Privileged Girls, Private Schools and the Culture of ‘Success’

In my view the lack is in the self-esteem literature itself and the problem is the way the problem is conceived. The literature is far more concerned to define ‘self-esteem’ and to explain why it is a problem than to explore how it became a problem. Writers in the field seldom stop to reassess whose problem it really is, or whether high self-esteem may always be regarded as unproblematic. In this chapter I will do precisely what the literature does not and look at some of the processes through which individuals and social groups build a positive identity, suggesting that high self-and social esteem is not necessarily an unquestionable good.