shows how casually his character and characters like him view the class divide. By sharing his opinions with his son, Baba unconsciously perpetuates the old idea that socio-economic status defines one’s characters because of the black or white social group believed to be associated with the differing classes. Passing down this misinformation is dangerous, especially in a world that desperately needs change to progress towards cohesiveness instead of division. Like Amir, many students are fed opinions of the world from childhood and are blind to how class perception is not black or white.

??????????Having a predetermined black or white perception of one’s character because of their socio-economic status is not something that just Baba is guilty of in the novel. Because of how the novel’s society is divided and how stereotypes are believed, all classes have a preconceived notion of what they believe people of the opposite socio-economic class are like. The false perceptions of the lives of people of the opposite social class are highlighted through the dialogue used in the novel. The dialogue shows how much the fictional society believes the stereotypes present for both classes. Farid, a less affluent character, has an image of what a high-class person looks like and what a low-class person looks like. Through a conversation between Amir and Farid, readers are shown that Farid believes the same things that Baba believes, and instead, he sees them from his perspective as a low-class citizen. When Amir moves to America, Farid patronizes Amir because he has the preconceived stereotype that since he is from a wealthy family, he has had his entire life handed to him. Amir has recently gone through many hardships at this point in the story, and readers can see the internal struggle that he has been having because of it. However, Amir’s peer, Farid, does not know that he comes from a home that constantly fears war and persecution. So, Farid says:

“Let me imagine, Agha sahib. You probably lived in a big two- or three-story house with a nice backyard that your gardener filled with flowers and fruit trees. All gated, of course. Your father drove an American car. You had servants, probably Hazaras. Your parents hired workers to decorate the house for the fancy mehmanis they threw, so their friends would come over to drink and boast about their travels to Europe or America” (Hosseini 232).

This passage shows that serotyping is not something that is one-sided, as it is assumed in some literature. Both wealthy people, like Baba, and people who have fallen into poverty, like Farid, view the other group through the lens of the stereotype associated with each one. Seeing that both Farid and Baba stereotype their peers, and seeing the characters’ reaction to being stereotyped, allows for different perspectives to be seen, which, in turn, shows that the class divide affects everyone, not just the lower class.

???????????The dialogue between Farid and Amir, in this same scene, provides insight into the society that is being depicted in?The Kite Runner. During the same time that Farid consciously stereotypes Amir as arrogant and lazy through assuming that Amir has everything done by servants while he sits and “boasts” with friends, Farid unconsciously stereotypes people of the lower class. When telling Amir that he does not know what it is like to struggle, he points to an “old man dressed in ragged clothes trudging down a dirt path, a large burlap pack filled with scrub grass tied to his back” and tells Amir that unless he looks “dirty” and “ragged” then he has not experienced a struggle (Hosseini 232). The stereotypes that appear through Farid and Amir’s conversation in this scene are the stereotypes that not only perpetuate the class divide and poverty cycle in the novel but also in real life. Farid presents himself as genuinely unsympathetic towards Amir based on his social status. Though this eventually changes when he becomes aware of Amir’s orphaned nephew and his true purpose for coming to Afghanistan, the initial stereotyping of not only Amir but also of the man quickly cements false stereotypes into the belief of people for generations.

??????From the surface, the dialogue and conversation within?The Kite Runner?perpetrates the stereotypes associated with each social class. However, to understand the socio-economic differences between the characters in?The Kite Runner, one must examine them through a social lens. In the novel, it is evident that certain groups of people in Afghanistan and, later, in America differ a great deal in class, status, and occupation as the novel unfolds. The class dynamic presented from the start is something that, for American readers, is a digestible societal class structure. The working class, the middle class, and the upper class are present in the novel. At the start of the novel, Baba and Amir are wealthy, while Ali and Hassan work as servants. Characters from the lower social classes are disadvantaged, especially in Afghanistan; however, from an analytical standpoint, it can be discerned that the characters who are of a higher socio-economic are just as poorly portrayed. Farid’s perception of the upper class as represented in his dialogue demonstrates how the upper class is, too, looked down upon because of the stereotypes that are instilled in characters. The characters from less wealthy backgrounds are portrayed to be naive, while those from more privileged backgrounds are usually selfish but successful. Characters like Assef, and to a lessened extent, Amir, are written as selfish individuals who make self-harming decisions. Amir describes how he participated in activities that he is not proud of. He accounts for times that he “run outside to watch the caravan plod through the street…[he] hurled pebbles at their goats. [He] squirted water on their mules” (Hosseini 26). Amir was not proud of his actions, and that’s why he sought out atonement; however, because of the reputation that he was unable to escape, the stereotypes that classified Amir and people like Amir as bullies and selfish stuck. On the other hand, the “caring” individuals like Ali and Hassan are portrayed as selfless. Hassan emerges as a selfless character. From the beginning of the novel, Hassan stands up for Amir and guards his secrets. Amir explains that he “talked Hassan into firing walnuts with his slingshot at the neighbor’s one-eyed German Shepard. Hassan never wanted to, but I asked….” Then when the boys were caught, Amir tells the audience that Hassan was loyal and would never tell his secrets. Though it is true that Hassan is a loyal and selfless friend, not all members of the lower class can be identified this way. Farid uses stereotypes and does not give the benefit of the doubt to Amir that he has changed, so it is obvious that not all people in each class are the same. Amir is no longer like the friends he had that shot rocks at mules, and Hassan and Farid are different. However, the stereotypes present suggest that members of each social class fit into the mold of what the upper or lower class should look like, and there is no room for wavering. This initial setup of class stereotypes is later broken down, but while it is still there, it is something that can serve as a tool to inform the readers as to the hardships surrounding stereotypes that other real-life social classes face. In the same way that?The Outsiders?allowed readers to see the hardships and authentic personalities of each character,?The Kite Runner’s tiered class structure becomes broken down because readers are able to see that people are more than their stereotype. This realization that is inflicted by both of the novels is something that students may have trouble seeing without the literature, as many students are never given the real-life opportunity to mingle with people of another socio-economic status.?

???????????From The Kite Runner, readers are able to take away the impact of lasting stereotypes that are present through casual dialogue like Baba or Farid’s. Students will be able to see the effects of the character’s assumptions and be able to apply this realization to their own lives. Students may not even realize that they have a preconceived notion of their peers and of people that identify differently than them when it comes to socio-economic status; however, this novel provides a first-hand account of how easy it is to assume something about someone based solely on their financial status. These assumptions, as readers can see, are detrimental not only to the lower class but also the upper class as both classes are forced into categories because of false stereotypes. When paired with The Outsiders, students will be able to use two novels to see how class division is perpetrated on a generational scale because of the complacency of society. From there, students can begin to connect those seemingly different from them to then understand that financial status does not define a person. Hopefully, then, the upcoming generation will be able to share the knowledge given to them from the classroom in which class division was discussed to change the world around them.

Perfectly Good White Boy

A relatively new piece of literature that has emerged in the young adult genre is Carrie Mesrobian’s?Perfectly Good White Boy.?This novel provides a fictional story about high schooler Sean Norwhalt and his journey of self-discovery. Sean must overcome internal struggles like embarrassment and hopelessness, which he blames on his family’s failing financial status after his father leaves, while also making life-changing decisions like where to go after high school. But on a deeper level, Sean experiences internal struggles as to what he believes is successful. On top of having serious internal battles like wondering how his mother will make ends meet, Sean also struggles with how he assumes that his peers perceive him. The internal conflicts that Sean struggles with are problems that a significant percentage of the population face at some point. This relatability serves as a tool for various objectives and is just one reason that?Perfectly Good White Boy?is gaining popularity among young adults.[4] Since the students targeted in the essay are adolescents who are deciding on their next steps after high school, there is the opportunity within the studying of this novel that allows various students to feel connected to the story because they can, at the moment, relate to Sean’s self-perception as shaped by an ever-present imaginary other, ambiguous understanding of success, and the deterring hurdle of application fee's.

A dominant theme in Perfectly Good White Boy is the way in which the assumed perception by others plays a role in Sean’s self-awareness. In other words, Sean measures his own success by how he assumes others see him. From the first of the novel, Sean alludes to a fight between him and his best friend, Eddie. Though the readers, in the beginning, do not know what inspired the fight, the effects that the fight has on Sean are obvious. Sean believes that his peers see him as “violent” and “crazy” for getting in a fight with a friend. However, Sean does not know what his peers are saying about him. Instead, Sean just infers, saying, “that was better than being violent and crazy, the labels everyone probably gave me” (Mesrobian 3). The specific use of the term 'probably' indicates that Sean does not, in fact, know what his peers are saying but infers based on his own perception of himself because of his level of confidence. Located at the novel's beginning, this thus introduces Sean as a character that has a skewed perception of himself and success due to the circumstances that he was raised in.

Sean explicitly tells the audience that he is embarrassed by aspects of his life caused by the fallout of his family and his low financial status. The first piece of his life that Sean expresses embarrassment of is his home, calling it a “crappy rental” and telling his crush Hallie to drop him off up the road so that his “mom wouldn’t notice” when, in reality, he did not want her to see where he lived. The author shows this through the interaction between Hallie and Sean by providing Sean’s internal dialogue during the interaction. Sean tells the readers that he assumes that if Hallie sees where he lived, her perception of him will change. However, he never gives Hallie a chance to decide for herself; he decides what she will think of him because of his insecurities. Sean believes that since he and his family must rent their home, they are less than his peers who are able to afford a mortgage. Sean is insecure and believes that Hallie will see him as less successful because of his home, since one’s home traditionally reflects one’s financial status and success, especially in the eyes of a high school student surrounded by wealth. But, again, readers see that Sean does not allow his peers to come up with their own opinion. He just assumes what they will think of his family even though the circumstances that Sean sees as embarrassing are normal.[5]

Sean’s insecurities stem from what he believes are the factors of success in his society based on his peers’ lives. Sean describes Carenna and Hallie, two of the popular girls from school, as “royalty” and better than him because they were beautiful, wealthy, and on the path to success. To Sean, the girls were an ideal model of success since they had their college applications and standardized tests in line. Sean’s insecurities about his ability to succeed are highlighted in a conversation between Sean and the senior girl, Hallie, in chapter one when he asks her about her part-time. Hallie tells Sean that, even though she hates lifeguarding, “it looks good on a college application” (Mesrobian 14). Hallie then goes on to say that her “parents thought it was a good idea. [She] did a million things to get into college” (Mesrobian 14). Sean sees that Hallie, someone he idolizes, defines success as one’s involvement and ability to achieve admission to college, whereas he has never viewed success in that way because his family had never achieved that. To Sean, success was not something that he was able to identify because, from his perspective, no one in his inner circle is “popular of worth a damn” (Mesrobian 14). Talking with Hallie, Sean realized that he had not pushed himself to succeed in the same way that Hallie had; however, Sean justifies his insecurities by saying “people like [him]” were not like people like Hallie and that he could not possibly achieve the things that Hallie will achieve. Hallie discusses her plans for college with Sean at the beginning of the novel. Her relaying her ideas for the future to Sean is the catalyst action that sparks the entire series of internal conflicts within Sean surrounding what?his?next steps should be. Sean “didn’t exactly come from a family of high rollers or geniuses”; his brother was a tree trimmer and his father, “when he had a job,” sold farm equipment. Sean does not believe that he would ever be able to achieve a college degree because he had never seen people in his family do it before him. Sean believes that he and Hallie are on completely different life trajectories because of their different social identities. So, by comparing what he believes as his potential to what he believes as Hallie’s, Sean retreats to his comfort zone and tells Hallie that he plans to join the Marines. Sean’s plan to join the Marines comes about as that is the only thing he believes that he is capable of since that is what his insecurities tell him. Sean sees Hallie, and people like Hallie, as being granted more possibilities than him because he has never been able to see someone in the same financial boat as him achieve things like admission to college. Sean begins to compare himself to people like Hallie from the beginning of the novel because he believes, due to his false sense of self-awareness, that he will never be able to achieve what his peers achieve due because he has never seen it modeled before.

One’s opinion of success in the United States, as seen through the narration by Sean, is a very subjective opinion. While some readers will be able to relate to Hallie in thinking that the only way to achieve success is through a college degree, some readers will be able to relate to the opposite and will think that Sean’s brother’s job as a tree trimmer is something that relates a successful life. Sean, being caught in the middle, faces a lot of internal struggles as to what he believes is successful. Sean goes to school and hears his peers discuss the ACT and college applications and then comes home and sees his family, many of whom do not have college degrees, live a life that Sean perceives to be the ideal model of normal. While characters like Hallie go home and have encouragement from their parents about their plans for the future, Sean is not able to have the same. The back and forth of what Sean should pursue in the future creates his skewed perception of what he classifies as success and what he does not. This is an issue that many American students face when they reach the end of their high school careers. Students do not know if they are able to individually pursue something that they have never seen been done in their family before them, or, on the other hand, some students feel less than when they decide that college life is not for them. A dominant theme in Perfectly Good White Boy is the way in which the assumed perception by others plays a role in Sean’s self-awareness—not presenting several options as successful options creates the same insecurities that Sean experiences due to lack community and familial support.

After?Perfectly Good White Boy?sets up the dynamic of Sean and his individual opinion on the definition of success in the first few chapters, the rest of the story follows Sean’s struggles with overcoming the insecurity about his plans for his future. Sean goes back and forth, struggling with the idea that he must reach for a college degree because that is the community’s standard of success and his own doubt that he will be able to achieve the degree. Sean does not believe that he has the intelligence on financial means to reach the completion of his college degree, so Sean tends to shy away from the idea, again, because of his self-doubt caused by comparison and his subjective opinion of success. Readers see Sean compare himself to Hallie’s unobtainable character at the beginning of the novel, but as the story progresses, Sean moves on to compare himself to those he sees as closer to equal. Sean grows closer with the character Neecie on his journey of self-discovery. Neecie is a more “realistic” model of success to Sean. She was from an “okay neighborhood” and has what Sean perceives to be normal plans for her future. Neecie is planning on attending college after graduation, and her plans inspire Sean to believe that he may also be able to achieve college. Sean’s belief is that if Neecie, someone more like him, is able to go to college, then he may be able to as well. The growing relationship between Sean and Neecie makes Sean question his decision to join the Marines, and he starts to explore other options. Again, this goes to show how influential Sean’s relationships are in his definition of success. Depending on whom he surrounds himself with, Sean views different possibilities and levels of achievement for himself.

Although Sean begins to think about attending college, his dreams are quickly changed when he starts to think about the financial commitment. Sean is unsure that college is for him, so he why he should even “spend money on the application” (Mesrobian 108). Based on what the text says about the character's social status, this amount of money represents a large percentage of his income while it does not for others. The character’s question then is one of practicality that stems from his social class. For some, spending money on an application might be just that: spending money on an application. However, for him, spending on an opportunity that isn't guaranteed to render success is equivalent to gambling. To some characters in the novel, the application fee associated with applying to college is the least of their concern; however, for Sean, someone of a lower-income family, the application fee is a big hurdle that is deterring him further than his insecurities already have from applying to schools.[6]

As one can see from Sean’s back and forth in his decision for his future, one can see all of the factors that play into one’s perception of what is obtainable. The overarching plot and themes of self-doubt that the main character, Sean, feels show readers the effects that poverty and family dynamics can have on one’s education. Sean is sure he's seen his future and its "possibilities," and they all look like they could be taken from him at any point. Sean is used to things being taken from, like how his home, his family, and his friends were taken. The only hopeful possibilities in Sean's life are the Marine Corps because he feels like that is the only possibility he has. By exposing readers to the conflict that Sean has about his future, some readers may be able to begin to find a parallel in their own lives and their own struggles of what their perception of success is. Through Sean’s narration in?Perfectly Good White Boy,?readers are presented with the same opportunity of enlightenment as Sean: success can come in all directions. By the end of the novel, Sean sees this, and by introducing?Perfectly Good White Boy?to young adults, many readers will be led to this same realization and be inspired to pursue their goals, not the goals that they have acquired from the comparison of a family member or a peer.

The Pairing of Literature

???????????Though?The Outsiders, The Kite Runner, and Perfectly Good White Boy?portray various character sets, plots, settings, and themes, they all serve a collective and purposeful role in academia. When paired together and implemented into the reading list and course objectives, readers will be able to see a huge payout in effectiveness. Each book is different yet serves as a tool of advocacy for those who see their social identities’ effect on their education. Students may be able to relate to the “gang” like culture displayed in?The Outsiders, the fear of war and governmental abuse like as seen in?The Kite Runner,?or the hopelessness seen in characters like Sean in?Perfectly Good White Boy.?Regardless of the scenario in which a student can relate to a novel, 53% of students from a lower economic standpoint do not believe that they have the power to obtain a higher degree of education because their self-perception is caused by the class divide, according to CNBC News. Each novel in the selections of books presented in this thesis has a narrator that voices their experiences navigating through their life as someone who identifies as having a low socio-economic status.?

??????Collectively, these books can serve as an inanimate advocate for students because of the insightful and different perspectives offered. The unique themes from each novel allow students to see the perspectives of those different from them, which will, thus, allow students to be more equipped in understanding the effects that class division has on the development of those around them. This understanding will be able to play into classroom discussions centered around the dismantling of stigmas associated with mental health concerns caused by poverty. In order to irradicate a system that perpetuates poverty, conversations must first form on the ways in which poverty affects students. These novels are modes of advocacy because they allow for students to see how characters have been affected by their socio-economic status, and they will feel more represented and open to sharing their own struggles with peers. Communities within schools will be built because of the comfortability that literature has the potential to make. This is what students need. Students need to be advocated for and have their voices feel heard so that change can ensue.

Need for Change

???????????For one to understand the need for the strategic implementation of something like bibliotherapy, one must acknowledge the way in which societal issues are intertwined and influenced by a person’s social identity starting as early as childhood. When a child is born into a family that identifies with the lower class on the socio-economic spectrum, the child, from their earliest memories, is often passed over for opportunities that will guide them to reach their fullest potential of self-actualization. Self-actualization is the highest level of psychological development that one can achieve, as understood by Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. One may not achieve self-actualization if their basic bodily and ego needs have not been met. In other terms, one who has reached a position of self-actualization can seek and desire tools that will allow them to reach their fullest personal potential. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the first thing that people need to develop psychologically is to have their physiological needs met: physiological needs include access to food, water, warmth, or rest. The second set of needs that must be met are one’s security needs; this means that to move to the next stage of development, one must experience having open access to not only food, water, warmth, and shelter, but also must feel secure and safe in their home and community. The third tier of needs that one must satisfy is one’s belongingness and love needs. Without the feeling of belonging, satisfied through the cultivation of relationships with friends or intimate partners, one cannot proceed to the final two steps of development. The final needs one must satisfy before they can begin to work for self-actualization is their esteem need. One must be able to experience confidence in their work performances or have a sense of prestige before they can experience self-actualization. Though self-actualization is a difficult position to reach for all people, people with certain social identities are more predisposed to reach the final stage of psychological development due to the resources and opportunities that they are presented with over others.

??????????Starting from the top of the pyramid, one can understand the apparent lack of opportunities for someone to experience displeasure with their self-esteem. This is not a far-fetched idea for most, as most Americans in the era of rampant digital media growth have experienced a sense of emotional discontent in their performance or appearance. According to an article titled “Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty Boosts Girls' Self-esteem for Back to School,” 70% of adolescent girls say that they feel insecure in the way that they measure up to their peers (“11 Facts about Teens and Self Esteem”). This statistic is one that many can relate to; however, as one looks further down the psychological needs on the pyramid, mass relatability starts to thin. Under the need to experience high self-esteem falls the need for belongingness and love. Lacking a sense of belongingness and love, though having a lower rate of the report, is still something that over 46% of people say that they can relate to (Lardieri). 46% of the population is a large number of people who are not meeting a seemingly reasonable desire; however, when attention is drawn to the statistics of people that do not have the ability to achieve their basic security and physiological needs, large groups of people are surprised to hear that over “580,400 people experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night in 2020, an increase of 12,751 people, or 2.2 percent, from 2019” according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (“Homelessness Increasing Even Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic”). After being presented with a poll asking for a response on the previous statistics, six people out of every ten polled reported underestimating the number of Americans that are unable to have their basic needs met.

??????????In saying all of this, hopefully, it is now able to be seen how some people, due to the situations they are born into, like homelessness, are predisposed to fall back into cycles of poverty. If a child is born into a family that is unable to meet their needs, like their need for shelter, due to financial status, a child is unable to reach the needs that cannot be achieved until after their need for shelter is met. So, the child would not be able to feel a sense of high self-esteem or self-actualization. In situations like this, students can become discouraged in the classroom because they are unable to feel confident that their knowledge is helping them work toward the future. A student’s predetermined socio-economic status affects a student’s ability to excel in the classroom due to their concern with not having their basic needs met drives their decision to drop out of high school because of their perceived poor school experience. This, in turn, often returns the student to a position of adulthood poverty that continues the economic system’s generation cycle.

Bibliotherapy Implemented

???????????Though there has not been much research on the efficacy of bibliotherapy implementation methods, it is clear, because of the need for change, that studies are needed to be conducted. In the meantime, however, researchers say that the understanding of the principles, philosophy, and practices of bibliotherapy is seen as valuable for those personnel working with children who may profit from the exposure to reading materials directed to their specific problems” (Lenkowsky 1). The comprehension of what bibliotherapy is, as well as what material serves as good tools for bibliotherapy, are the first things that educators can begin to do in order to start treating the literature in their classroom as a form of bibliotherapy. Having an internally developed skillset will allow teachers to facilitate discussion in their classrooms to be oriented around the voices of those who are oppressed in the United States. This open dialogue will allow students to feel inspired by the characters that prevail in the stories, as well as the progressive conversation of peers. Students who feel advocated for will be inspired to strive for more because they will feel more empowered to do so since their physiological and psychological needs will be closer to being met. The present themes in The Outsiders, The Kite Runner, and Perfectly Good White Boy create the start for a collaborative discussion to be held in the classroom, which can allow students to feel represented and for change to be sought. By opening the eyes of students to the lives of their peers and the cycles that need breaking, change will begin to happen. Change starts with representation; Representation starts with bibliotherapeutic literature.

Bibliography

Gualano, M R et al. “The long-term effects of bibliotherapy in depression treatment: Systematic review of randomized clinical trials.” Clinical psychology review vol. 58 (2017): 49-58. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2017.09.006

Hazlett-Stevens, Holly, and Yelena Oren. “Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Bibliotherapy: A Preliminary Randomized Controlled Trial.” Journal of clinical psychology vol. 73,6 (2017): 626-637. doi:10.1002/jclp.22370

“Homelessness Increasing Even Prior to COVID-19 Pandemic.”?U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 18 Mar. 2021, https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/hud_no_21_041.

Lardieri, Alexa. “Study: Many Americans Report Feeling Lonely, Younger ...” U.S. News and World Report, U.S. News, 1 May 2018, https://www.usnews.com/news/health-care-news/articles/2018-05-01/study-many-americans-report-feeling-lonely-younger-generations-more-so.

?Lenkowsky, Ronald S. “Bibliotherapy: A Review and Analysis of the Literature.” The Journal of Special Education, vol. 21, no. 2, May 1987, pp. 123–132, doi:10.1177/002246698702100211.

Lerman, Robert. “Are Teens in Low-Income and Welfare Families Working Too Much?” The Urban Institute, Nov. 2000.

McLaine, Susan. (2014, October 22). What is bibliotherapy? Words That Heal. https://wordsthatheal.com.au/about/.

Simon, Kevin M. “Addressing Poverty and Mental Illness.” Psychiatric Times, 35, 6, June 28, 2018. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/addressing-poverty-and-mental-illness.

Tribunella, Eric L. “Institutionalizing The Outsiders: YA Literature, Social Class, and the American Faith in Education.” Children's Literature in Education, vol. 38, no. 87, 2006, pp. 87–101., https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-006-9016-2.

“11 Facts about Teens and Self Esteem.” DoSomething.org, https://www.dosomething.org/us/facts/11-facts-about-teens-and-self-esteem.

[1] In 2001 Publisher Weekly reported The Outsiders to be ranked second on the list of best-selling children’s novels of all time.

[2] The first definition listed under the word “gang” in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word as meaning “a group of persons working to unlawful or antisocial ends especially a band of anti-social adolescents.” This is a crucial definition in that “gang” which is thrown around so flippantly to describe the two classes is a word that is associated directly with violence and unlawfulness. The connection between socio-economic classes and gangs assumes that the classes will be at constant odds that will result in unlawful feuding.

[3] The Kite Runner?appeared on the?New York Times?bestseller list for over two years, with over seven million copies sold in the United States.

[4] According to the growing set of online reviews provided by recent readers.

[5] Sean is embarrassed of having to live in a rental home; however, according to a Pew Research Center study conducted in 2019, approximately 44.1 million people rent their homes. While it is more common for lower income people to rent, 10.5 percent of people who report income in the 100th percentile still choose to rent their homes. Renting is not something that explicitly says that someone falls below the poverty line; however, Sean believes that his peers will assume that of him when they realize he lives in a small rental home.

[6] On average college application fees range from $40-$75. Some students, even the $45 is not within their budget so it deters them from reaching for their goals and seeking out a college degree.