Macleod, Aspirations and Expectations

Macleod, Ain't No Makin' It 

- goals of study: 

• explore social reproduction theory: people tend to replicate parents’ social status— seeks to offer explanation of how that happens 
• understand the difference of both groups’  aspirations and expectations
• bridge gap between american dream and reality

- methods

• lives in area, ethnographer 

-  achievement theory:  if you work hard and put forth enough effort, you will succeed ( individual responsible for ALL) 

-  brothers v. hallway hangers

• Brothers: black, school-oriented, stay away from alcohol and drugs, achievement ideology, parenting technique is strict
• Hallway Hangers (HH): white, drugs/ alcohol, unstable, negative role models, reject achievement ideology, parenting= loose, do as they please

- Racial tensions 

• affirmative action: reduce opportunity and barrier to success says HH, source of hope for B 
• HH blame failure on reverse racism and fail to see class system as the actual responsible member 
• B believe world is changing and racial barriers have been lifted and think will be better off than parents 
• HH family has stayed and maintain life in Cambridge; see failure as generational, has always been this way, don't see it changing

- Outcomes 

• brothers much less well-off than they had thought/ imagined
• HH& B not at equal place, but both not great
  • explanation: racial divide and racism and social reproduction theory 
  • deduction: structural location will determine much more than american dream

- Habitus 

• Pierre Bordieu, seeks to explain why people of similar backgrounds _______
• social position also dependent on social, cultural, economic capital: set of dispositions deeply ingrained and very hard to change in any of us 
  • relation to story: schools, people are sorted by the time they get to high school; despite having aspirations, B’s Habitus limits them and there is little work that could be done to change this