Foreword

Andrew M. Mecca

The creation of the California Task Force to Promote Self-Esteem and Personal and Social Responsibility is part of an unprecedented attempt to reframe our approaches to solving social problems. The aim of the task force is to develop an approach that actively promotes the greater well-being of the individual and of society, rather than simply reacting to an ever-growing epidemic of casualties resulting from serious social ills.

The gathering of data and testimony at public hearings, which led up to the legislation establishing the task force, built a consensus that a primary factor affecting how well or how poorly an individual functions in society is self-esteem. If this is the case, then, documenting this correlation and discovering effective means of promoting self-esteem might very well help to reduce the enormous cost in human suffering and the expenditure of billions in tax dollars caused by such problems as alcohol and drug abuse, crime, and child abuse.

This bold initiative was generated by veteran Democratic member of the California State Assembly John Vasconcellos, and it became a solid bipartisan program when the legislation was signed by Republican Governor George Deukmejian in September 1986. Plans for the task force attracted more than four hundred applications for appointment, more than had been received for any other state commission in the history of California. In addition, more than five thousand people have since written to express interest, join the mailing list, and become involved in this historic effort. Persons from all fifty-eight counties in California, all fifty states, and twenty-seven nations have become active.

As a result of this positive response, subsequent legislation encouraging each of the fifty-eight California counties to appoint a local task force was introduced and passed. These local councils will provide access for all at the community level and will help to sustain this work on a long-term basis. The state task force itself is committed to maximizing public involvement and has convened public hearings across the state, set up "think tanks," and invited numerous interested individuals and constituencies to contribute their views and ideas.

The work accomplished by scholars at the University of California is a significant reflection of the interest and support the task force agenda has attracted. University President David Gardner, his staff, and seven principal authors from the University of California faculty have provided invaluable support by preparing this volume, which reviews and summarizes relevant research associated with self-esteem and the pressing social problems of alcohol and drug use, teenage pregnancy, poor educational performance, crime, child abuse, and chronic welfare dependency. The chapters in this book offer for the first time a detailed summary of research relating self-esteem and these specific social concerns.

This academic work is being richly complemented by the input received from the public hearings and think tanks being held throughout California. These gatherings provide opportunities to hear personal testimony on the significance of self-esteem and to collect information from those who have pioneered programs designed to promote this quality. A central issue that has emerged from the work to date is the balance of attention devoted both to personal and social responsibility and to self-esteem. In fact, there has been considerable consensus in the public hearings and think tanks that self-esteem is a product of or is associated with character traits such as honesty, responsibility, perseverance, kindness, and self-discipline.

The investigation of self-esteem and personal and social responsibility may allow us to gain insights into more cost-effective strategies that are relevant to all citizens and that, over the next generation, can reduce the growing incidence of social problems and their related personal and economic costs. This work also challenges us to recognize the critical need for a long-term focus, for rigorous research that can evaluate the impact of strategies and programs designed to promote self-esteem.

Our modern ideas surrounding self-esteem and personal and social responsibility have a rich heritage. The language has changed, but the ideas inherent in this perspective have not. Indeed, the California task

force benefits from both the wisdom and the inspiration offered by history. Leaders, poets, scholars, and historians from the earliest of times believed what we believe today: that responsibility is a manifestation of an individual's high level of self-esteem.

The scholarly work included in this volume brings academic rigor to this heritage. In addition, the various chapters pose the critical research questions that can significantly increase the depth and clarity of this investigation into self-esteem. These contributions reflect the productive work that is itself a key ingredient of self-esteem.

It is perhaps a romantic notion that self-esteem is related to concepts such as honesty, charity, dignity, faith, intellectual energy, optimism, self-acceptance, courage, and love. But our hope is that self-esteem and personal and social responsibility will be our legacy, what we leave behind for our children. In doing so, we will have brought to our community, our human family, a very great gift indeed.