In 1987, Jay MacLeod brought the housing project of Clarendon Heights to our attention with his initial publishing of Ain’t No Makin’ It. With the first edition, we meet two distinct groups of boys: the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. Eight years after introducing us to these two distinct groups, Jay Macleod makes his way back to Clarendon Heights.With the coming of the second edition, we are updated on the lives of the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. Fifteen years after MacLeod conducted his’ second round of interviews, he returns one last time to interview the boys at midlife.
Teenagers: Burnouts and Dreamers
Hallway Hangers. The “Hallway Hangers”, who we were first introduced to, consist mainly of eight white boys. The exceptions …show more content…
Ain’t No Makin’ It fails to break the mold of typically male dominated sociological experiments, and effectively eliminates more than half of a potential research population and audience. In Ain’t No Makin’ It, MacLoed raises this issue by stating: “But with class and racial barriers to overcome, I felt hard-pressed to understand the situation of the boys and would have been totally incapable of considering adolescent girls in Clarendon Heights, whose situation was so far beyond my own experience.” (MacLeod, 468). Although MacLoed does raise a valid point, he does not suggest including a group of white females, who are around the same age as the boys. Although gender would create a new barrier, he would not have a problem understanding racial …show more content…
In a separate and unrelated qualitative research project, nine counselors interviewed various teenagers and young adults on how they think of socioeconomic status (SES) and class status. While being interviewed, one subject stated the following about how she would determine SES: “Mostly, how much money you are making.” (Cook & Lawson, 2014). Although this can be a determining factor, this definition does not fully encompass SES. She later goes on to expand on her thoughts: I look . . . more so at how financially stable the household was or is, rather. I look at whether or not you have someone who’s living paycheck to paycheck. Someone who’s able to comfortably pay all of their bills, and then maybe, put some away . . .” (Cook & Lawson, 2014). When we apply this thought process to both the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers, we have an easier time of positioning each of