Children of the Land: Adversity and Success in Rural America (review)

Children of the Land: Adversity and Success in Rural America. By Glen H. Elder Jr. and Rand D. Conger. University of Chicago Press, 2000. 408 pp. Cloth, $35.00.

Studies of rural life have largely vanished from the sociological landscape. Contemporary scholarship is chiefly relegated to agricultural programs at state universities and meetings of the Rural Sociological Society. Yet current headlines on topics from food safety to urban sprawl suggest the relevance of what takes place in rural America to us all. In Children of the Land, Glen H. Elder Jr. and Rand D. Conger provide a finely detailed portrait of rural life and demonstrate clearly the fundamental significance of rural study for understanding issues central to the discipline.

Elder and Conger examine the social bases of identity: How do family, school, church, and the broader associations comprising community life shape adolescents' aspirations and competence? Drawing on the life-course model that Elder first employed in his seminal work, Children of the Great Depression (1974), the authors explore the linkages between social structure and personality at a moment of dramatic historical change. In the 1980s, American agriculture experienced an economic crisis that threatened the very survival of family farming and rural communities. How families faced such adversity determined not only the continuation of their operations but the character of their children.

The authors follow youths in 451 Iowa families from seventh grade through high-school graduation in the years 1989-94, comparing boys and girls from farm and nonfarm backgrounds. Drawing on repeated surveys, interviews, and observation, the study traces the impact of social experiences on adolescent academic and social competence, self-appraisal, and the avoidance of trouble.

Many of the findings demonstrate the positive value of a farming background. Family farming demands that children contribute their productive labor, providing them with a sense of mastery while teaching values of hard work and responsibility that translate into academic success. Boys in particular benefit from close associations with their fathers, who serve as positive role models and offer practical training in a career attractive to their sons. At the same time, girls most often take on additional chores in response to family need. The close proximity of many farm families across generations traditionally has facilitated frequent contact with grandparents, who offer moral guidance and active support of their grandchildren's interests.

Participation in church groups, 4-H, scouting, and extracurricular school activities offers wider social contacts, particularly among adolescents otherwise isolated on the farm. Indeed, farm youth are more often leaders of these groups than their nonfarm counterparts and thus exhibit greater social competence. This high level of civic activity among farm youth mirrors that of their parents, who remain actively involved in all aspects of their children's lives. In homogeneous rural communities, contact with other adults also contributes to a "social redundancy" that reinforces values taught at home and balances the effects of peer pressure that may lead to trouble.

But while a farming background appears to foster adolescent success, the authors avoid romanticizing rural life. Farming is difficult and stressful work, particularly when coupled with the demands of an off-farm job; and many farmers hesitate to encourage their children to pursue agriculture. Moreover, the friction between farmers and nonfarmers as well as newcomers and established residents often constitutes the basis for deep divisions in rural communities. One wonders how long the beneficial patterns found in this study will endure, as many rural communities face either suburbanization or continued economic decline.

It remains to be seen how typical are the experiences of these youth. A host of variables — including topography, crop selection, and ethnicity — differentially affect the cadence of agricultural life across America. An additional issue this study raises is the long-term impact of adolescent socialization: To what extent do patterns laid down in youth define life choices in adulthood, particularly among those adolescents who leave rural environments?

By forcefully demonstrating how a...