NCJ Number
158853
Date Published
1995
Length
181 pages
Annotation
Based on interviews with students who attend a high school in the Watts community of Los Angeles and current research, this book creates a clearer picture of the lives of people who live in poverty and some of the factors that perpetuate that poverty.
Abstract
The first five chapters of the book are arranged around issues cited by those who blame the poor for their own plight as evidence of their ultimate responsibility for the state of their lives: academic failure, dysfunctional families, adolescent maternity, child abuse, substance abuse, and gang affiliation. One chapter explores academic achievement in Watts and other inner-city communities; and the second chapter examines the family, with attention to adolescent maternity, the high rate of female headship of households, child abuse, and causes of the increasing numbers of women and children living in poverty in Watts and other inner-city communities. Chapter 3 examines the reasons, both societal and personal, that youth join gangs and the effects of gang affiliation on their lives. Chapter 4 explores substance abuse, and chapter 5 addresses the effects of living conditions and other stressors in Watts on the youth who live there and on the teachers who work with them. Chapter 6 focuses on the current situation in Watts, the factors that led to the violence following the Rodney King verdict, and a re- examination of where society must go from here. The final chapter offers suggestions for change that impinge upon each area discussed in the previous chapters. The author advises that a concerted effort to make changes in the inner city must mean by definition that the structures of United States society must change. The psychology of "blaming the victim" must be eradicated. The infusion into Watts of jobs, adequate and safe housing, medical care, quality education, and child care options could lead to increased opportunities for inner-city residents. Chapter notes, 90 references, and a subject index