Social Inequality via Generations in J.Macleods Aint No Makin It - Book Report/Review Example

Jay Macleod’s work Ain’t No Makin’ It provides a view of the world of The Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. It shows how the definitive views of the individuals affect their status in life but there are also factors in the society that affect the status of the individuals. The Hallway Hangers is a group of young boys who lives in the subculture world in which their perspective revolves around being bad to be good and popular (p.27). This is a common characteristic of the lower class teenage peer culture which is bound by the high importance placed on masculinity, physical toughness and street wisdom (p.27). The Brothers are more of a peer group as can be seen in the movements of their friendships that wax and wane through different seasons, like during the school year, they tend to break of into smaller friendship circles and come together once in awhile (p.48). The Hallway Hangers, who have a strong sense of solidarity and subscribe to their own distinctive cultural norms, are described as a subculture. The Hallway Hangers have a desire to move their families out of their own community, and with that a desire for social mobility. From the conversation with Slick and Shorty, “all it is how to survive and have money in your pocket. You have to learn how to survive first. (Because) if you can’t survive, especially around here, that’s why you see so many people who are just down and out.” (p.36). In contrast, the Brothers seem to have a more optimistic view of their life. They accommodate themselves to accepted standards of behavior and strive to fulfill socially approved roles (p.43). Unlike the Hallway Hangers which have a distinct set of shared values created from their own criteria of what’s good and what’s bad different from the society’s standards, the Brothers use the dominant culture’s definitions of success and standards (p.45). Their residency in a white neighborhood has important implications in their manners and behaviors compared to that of the Hallway Hangers (p.46). Because of this, they do not compare themselves to upper class in a negative way. Their world revolves not only in survival but extends towards school, home and other activities. Jobs and aspirations have little relevance to the Hallways Hangers looking at their background. How they live their life trying to survive everyday, they “take whatever (we) can get” since their unskilled labor offers nothing for a credential-based job market. Although there are job aspirations for some of the members of the Hallway Hangers, most expect that they’d take whatever job they can to allow money to come in for them. Their perspective in being employed are usually flaked by the credentials that the job market is looking for like in Slick’s case where he didn’t qualify for a lot of benefits for the service after taking an exam to be enlisted since he didn’t have a high school diploma (p.66). This is in contrast with the Brother’s aspirations and expectations. They have occupational goals and they have a more optimistic view of employment, only if they work hard for it (p.80). The only barrier that they see is racism. The negative perspective of the Hallway Hangers on employment is not just because of their own status in life but by the frustrations from being rejected because of their background, drug and criminal records and bearing no high school diploma. Because the job market demands clean records and a high school diploma as a prerequisite for a job application, the Hallway Hangers feel that they have no chance of getting a tad higher than the usual odd jobs they are doing. With that, they adjust their aspirations and expectations around what they think as available for them, that is unskilled manual work. They believe that they can be smart, or even smarter, than other kids who are still in school (p.70). They have no qualms about their own abilities. However, their neighbors, their family and their own experiences in the job market tend to put down their belief in the opportunities that the job market can offer them. The class-based obstacles to economic and social development does not merely account for the individual’s behavior and perspective but also with how the society looks at economic opportunities. Opportunities are given to those who merit it because of their achievements. And because of this, the lack of experience in being able to get a better job than unskilled labor gives the lower class individuals lost hope for class mobility since they get stuck working in jobs that pay meager wages just enough for them to survive day by day. Because of this, there is no opportunity for them to save enough money to let themselves acquire the requirements of a better job, like a high school or college diploma, let alone save money for their siblings or their own kids to get a diploma and have better employment opportunities that will them a chance in class mobility. Racism and antagonism are also factors in providing these people a chance in the job market. Because of their race or socio-economic family background, employers may believe that they are not worth hiring, although these people believe they can be skilled and smart enough to handle that kind of job. This concludes to a fact that the differences in the perspectives of both groups account to their experiences in the job market. This also shows that when a family member has a better employment opportunity, there is a tendency for the children to aspire and expect the same level of openness of economic opportunity. The background of the child that they acquire with their family life has a bearing on how they are seen and viewed by the market. This also accounts for their market value, aside from their own skills and aspirations. This indicates that the economic and class structure within the society define the openness of market opportunities for the individuals. Eight years later after the initial interviews done with the Hallway Brothers, their aspirations about work and jobs turned differently but most the same as what Frankie has predicted before that most of the group will be in jail or dead. All of them have been to jail and are linked to alcoholism, drug abuse and violence. Their life has been a string of personal failures and even if they reform, like in Frankie’s case, they remained unemployed with a few odd jobs here and there or being involved in shady work (p.159). The Brothers also had the same limiting opportunities as the Hallway Brothers. Even with their diplomas, because of the changes in the economic and market structure, including the recession, the Brothers got stuck in jobs with low salaries and no vertical movement. With their social background, even with their capabilities and skills, they have been affected by racism and the judgmental nature of the job market. This proves even more that their subordinate position in the class structure and the social world limits their mobility and chances for a better life. Also, the changing structure of the job market increased limiting opportunities for the lower class individuals. The rise in managerial, professional, technical and administrative jobs increases the numbers of unemployment for the lower class because of their educational background (p.160). The shift from the manufacturing and labor economy to a service economy also decreased their opportunities even more (p.160). The occupational structure, class structure and the social world creates the vast divide between the opportunities for the rich and the poor. Because of this, the poor remains poor and the rich become even richer. Thus, this shows that economic inequality is structured by the society. Reference: Macleod, Jay. Ain’t no makin’ it: Aspirations and Attainment in a Low-Income Neighborhood. Colo:Westview Press, 1995. Winter’s definition in rising to the top is by overcoming all negative influences around her, given that she had to go through life with a difficult situation. Winter was determined to change the situation she was born from, by achieving her ambitions and goals. Winter’s strength and determination to if not eliminate minimize the oppression of the powerless and have a better environment for the future generation. A great influence and motivation to achieve her ambitions and goals comes from a voice she hears on the radio which winter looks up to. The goals and ambitions of winter is shaped by different factors around her, Winter’s determination in achieving her ideology of what a society must be has been more vigilant because of the situation she sees in the majority of the people living in her community, the everyday experience that defines the facts of how her society’s state is. The situation of the people who are directly involve and affected in every activity, incident or circumstance created by the people who are influenced by power, drugs, sex and money has been a total disappointment for her. Winter’s frustrations and disappointments became a concrete foundation for her to go on and further shaped her ideas and goals of achieving a community that would be free from poverty, abusive power and danger, and that ever member of that society has a social responsibility to fulfill. The achievement of my goals and ambitions differs from Winter’s is because of a lot of factors which includes social awareness, interest, experience, situation and family. Winter have developed a certain goal in life to work hard for because of the situation and society she grew up with, in addition to that the experience that we have may be similar in a way but would be on a different level. Pursuit to the top would be everybody’s game plan. This is something Winter and I have in common, to act accordingly in order for us to achieve our ambitions and goals in life, Winter and I also have our own ideas of how life should be and how an individual in a community or society must act. The goals may be different but the ambitions of achieving a specific goal are the same. People will always be different in anyway, that’s why they are called individuals. If Winter had been a different person, it is very clear that her perspective and how she sees things in her community would be different from what she has in her current situation or class status, and because of this, Winter’s actions on how to pursuit to the top may have a little twist and at the same time would have a different approach. That goes for me as well, being in the same class status will not necessarily mean you have the same situation, if I had a different race, gender and community, the experiences I will go through will be different from what I have experienced and experiencing, this will have a great effect and influence of how I react and understand things which will later on lead to how my actions will be to pursuit the top. Winter is a product of all three, since Winter grew up in that social class, the activities, incidents and experiences had shaped how she think and see the things that was going on around her, this created a unique psychological way for her to see things. Her ethnicity also has a great bearing on how her actions are and perspective on how her to pursuit to the top has been. Different race and cultures has a different way of looking and dealing with things and situations, if she was born of the different race the chances of Winter having a different perspective will be high. And finally gender, yes I believe that winter will have a different approach on how she would pursue to the top, mainly because men and women would most likely have a different physiological approach, mental capacity and level in understanding things. A lot of men would see thing in a more masculine manner while women often sees things in a more emotional manner. Read More