NCJ Number
146742
Journal
Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Volume: 501 Dated: (January 1989) Pages: 8-25
Date Published
1989
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study uses data from a multistage, random sample of black residents of Chicago's poor communities to examine theories of inner-city social dislocation.
Abstract
The study shows that the growing spatial and social concentration of poverty creates an unprecedented set of obstacles for ghetto blacks. The social structure of the inner city has been radically transformed through the mass exodus of jobs and working families; the deterioration of schools, housing, businesses, recreational facilities, and community organizations; and the loss of government resources, often redirected to the more affluent. The cost of living in the ghetto is analyzed in terms of the black class structure in and out of the ghetto; class, gender, and welfare trajectories in low- and extreme-poverty areas; differences in economic and financial capital; and social capital and poverty concentration. The authors conclude that today's ghetto dwellers face a closed opportunity structure owing the characteristics of their social milieu. 5 tables, 1 figure, and 26 notes