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Reconsidering Worlds of Pain: Life in the Working Class(es)Author(s): Thomas J. GormanSource: Sociological Forum, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Dec., 2000), pp. 693-717Published by: SpringerStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/684979 .

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2/26

Sociological

Forlum,

Vol.

15,

No.

4, 2000

Reconsidering

Worlds

of

Pain: Life

in

the

Working

Class(es)l

Thomas J. Gorman2

Thispaper

focuses on the

early

goals, past educational

experiences,familial

support,

and

current career

goals of

a

sample

of

80 White

middle-class

and

working-class

parents

in a

medium-sized

northeastern

city

in

the

United States. The

research will

help

determine

whether

members

of

the

working

class have

lived in or still live

in

worlds

of pain.

Middle-class

parents

overwhelmingly

report

having

had

high

goals

and

aspirations

in

high

school, positive

experiences

in

school,

and

supportive

parents

and

role

models in

their

families.

Moreover, they report

being

satisfied

in

their

current occupational positions. The working-class parents present a more

complex pattern:

For

each

of

the

areas

studied-early

goals,

schooling,

familial

support,

and

job

satisfaction and

future

goals-some

of

the

working-class

respondents

report better

experiences than the

others.

A

more inclusive

sampling strategy

proved

useful

in

this

study in

documenting

the varied

life

experiences

and

attitudes

found

among

members

of

the

working class. These

findings provide

support

for and

modification

of

Rubin's

(1976,

1994) portraits

of

the

working

class.

KEY

WORDS: social

class;

families; parental

attitudes.

'An earlier

version

of

this

paper,

based on

the author's doctoral

dissertation

(State

University

of

New York

at

Stony

Brook),

was

presented at

the

Eastern

Sociological

Society annual

meeting

in

Philadelphia,

PA,

1995.

I

want to

thank

Robert

Zussman,

Ivan

Chase, and

Dana

Bramel

for

their

helpful

comments on

my

doctoral

dissertation. I

want to

thank

Kenneth A.

Feldman for

his invaluable

comments on

both

my

doctoral

dissertation and

earlier drafts of

this

paper.

'Joint

Appointment,

Department of

Social

Sciences,

Queensborough

Community College,

Bayside, NY 11364/Department of

Sociology, Queens

College, Flushing, New

York 11367.

693

()884-8971/()()/12()()-()693$18.()()/()

(?)

20()( Plcnum

Publishing

Corporation


http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/26

694

Gorman

INTRODUCTION

Research on the effects of social class on families in the United States

has produced conflicting results. Some studies suggest that members of the

working class live in worlds of pain, experience hidden injuries of class,

see their chances of

upward mobility as slim, and resist the educational

establishment. Other studies suggest that the working class-in becoming

more like the middle class in many ways value education and are raising

their educational

aspirations

in

response to a changing economy.

In

Worlds of Pain-a classic sociological study Rubin (1976) reported

that the lives and

memories of working-class Americans were filled with

pain: unfulfilled dreams; boring social lives; miserable jobs; and marriages

offering

little

personal growth. These

men

and women received the short

end

of the

American dream. At the same

time, Wilmott and Young's (1973)

study suggested that working-class lives would come to resemble the middle-

class norm over time. As

it

has

turned

out,

later research found indications

of middle-class and

working-class

families

living side-by-side, earning equiv-

alent

salaries,

and

frequenting

similar

leisure

establishments

(Halle, 1984).

Although

some earlier studies of social

class

in

America (Kahl, 1953;

Ko-

marovsky, 1962, Howell, 1972) highlighted the differences within working-

class

culture, many

later

portrayals

of

working-class

families

and culture

have

taken

either

a world's

of

pain

or

middle-class achiever

approach.

The lives of members

of the

working-class

are

more complex than previous

studies

suggest.

It is

possible

that the

conflicting

research

findings

reflect

the

reality

of

different

segments

of

the

working

class.

This

paper

will

help clarify

the

conflicting

research

findings

noted

above. The

paper

focuses

on a

sample

of

eighty

white middle-class and

working-class parents

in

a medium-sized northeastern

city

to determine

whether Rubin's

(1976, 1994) portraits

of members of the

working

class

living

in

worlds of pain

still are valid

today.

In

comparing my

research to

Rubin's work I must emphasize that I do not explore all of the same

aspects

of

family

life

that Rubin studied.

This

research

only

looks at

those

experiences

related

to the

respondents' early goals; past

educational

experi-

ences and familial

support

for

schooling,

and future

occupations;

current

job

satisfaction

and future

goals. Also,

middle-class

parents

are included

in

the

study

for

comparative purposes.

In

her

research,

Rubin interviewed

a small number of middle-class

respondents,

but she did not

report many

of

her

findings;

the

inclusion of

a similar

number of middle-class

parents

in

my sample helps put working-class

culture and

family

life

in

perspective.

Previous research of this type has been limited to highly paid men

(Halle, 1984),

convenience

samples

drawn

from church

registers (Komarov-

sky, 1962),

full snowball

samples (Rubin, 1976,

Sennett and

Cobb, 1972),




4/26

Reconsidering

Worlds of Pain

695

and

samples with

only

a

few

cases

(Howell,

1972).

Although

my

sample

includes a few

individuals who were

drawn

by

means

of

a snowball

technique, my sampling methodology was meant to ensure a fairlyrepresen-

tative cross

section of

a medium-sized

northeastern

city.

This more

inclusive

sampling

strategy proved useful

in

documenting

the

varied life

experiences

and

attitudes found

among

members

of

the

working

class.

RELEVANT

LITERATURE

ON

WORKING-CLASS

FAMILIES

Rubin

(1976)

described

the

working-class families

she

studied

as

living

in worlds of pain. These working-class couples married young and be-

came

parents

shortly

after

taking

their

vows, putting extra

pressure on the

relationships.

According to

Rubin,

socialization

patterns

kept

these

men

and women

in their

respective

roles,

hindering

their

personal

growth and

ability

to

explore

new

lifestyles.

These

working-class

couples worked

hard

and

expected

rewards,

but

received

few

of

them. The

husband's

job

proved

alienating and

usually did not

provide

enough income for

the

family to

escape

its

financial

condition.

Furthermore,

the

couples'

interpersonal lives

were

marked

by

a lack

of

intimacy,

communication,

and

sharing; and their

social lives

and

leisure

time were

found to be

mundane.

Although Rubin

pointed

out that

some members

of the

working class

lived

settled

lives,

she

argued that their lives

were

filled with

poverty,

violence,

uncertainty

and

pain.

In

her

recent research on

working-class

families,

Rubin

(1994) notes

positive

changes that have

taken place in

working-class

families

men

and

women

marrying and

parenting later

in

life, and

women

enjoying

their paid

employment

outside the

family-but

finds

working

class

families

still

living

in

worlds of

pain. In

fact, she

suggests

that

working-class

families today

may

even

live

a

more

painful

existence-living

on

a

faultline

due to

the

shift in the economy from a manufacturing base to a service orientation,

and to the

changes

in

traditional

family

values.

The

one

place where

many

members

of the

working

class

once

found

dignity

the

workplace

now

offers

them

low-wage

service sector

jobs and

corporate

downsizing. Ac-

cording

to

Rubin, this

downward

mobility

is

the reason

why

we

see a

rise in

white

working-class

individuals

venting their

anger at

minorities

and

immigrants.

An

important

study

of

working-class

families by

Komarovsky

(1962)

provided

evidence

suggesting that

while the

majority of

working-class hus-

bands and wives expected little from each other, were not close and did

not

communicate, some

working-class

couples were

still

happy even

though

they

did not

communicate.

In

addition, she

found that

as

many

working-




5/26

696 Gorman

class couples described their marriages as happy as unhappy. Although

Komarovsky found that her working-class respondents' lives were painful

(husbands who blame themselves for their perceived occupational failure

and who are spending most of their time with their friends while the wives

spent most of their time around female relatives and friends), she noted

that certain factors can make for many variations on the theme: length of

the

marriage, sexual fulfillment, income level, and the educational back-

ground of each spouse. These factors, she argued, can make for a happy

or painful interpersonal arrangement.

Other

research has taken

a

social-psychological approach

to the

impact

of

social class on families. Kohn (1969), for example, argued that parents

know from their workplace experiences the skills and education their chil-

dren will need; working-class parents teach traits such as conformity, punc-

tuality,

and

obedience

while

middle-class parents try

to

instill other traits

in

their children such as independence, creativity, and self actualization.

Working-class individuals, from this perspective, are seen as being ambiva-

lent about the benefits of a college education. These parents want their

children

to have what

they did not

have-a

college education (Connell

et

al., 1982)

but

disrespect

the kind

of

work that the

college degree

will

prepare their children for. In short, working-class parents must prepare their

children for

work

the parents disrespect; this is the key

to

understanding the

hidden injuries of class (Sennett and Cobb, 1972).

Hard

Living on Clay Streetportrayed different segments

of the

working

class. Although

Howell

(1972) recognized

that

working-class

life

experi-

ences

fall

on a continuum

from hard

living

to settled

living

he

focused most

of his

attention

on a hard

living family.

He concluded that

hard living families tend to

be

composed of

seven elements:

(1) heavy

drinking, (2) marital instability, (3) toughness (profanity

and

violence), (4)

political alienation, (5) rootlessness, (6) present-time orientation,

and

(7)

a

strong

sense

of individualism.

According

to

Howell,

as one moves

away

from the hard living toward the settled living end of the continuum

one

finds less

of

these seven

elements.

In another

insightful study

of

the

working class,

Halle

(1984) argues

that there

are

elements

of

a

distinct

working-class

life

experience job

opportunities,

educational

level, family origin,

leisure tastes and

self-

esteem but

he

feels that

the dissimilarities between

the

middle

class

and

the

working

class

have been

exaggerated. Although they

are

proud

of

being

''working men, the highly paid

blue-collar workers

he

studied

lived

in

middle-class

neighborhoods

and earned as

much or more

money

as their

white-collar,

middle-class

neighbors.

One

of the

problems

with

earlier

stud-

ies of this research

topic,

Halle

argues,

is that

they

have

included

families

where the wife

stayed

at

home with a

young

child.

These tend to

be

the

hardest

years

of

marriage, thereby exacerbating

the

pain.




6/26

Reconsidering Worlds of Pain

697

Stacey

(1991)

has

argued

that

working-class

families,

battered

by

an

economy that now

requires them to have at

least two

(low)

wage

earners

combined

with the

drug

and alcohol

abuse that

ensues,

may

be

heading

toward

a time when the

permeable

boundary

between

'hard' and 'settled'

blue-collar

family

life

threatens to become

more of a

one-way

street

(p.

257). She

found that

many

working-class women seek

safety

in

these

turbulent times

by

retreating

to

patriarchal

marriages

and/or to

evangeli-

cal

religious

movements,

but

noted that

the

postmodern

family form

does offer

hope

to

working-class

women for

egalitarian

gender

relation-

ships.

Husbands and

wives

in

working

class

families have had to

(re)negoti-

ate their

prospective

gender roles under

intense

pressure

in

a

changing

economy.

In focusing on the different educational experiences of middle- and

working-class

women,

Finley

(1992)

shows that

these women

differ little

in

their

goals and

aspirations,

but

they

do

have

different

educational out-

comes

based on their

family resources.

Working-class

women,

she

argues,

want

to attend

college after

high school-even

with a

history of painfill

educational

experiences-but have to

delay

that

decision for

lack of

ade-

quate

transportation,

tuition,

and

room and

board.

Furthermore, once re-

moved from the

competition,

women

from the

working class find it

increas-

ingly difficult to

return to

college at

a later

date due

to those

same

financial constraints.

The

data from

my (intensive

and

lengthy)

interviews

suggest

support

for and

modification of

the

findings

in

the

relevant literature.

DATA

COLLECTION

The

sample

for

this

study was drawn

from an

old,

medium-sized,

northeastern

(U.S.A.) city

(population:

approximately

100,000). Old

City

(name changed to protect confidentiality) had been a magnet for immigrants

during

the 19th

century;

industries such

as

trade,

transportation,

foundries,

lumber, and

railroads

dominated

the

landscape.

These

immigrants

built

and lived in

ethnic

enclaves

that,

to

some

degree,

still

exist

today. (A

few

of these

neighborhoods are

part of

the

present

study.)

Some

of the

neighborhoods

remain stable

demographically while

others

are in

flux.

Many

of

the

respondents

are

worried

about

crime,

drugs, and

racial

minorit-

ies.

Today, the

area's three

main

employers-the

public,

service,

and

wholesale/retail

sectors

keep the

unemployment

rate

relatively low

(ap-

proximately 5%). The

county boasts a

vast and

prestigious

higher

educa-

tional

system and has a

large

number of

Ph.D.'s

per

100,000

residents. The

large number

of

students

in

the

area

give parts of

the city a

college town

atmosphere

(as

well as

pumping up

the

local

economy).

The

housing

ranges




7/26

698

Gorman

from single-family ranch and

colonial style homes in the middle-class neigh-

borhoods to two- and three-story (multi-family) row houses, many with

top and bottom porches, in the

working-class neighborhoods.

A

stratified cluster sampling

strategy allowed me to use United States

Census

Tract

data

(indicating years of schooling completed and occupation)

to select the

census tracts

in

Old

City that optimized my chances of finding

middle-class and working-class

respondents. The Primary Sampling Units

(PSU) were composed of census

tracts of comparable demographic charac-

teristics from which I randomly selected enough city blocks to complete

my sample; I visited every

census tract and spoke to Old City residents

about census tract socioeconomic

characteristics. When I did not attain the

desired yield (five respondents) for a designated block, I resampled the

balance of that block until I reached a yield of five respondents or ran out

of

dwelling

units.

I

left an

introductory

letter at

each dwelling unit and

returned a few days later to ask

the occupant whether s/he, or any other

parent

in

the

household,

would like to

participate

in the

study. (I

achieved

a

response

rate of

approximately 56%.)

In order to minimize

bias,

I

approached

the

respondents

and conducted

the interviews at different times

during

the

week, and,

as

much

as

possible,

interviewed the respondents

privately, free from the distractions of family

life (a few interviews were

conducted with the spouse present).

I

interviewed

only one parent from each family. Interviewing both parents simultaneously

presents the potential problem of

one person contaminating

the

other's

responses, while returning a

second time to interview the other parent

assumes

that one

partner

has not

spoken

to the other

in

the interim.

Al-

though

I

was not able to determine differences

in

attitudes between

a

husband and a wife, I was able to

sample men and women who had different

life experiences. (The sample

was

composed

of

equal

numbers

of

men and

women) Furthermore,

I

kept

track

of the

respondent's spouse's (significant

other) social

class

and educational attainment

to

determine

if

a

respondent

whose spouse differed on the social class indicator had different attitudes

and

life

experiences

from

a

respondent

whose

spouse

had

a similar social

class indicator

(see

Komarovsky, 1962; Oppenheimer, 1982; Halle, 1984;

and

Stacey, 1991).

Twelve

working-class

and

three

middle-class

respondents

had spouses

who

differed

on the social

class indicator.

Although

I

acknowl-

edge

the

importance

of

investigating

the intersection

of

race

and

class,

I

focused

on

one

segment

of the

population-White working-

and middle-

class

parents.

I

did, however,

include

a few

non-White

respondents

because

they

were

randomly selected.

Halle

(1984)

has

argued

that much of

the research

on

working-class

families has looked at

families

in

the

early stages

of the life

cycle,

a

proce-

dure

that

almost

guarantees

a

sample living

in

worlds

of

pain. My

re-

search-with

equal

numbers

of

middle- and

working-class parents (who




8/26

Reconsidering

Worlds

of Pain

699

had at

least

one

child

in

either

elementary

or

high

school)

at a

similar

life-

cycle

stage-was intended to

address

this criticism.

(See

the

Appendix

for

a

breakdown

of

the

demographic characteristics

of

the

sample.)

Each interview took

approximately two hours to

complete

and was

tape recorded. All

quotations

in

the text are

verbatim,

but some have

been

condensed for

easier

reading.

At

the end of each

quotation

in

the

text,

a

notation lists

the

respondent's

age, gender,

educational level, and

occupa-

tion

(a

few

respondents'

occupations

were

changed

to

equivalent

occupa-

tions

to ensure

confidentiality).

My

definition

of

social

class

is

fairly

consistent with much

of the work on

social class

differences

(Halle, 1984;

Lareau, 1989).

I

coded the

respondent's

social class on the basis of

his/her

occupation.

Working-class parents

in

the

sample held the following Blue-Collar/Lower-White-Collar Occupations:

Skilled,

Semiskilled,

Unskilled

Laborers;

Transportation

Workers;

and

Lower-Level

Sales,

Clerical,

and Service

Occupations. Middle-class

parents

in

the

sample held the

following

White-Collar

Occupations:

Professionals;

Middle and

Upper-Level

Managers; High-Level

Civil

Servants;

Academics;

High-Level Sales

and

Administrative

Positions; and Small

Business

Owners.

Wright's

(1978)

conceptual

model was

utilized

when an

occupational status

was

ambiguous. Social class

in

this model is based

upon

economic ownership

and

the

amount

of

control over

the

physical

means

of

production and the

labor power of others.

Some caveats should be

kept

in

mind.

My

research was

conducted

in

a

city;

suburban

residents

were

not

included.

Many

of

my

respondents

liked

the

city and the

multicultural

experiences it offers. I

am quite

certain that

I

would not

find this

attitude

prevalent

in

the

suburbs. It

should also be

kept

in

mind that

the interviews

were conducted

during the 10-month

period from

November

1991

through September

1992.

During this time

the

United

States

was

in

the

midst of

economic

recession-affecting both

blue-collar

and

white-collar workers which

prompted the media

to carry

stories extolling the benefits of riding out the recession by going to college

or

graduate

school.

It has been

argued

that

these

changes

in

attitude

could

be an

outcome

of

deindustrialization

(Weis, 1990).

In

addition, the economic

conditions and

media accounts

might

also have

influenced the

attitudes of

particular respondents toward the

future.

FINDINGS

Early

Goals

What

did the

respondents

want for

their future

when

they were

in

high school? How

did

they envision

the coming

years?

Were the dreams




9/26

700

Gorman

of middle-class respondents

different from the dreams of working-class

respondents? The working-class

respondents that Rubin (1976) interviewed

painted a depressing picture of youthful goals and aspirations. Faced with

poverty

and a lack of positive role models, working-class males did not

look beyond their automobiles, while working-class

females dreamed only

of

marrying princes.

Consequently, working-class

youth did not think about

college

or

professional

careers: the men went

to work in low level blue-

collar

occupations; the

women got married. These are the only paths, Rubin

(1976) argued, that can give working-class youth

a sense of control over

their

lives, independent

living quarters, and an

adult identity. Middle-class

youth, meanwhile,

are

surrounded by professional parents

who

can

offer

not only the dreams of a bright future, but who can also offer the social

reality and financial

means to support those dreams.

In

the present

study approximately a quarter

of the working-class

respondents report

that either a job or marriage was utmost in their minds

at the time of

high

school

graduation.

For women of this subgroup, marriage

preoccupied their thoughts:

At that

age

I

just

wanted to

get

married and

have

kids, and (laughs) that's what

I

thought.

I

wasn't interested

in

any type

of

career

or

anything

like

that

back

then.

(Sad laughter)

I

don't know

why

I

thought

that. Didn't think

I

would

have to

support myself.-Age: 32, female, cashier,

HS

plus

secretarial

school.

Another woman

explains

why

she

was

preoccupied

with

marriage:

No. No.

I

figured things

were

going

to fall

into

my

lap. (Laughs)

We were

more

or less raised

that education was not

important

for

the female.

My

mother

never.

She

was

always

the one home with the kids. She didn't start

working

until

we

were

in

High School.-Age: 34, female, pharmacy clerk,

HS.

Basically, these working-class

women are saying that their traditional gen-

der role socialization did

not

prepare

them for

any particular

educational

or

occupational goals.

One

working-class

woman,

whose husband has

a

four-year college degree and is a middle-level manager in a government

office,

thinks that he would

have been a better candidate to

interview

about matters

such as education

and careers. The self-esteem

problems

that she

displays

in her comment

may

well have their

roots

in

traditional

gender

role socialization.

For the

men of this

subgroup

of

the

working class, working

and

making

money

were the main attractions. One

man,

who was

making

more

money

than

his

dad

at the time

of

high

school

graduation,

remarks:

I

knew

I was destined

to

be

a worker. I worked

in a

gas

station two

years during

high school and three years after that I went to work at the airport as a mechanic.

I

thought

about

going

to

college

for

psychology,

but

I

already

had bills

coming

in.

So I wanted a

car. So

along

comes

responsibility.

I

guess

(I had) responsibility

too

early (said sadly).-Age:

35,

male, carpenter,

HS.




10/26


701

This

man is

upset that he had to

shoulder

responsibilities

at

such an

early

age.

Although

adolescent boys

of

both

classes

face

cultural

expectations,

financial constraints seem to present distinctive problems for working-class

males. In a

consumer

culture,

the

lack of financial resources

available to

working-class

children

puts extra

pressure

on their

time

for school

work

and

their plans for

college;

they

are

not

permitted what

may

be seen

as

the

extended

adolescence that

many

middle-class

children

enjoy.

Another quarter of

the

working-class

sample

reports

that

they

did not

have

any goals. For

one

woman,

the

idea of

having a future

goal at

that

point

in her life

seems

almost

ludicrous:

I

was

going

to

[the state

high school vocational

educational

program]

for

hairdress-

ing, and that's when I got pregnant. I didn't finish. I stayed in school for a while.

I

really

didn't

think much back

then-no

goals-What

did I see

myself

doing?

Nothing

(incredulously)-Age: 35,

female, p/t

secretary/clerk. GED

She seems

to

be

asking

whether

she was

supposed

to have a

future

goal.

The

meaning of

concepts such

as future

goals

and

success are

class

specific. It is

obvious that some

members

of

the

working

class are

not

thinking about

future

goals,

or,

if

they

are,

they

are

defining them differ-

ently

from

middle-class individuals.

Other

working-class

respondents see

their lack

of

goals

in

high

school

tied to

different

problems:

I really didn't have (any goals). There are some personal reasons that went on in

my

childhood

that

kept

me

back

from

being

motivated: I was

very

into

alcohol

and

drugs

at that time. I

was a full blown

alcoholic

all

through high

school.

I'm a

recovering alcoholic

for

ten

years.

I wanted to

play;

I wasn't

motivated at

all.-Age:

35,

female, LPN, HS

plus

LPN

school-now

taking

community college courses.

This

respondent

continues, with tears in her

eyes, to

say

that most of

her

friends were

into alcohol

at

that time.

Alcohol and

drugs

are more

prevalent

in

these

working-class life

histories

than

for

the

middle-class

life

histories;

childhood

memories for some of

these

working-class

respondents

are

painful:

(In

the)

ninth

grade

my

life went

nutso. I was a

juvenile

delinquent, basically.

After

high school

drug

abuse

and alcohol

abuse

took

off.

(Goals?)

No. I

did not.

I

was

extremely confused. I

went the

rebellious

route.-Age: 36,

female,

resident

counselor,

now

taking

college

courses.

It is

interesting to note

that the

above

three

respondents are

female.

Al-

though adolescents of

both classes

doubtlessly face

self-esteem

problems,

working-class adolescent

females

may not have

the

opportunity

to help

improve their

self-esteem

through higher

education

(Finley,

1992).

One

working-class

male

recounts

that when

he

was

in

high school a

person did not have to think about goals and aspirations:

I

really

didn't think

much

about

it.

I

didn't care

then. You

could

walk down

the

street and

get

a

good

job,

pay you good

money.

If

that

didn't

work out, you

could




11/26

702

Gorman

walk to the next door and they

would give you a job

there.-Age:

49, male, truck

driver,

1

year of college.

He is angry that the rules of the game have changed. He remembers a time

when

one did not need a

college education for a good job. The women

who only wanted to get married

after high school sounded a similar theme:

they did not think they needed a college education back then. Although

it probably was not as easy to

acquire a good job as this man makes it

sound, fluctuating market forces

may influence the goals and aspirations

of

different generations (Stacey,

1991; Weis, 1990).

Several (13%) working-class

respondents had some goals and aspira-

tions, but lacked the confidence to pursue them:

Believe it or not, I wanted to become a nurse. I know you had to have an education,

you had to go to college. You

know, I wasn't the type

of

person . .

.

that could

see

myself going to college.-Age:

43, female, waitress,

less than

HS.

A

truck driver recalls an unfulfilled dream:

I wanted to

be

a

veterinarian. It's

almost

like

being

a

doctor. God, I

would

love

to do that.

I thought I'd go

to . .

. take

the

two-year animal husbandry course at

Cornell

and start

that

way

but . .

.

I kind of

felt that I'm not college material. So

I didn't

go

to

college (voice

fades).-Age: 47, male,

truck

driver,

HS.

The relative lack of

self-confidence among the working-class parents is a

key to understanding the difference between the lives of working-class

parents

and the

lives

of

the middle-class

parents. Indeed, previous

research

(Rubin, 1976; Sennett

and

Cobb, 1972)

has

suggested

that the material

conditions dealt to the

working

class

in

a

capitalist society

undermine the

working class person's feeling

of

self-worth. Throughout

this

paper many

of the

working-class respondents

talk about their

low

self-esteem

in

light

of

socio-cultural

constraints:

gender

socialization;

limited

resources;

lack

of information

concerning

careers

and

higher education;

lack of role

models;

and cultural

expectations

regarding higher

education.

Even when working-class respondents had high aspirations and goals

(slightly

over one

quarter) they

had trouble

reaching

them

due

to hurdles

and roadblocks that either have been

planned

for or

are not encountered

in

middle-class

lives:

I wanted to

go

on to

college

but

my

father had two heart attacks and there

was

no

way

we could afford it. I wasn't that

knowledgeable

about student loans at the

time.-Age: 34, male, unemployed

bridge painter,

HS.

Some members

of the

working-class,

such as this

man,

have

aspirations

that are similar

to the

aspirations

of

many

middle-class

individuals,

but

extra hurdles and roadblocks-either planned for or not encountered in

middle-class lives-make

them harder to attain.

Most

(82%)

middle-class

respondents,

male and

female, report

that at




12/26

Reconsidering

Worlds of Pain

703

high school

graduation

they

had

high-level goals

and assumed

they

were

going to attend college:

I

think

I

was

thinking

along

the

lines

of a social worker.

It

was

always

assumed

that I would

go

to

college.

I don't think it was talked about. There was never

any

question

that I was

going

to

go

to

college.

I'm sure

it

was

my parents.

It was the

way the family was

structured. I never remember ever

considering

that when

I

turn

18 I'll go

get

a

job.-Age: 44, male, accountant, BA.

College

probably

will not be an

issue

for

his children either. This is

quite

a different

story

from the

working-class

parents

who

not

only

did not

assume

they

were

going

to

attend

college,

but

actually

assumed

they

were

not

going to attend

college.

The

seed

of

the idea that one has a

chance of

attending college must be planted before the roots of success can grow. It

is

interesting

that the

middle-class

parents

in

this

study

tend to feel that

they

had assumed

they

were

going

to

attend

college

because of the

way

they

were

raised;

written

between the lines

is

a belief

that families are at

fault when their children do not

go

to

college.

Even

so,

middle-class women

are not immune from

cultural

expectations:

I look

back. I'll tell

you

a

disappointment.

No

one told me when

I

was

younger

that I could have

gone

to law

school. No one

suggested

that

to

me;

it never dawned

on

me and

I'm very sorry about that. But

my parents

wanted my brother to go to

law school. My brother is two years younger than me.-Age: 56, female, retired

teacher,

MA.

In fact,

many of the

middle-class women

complain that women from their

generation

had to

choose from

only

two

careers-nursing

and

teaching.

Newman

(1988) has made note of

the tendency for succeeding

generations

of

women to have

different

perceptions of their

occupational

options.

A

small

percentage

(15%)

of

middle-class

respondents had

experiences

that resembled the

working

class

pattern of

having had

few

goals

at the

time of

high

school

graduation;

there are

no clear-cut distinctions between

these

two

groups.

Interestingly,

these tend

to be the

middle-class

respon-

dents who have some of

the

lowest-level

occupations

in

the

middle-class

sample

and whose

parents

are

working

class:

No. I

really didn't. I didn't have an

educational goal at

all because I was just .

I

wasn't nuts

about school.

I

didn't

have a desire for college at that

time. As far

as

education,

I have to

start

doing

something.

We

just went through

a forced

management

plan

and one of the

criteria

they

focused on

was education.-Age:

39,

male,

lower-level

project director

(started

in

mailroom), HS.

Again, this respondent realizes that the rules of the game have changed,

acknowledging

the

impact

a

college degree would

have

for

his career. He

is

considering following his

company's

requirements.




13/26

704

Gorman

Schooling

Intensive studies of

working-class families, whose members have usu-

ally indicated an aversion to discussing unhappy

experiences, have only

scratched the surface

of the deep feelings associated with memories of

schooling (Halle, 1984;

Sennett and Cobb, 1972). An individual's early

school

experiences can

lay the foundation for his or her future attitudes

toward education; and

a

parent's current attitude

toward education may

have an effect on his or her children's decision to

attend college. In her

research, Rubin (1976)

noted the discomfort that

members of the working

class experience

when

looking back at their schooling;

they were reminded

of all they didn't learn, making them feel inadequate

and deficient (p.

127). Working-class respondents in research recall four times as many

negative accounts of schooling

as compared to the middle-class respondents.

But, more important for this study, my working-class

respondents are split

in their assessment of their

schooling; some accounts

are more favorable

than others.

Many

working-class respondents focus on problems they

had

with their self-confidence:

I was one of

your

lower

nobodies-I

had

very

little self-esteem-didn't

learn

much

of

anything.-Age: 35,

female, unemployed clerk,

HS.

A

few respondents

cannot decide whom to blame.

For

example

one

work-

ing-class woman said:

(School)

was

boring.

I

couldn't sit still for six hours. I

felt

I

could deal with life

without

an

education

which

I found

out was

wrong.

I

just

didn't

like school-no

one took the

time (to

explore her learning problem )-wanted

to be out there

getting

that

job.

I didn't want to hear it. I

felt a little low

seeing

kids

graduate

and

making

a little

better

life than I had. I felt I was

lower

class.

My

father told me

if

you

want

something you

have to work. I can't blame them because

I was

stupid.-

Age: 43, female,

waitress,

less

than

HS.

In

this account, one

can hear the hidden injuries of class-a

class

system

that makes

some

feel a little

low. A

class

system

that cloaks its

impact

on

individuals;

this woman does not

know where to

place

the

blame

for

her

life

situation-the schools,

her own lack

of

intelligence

and lack

of

deferred

gratification,

or her father.

Some


vent

their

anger directly

at

the school

system:

I

hated

school because I couldn't

stand

sitting

there. I

was a

depressed teenager.

School didn't

fare me well. I never had

anyone

in school behind me

pushing

me.

Never went

to class-went to one class.

Nothing

was ever done about

it. In

high

school

we never had

clothes,

kind of

wore the

same

pants every day-very

de-

pressing. (The academic)

track kind of made

you

feel not

important.

Learned

about

drugs.

Learned how to

skip school, drop

out.

And

that's

what I

did.-Age: 35,

female, p/t secretary, GED.

It is hard to

stay

in

school faced

with

shabby

clothes, drugs,

low

self-esteem,

and

uncaring

teachers

and administrators.

This woman

did, indeed,

live




14/26

Reconsidering

Worlds

of

Pain

705

in

worlds

of

pain.

This is the

working-class

existence that Rubin has so

elegantly portrayed.

Still, just

over half of the


had

positive experi-

ences to

report; they

loved

reading, studying,

and

learning:

I

liked reading.

I would read

anything.

I

learned

that there

was

a lot out there to

do-doctor, lawyer-whatever.

There is a

possibility

of

doing it.-Age: 29,

female,

clerk, presently

in

college at night.

I was

always

confident.

I

never felt

I

would

fail;

I

mean

my

dad

taught

me

in the

sixth

grade

to read

books when

I

get

them. There were times

when

you

don't have

anything to do, you pick up a history book and read it. He told me in

two

weeks

you'll be doing your homework without referring

to the

book.-Age: 35, male,

carpenter, HS.

Note how these respondents do not talk about the success they achieved

in

school,

but the love of

learning they acquired (Gorman, 1998a).

These

are a few

examples

from

the

sample illustrating

the

working-class

lives

(and

outlooks on life) that Rubin did

not

emphasize. (She mentioned that some

members

of the

working

class

lead

'settled'

lives.) Indeed,

these

are a

series of

positive working-class narratives, although nothing

like the

glowing

reports of most (67%) middle-class parents.

Most middle-class parents' memories

of

schooling are associated with

all the social amenities that can

bolster

self-confidence:

getting good grades

and

perks ; being

in the advanced

track; participating

in

extracurricular

events; having academically oriented friends; and having caring teachers

and administrators. A chemist remarks:

I liked school a lot as a kid.

I

always

did well.

It

was a

college prep high

school. I

got

teachers who

were pretty

innovative

(in elementary school). I

knew

I

was

going

to

college.

I

think I learned a lot-a

pretty

broad education.

Always got good

grades

and

I

did extracurricular: ski

club,

math

club,

student council. I was also

in

the national honor

society.

I can't think of one

person

I associated

with in

high

school that didn't

go

on to

college.-Age: 34, female, chemist,

BS.

A nurse

studying

to be a teacher

comments:

I found a real nice group of friends to be with. They tended to be the intellectual

crowd in

school;

I needed

that,

so the

intellectual stimulation in the

classroom

carried over into the

social life. Color

guard,

that was a

big thing

for

me, eventually

got promoted

to

captain. I (belonged to)

the

National Honor Society, the Russian

Club,

the

German

Club,

and a

social

justice

club.

I

was

considered

a

good student;

in

high

school

I

was in

Regents (track), I think it was an Honors Regents. I was

expected

to excel.

(I was) exposed

to

more

opportunities

than kids in other tracks.

In

elementary

school

(I had)

a

certain amount of self-confidence

probably

bolstered

by

the

grades

I would

get,

the

perks

I would

get,

the stars

on

the charts and in

high

school there was

enough

self-confidence to know what I didn't want to

participate

in.-Age: 37, female, religious

education coordinator

(previously a nurse), BA,

studying

for

MA.

She had

enough

self-confidence

to

stay away

from the

debilitating

effects

of

peer pressure.

The school

experiences

of

most

middle-class respon-

dents-college track, high grades, clubs,

and honor

societies-are

in

stark




15/26

706

Gorman

contrast to the school

experiences

of many working-class

respondents-

shabby

clothes, low self-esteem,

uncaring

teachers and administrators, and

dropping

out. These

accounts suggest that social

class still is a

major force

in the

lives of these

postmodern families.

While

working-class

respondents complain

about events that left

their

basic

educational needs

wanting, some

middle-class respondents view

their

schooling

through

a critical

lens,

feeling

that a better

education could have

supplemented

their

current

prestigious occupation or

specialized skills:

I

don't think it was very

good on the whole. I'm critical

of it. I don't feel

I walked

away

from high school

particularly well equipped either

to handle college or just

equipped with the type

of knowledge to

get on in the world. I think it

could have

been more

intensive, could have

been better steeped in

fundamentals.

To this day

I

still have a hard time

with grammar. I have a good feel

for it-I'm a

lawyer-but

formal grammar: I don't know a participle from whatever. I wouldn't know it to

give you a

definition of it. I just think

that my generation

as a whole was the victim

of the

changing educational

philosophy.-Age:

35,

male, lawyer, law

degree.

To lament not

being able to define a

participle, while

understandable,

is quite different from

the

anger expressed by a

couple

of the

working-

class

respondents

who

complain

that

they did not receive

help

with

the

drug

and

learning problems that

contributed to their

decision

to

drop

out

of

high school.

Family Support

for

Schooling and Future

Occupations

What kinds of

support

were there from other

family

members

for

the

working-class respondents and to what

degree did their

parents

influence

their career and

educational

goals?

Did

they

live in

worlds

of

pain,

or was

their world more

settled? Rubin

(1976, 1994)

has

reported

that the

working-

class families she encountered did

not

push

their children to

go

to

college

because

they

did

not

want

to lose their children to an

alien

way

of

life.

Again,

there were

as

many working-class

respondents

who

remember

hav-

ing parental

support

and

positive

role models as those who

remember

having

little or no

support

and

negative

role

models.

I

am

not

placing

the

blame

on

working-class

families for their

children's

problems.

Members

of

these families are battered

during

their

search

for

dignity (and

self-esteem)

in

a socio-economic

system

that

often

excludes them from the

resources

that

would form

a basis

for

that

dignity;

sometimes that

struggle

takes its

toll

on

the

family.

Was hearth and

home conducive to educational excel-

lence?

For

a little over half of the


the answer

is,

no:

No. The common phrase was: Whatever makes you happy. Their whole life was

an

example

to me of

things

not to

do,

not to

get into,

from

watching

them

I

knew

not

to do the

alcohol,

the

drugs;

and

get

an

education.-Age: 23, male,

health

aide,

1 1/2

years

of

community college.




16/26

Reconsidering Worlds of Pain 707

Other working-class respondents

also

say

that

watching

their

parents

taught

them

what not to

do. This

may

mean that these

respondents'

children will lead

lives devoid

of

alcohol and

drugs

while

being

full of

academic

achievement.

Many

of

those


who did receive

positive

support

from their

parents report they

rebelled

against

their

parents'

wishes:

My

father wanted

me

to

get

involved in

computers.

When I was

eighteen

I started

to rebel

against my

father. It didn't seem fair

that he

was

deciding

what the rest

of

my

life

was going

to be. I

guess my way

of

rebelling

was to

put

off school

(college)

for

a

year and then I just

didn't

go back.-Age: 34, female, clerk, HS.

They always

wanted me to

go

to

college,

but

I

don't think the

support

was there

(although)

the

money

was there. I was

rebelling

and

always fighting

with

them.

So,

I

don't think there was

much

direction as far as what do

you

want to do when

you

grow up.-Age: 35, female, LPN, HS plus

LPN

school.

For the most

part

these

respondents

learned

the hard

way, ending up

in

jobs and

in

lifestyles similar to their parents. Even

though sociologists

have

studied

working-class

resistance

at the school site between

middle-class

teachers and

working-class students (Willis, 1977), resistance

to

the educa-

tional

system can, conceivably,

take

place

within the

family (Gorman,

1998b).

The overwhelming majority (65%) of middle-class respondents have

glowing reports of parental support. Some recall never having to be told

about their

parents expectations; they got

the

message by observing

their

parents:

I'll tell

you

a

funny story. (My parents) said, 'you can be whatever

you want,

even

a

garbage man,

as

long

as

you're happy7-I

don't believe that

(laughs) because

I

remember

when I

came home with

a

degree

in

philosophy and

they

said

what can

you

do with a

degree

in

philosophy.

I

never

remember them saying we want you

to

go

to

college. Maybe

it was

just generally

understood

that we would

go

to

college

or I was

just

raised with the

expectation

that I was

going to college. My dad went

to

college.

So

college

was

viewed,

even as a little

kid,

as

education doesn't stop at

high school, you go

on to

college.

When

I

would

be doing my

homework,

he

would

be doing his homework-(It was) osmosis.-Age: 40, male, director state mental

program,

MA.

It has been noted elsewhere (Deverson and Lindsay, 1975) that middle-

class

parents

have the

option

to be more flexible

in

their professed attitudes

toward their

children's future. It

may

be easier to

say

I

don't care what

my

child does as

long

as s/he is

happy

when

you are a successful lawyer

as

opposed

to an

unemployed bridge painter.

For

some middle-class respon-

dents

(and

not heard

in

working-class interviews) there was no option, no

choice,

but to surrender

to their parents' wishes. A

retired teacher recalls:

(My parents

felt

that) you

were

going

to

go to college and get a

job that was going

to

sustain

you

for

the rest of

your

life.

(They said)

we

prefer you be a teacher or

nurse. You

had to

go

to

college, that was the only road open to

you.-Age:

56,

female,

retired

teacher,

MA.




17/26

708

Gorman

Some

middle-class respondents report giving their own children

the same

choice. Parents who have a college degree may be good role

models for

their children, but when parents feel their children will not succeed, or be

complete without a college degree, a heavy burden is

placed on the

children.

As

an example, one respondent's father was

devastated when

one

of

his sons did not go

to college. It is still believed, based on Kohn's

(1969) research, that

working-class parents instill in their

children values

such

as obedience and

conformity,

while

middle-class parents

instill in their

children values such as flexibility and creativity. These are

the values,

argues

Kohn

(1969) that

parents know their children will need for their

respective positions in the

occupational hierarchy. (Rubin makes

a similar

argument in Worlds of Pain.) By contrast, the present research suggests

that it is

middle-class children who are

socialized to be conformists in order

to fit into bureaucratic

occupational slots (for supporting evidence see

Anyon 1980).

Only

for

middle-class

respondents

with lower-level

occupational posi-

tions (and working-class

parents) did

I

find

unfavorable accounts

of their

parents' support:

My

father wanted us to

go

as

high

as

we

could-he

wanted

us

to

at least

finish

high school,

then

it was your choice. He was

basically,

the

more years

in

school,

the less

money you're going

to earn

in

a lifetime. If

you

flunked a

year

that

meant

that you are going to lose $6,000 because it was one more year not working.-Age:

38, male,

benefits administrative

supervisor, AAS.

This man seems to be

caught between two worlds-working

class and

middle

class. This research has shown that

many years

after the

working-

class

respondents

left

school, they

still often had

painful

memories

of

their

experiences; they

often felt that their

long-term

interests

had been

damaged

by

their

stunted

educational careers.

Current

Jobs

and Future

Goals

In Rubin's

study

most

working-class family

members described

their

current

jobs

and future

goals

in

bleak terms:

boredom; resignation;

and

alienation. When asked about their current

occupation

and future

goals

and

aspirations, working-class respondents

in

the

present study

provide

a

wide

range

of

responses.

On occasion

I did hear

outright despair:

I

go day-by-day.

I'm

a believer in

here

today, gone

tomorrow.

My philosophy

on

life is really bad. I look at life as you are put on earth to wait your turn to die and

while

you're here, you basically just get

a

job

to make

your

life easier while

you

wait

your

turn to die. That's the

way

I

feel.-Age: 40, male,

maintenance,

HS

plus

some

college

in the

Army.




18/26


709

One man

struggles

with his level of

accomplishments:

(I) just

go along doing

what I'm

doing.

I've

got

no

regrets.

I'm

doing

all

right.

I've

got to stick with (the railroad), I don't want to, but I've got to, nothing else to

do.-Age: 49,

male,

truck

driver,

1

year

college.

Although

this man

is doing all

right,

having

nothing else

to

do

is

a

sad comment on the

perception

of

the current and

future

job

market

opportunities for

blue-collar

workers. Ehrenreich

(1989)

has

noted that

blue-collar workers

are more

likely

to

experience downward

mobility

than

any other occupational

grouping.

A

working-class

woman

talks

about the

future for her

grandson:

(Confidence

in

the

future?)

Not

if

it

keeps going

the

way

it is. I

mean

what

are

they going to do when they get up into their twenties and thirties. My grandchild,

what is

he

going to

do

as far as

education; what's

going

to

be there for

him.

Inflation,

price of

education,

I

don't see how

young

kids

can

go

to

college. There are

grants

for

those

who

can't afford

(it). Fifteen

thousand dollars

for

the

first

semester;

how

can

anyone

afford to

go.-Age:

43,

female,

waitress,

less than

HS.

This is

another

indication

of

the

perception

of the

possibility

of

upward

mobility

through higher

education

for

members

of

the

working

class.

The most common

response involves a

desire

to return

to

school

to

finish a GED, to

learn a

trade,

or to

take

college-level

coursework. But

as

an

unemployed

bridge painter claims:

I've

always

talked

(about) going

back

to

school,

but

with

the

baby

and

getting

laid

off

the last

couple

of winters-no

way. Intentions

are

all well and

good,

but when

it

comes

right

down to

it

you can

find a

hundred

ways

to

spend

the

money

somewhere

else.-Age: 34, male,

unemployed bridge

painter,

HS

degree.

As these

respondents

vividly

convey,

it

is difficult to

go

back to

school

when

married, with a full-time

job

and

young children.

A

common

lament

among

the

working-class

respondents

is

that

they

did not

attend

college

before

marriage.

It

usually

sounds

simple:

take a few

years

off

after

high

school

graduation to make

some

money,

and

then

return

to

college.

But

as we have just heard, to go back to college is difficult; college is easy to

defer.

How does

the

unemployed bridge

painter see his

future:

Tough

one.

It's

going to take a lot of

change

in

this

country

to

make

for

an

easier

one. I don't see it

happening. They

should start

spending more

money

on

education

rather than

foreign aid. It's all screwed

up.

I'm

scared. I can

just take it a day at

a

time and

hope

for the

best.-Age: 34, male,

unemployed

bridge

painter, HS.

With

this man's

comment

in

mind

it

is not

difficult to

understand why some

of

the

working-class

respondents hesitate

before

responding

to

my

question

regarding future

goals. These

respondents did

not have

many

goals in

high school, these respondents do not have many goals now. There is a

segment

of

the

working class,

however, that has

the

same future

goals

as

the

middle

class,

although

usually burdened

by

problems that

either




19/26

710

Gorman

have been

planned for or are

not encountered

in middle-class lives.

One

poignant case concerns

a woman who had

to drop out

of college, putting

off her goal of becoming a lawyer because she got married and became

pregnant.

Oh

I

know I'm

going to reach (my goal) at the cost

of not paying so much attention

to

my

kids. I really

feel

bad about that. That

hurts. I hope

in

the long run

it will

work

out for them and myself; I'll

be happy

with what I'm doing and I can

help

them

with

what

they're doing.-Age:

29, female, clerk, currently

attending college.

Recently divorced

and unhappy in her position

as a

clerk, she is trying to

finish

her Bachelor's

Degree at night while

working a full-time

day job.

She hopes to go

on to law school. Thus, another

injury due to the

delays that plague members of the working-class who attempt to pursue

higher education.

Several working-class respondents,

however,

are

proud

of their accom-

plishments

and are

satisfied with their current

situations:

I want

to

keep

on

working (as

an) electrician, eventually

to own some

property.

I

don't want to wear a shirt and tie

to work, not have stress on

me. I make $27 an

hour.-Age: 34,

male, electrician, some college.

This

comment suggests

that this

man is proud

of

working-class

(skilled)

labor. His union may lose members, his income may go down, and he may

lose his house,

but they

cannot take away

his

trade.

The

skilled

blue-

collar

occupation

offers

a defense

against

the hidden

injuries

of class. Some

other

working-class

respondents,

while satisfied

with

their

current

situation,

want

to

go

further

in their field.

A

few examples

of such

persons

are

a

carpenter

hoping

to become

a foreman so

he

will not have to do

heavy

lifting when he gets

older,

a truck

driver

wanting

to

become a

dispatcher,

and a

firefighter

dreaming

of

becoming

an officer

in the fire

department.

Those respondents

who

experienced

fewer hidden

injuries

of

class-either

as a child or an adult-tend to have a more optimistic outlook on the future.

The middle-class

response,

time-after-time, especially

among profes-

sionals,

is one

of contentment:

Well,

I've reached my occupational

goal;

I'm a

partner

in a

fairly good

law firm.

I

guess

I'll continue

to

practice

law and

improve

my standing

in the law

firm,

improve

my

abilities as an

attorney.-Age:

35,

male,

lawyer,

law

degree.

Well,

I

really don't, actually (have

an

occupational

or educational

goal). My

occupa-

tional

goal

had been

for

many years

to work

on the

city

desk

at the

newspaper

in

(this)

city.

The

city

desk is

the

main

newsroom;

and

having

reached

that

goal

I

haven't

set another

one.-Age:

35, male, reporter,

BA

plus graduate

courses.

Three middle-class

respondents

from

academia,

including

two

professors,

are

also

very happy

in

their field:




20/26

Reconsidering

Worlds of Pain 711

(I want to be) doing

what I'm

doing right now-same thing-research,

consultation

work, working

on

meaningful

studies

and

research in the field that I

enjoy.

I'm

very content with what I'm

doing.-Age: 41, female, academic/applied research,

MA, working on Ph.D.

All these comments come in

the context of careers [see Bellah

(1985),

Bledstein (1976), Ehrenreich (1989), and

Mills

(1951), for a social

history

and

analysis

of

the

emergence

of

the middle-class

career].

The

middle-class

career provides

the

satisfaction and

opportunity

for advancement that

many

working-class jobs cannot.

It is probably safe to say that most of

the


in

the sample, especially those

who

recently lost

their jobs,

would find it hard

to

believe that

relatively young people

could

say

that

they

have reached their

life

goals.

Interestingly,

those middle-class

respondents

most

content

with

their

positions

are somewhat

pessimistic

about the future

of this

country,

al-

though

not about their

children's future:

I think it's

going

to

be

very

competitive,

and I will do

anything

I

can

to make

sure

my daughters

have

a

competitive

edge

because

I

don't think

it's

going

to

be

easy.

I'd like to be

optimistic

but

I

have

grave doubts;

it's

going

to

be

a

more difficult

place

to

live

then it is

now,

and one

way

I can assure

my

children's

well-being

is

to

make sure they are well-educated

and

well-grounded

so

they

can deal with what

challenges

come

up.-Age: 35, male, lawyer,

law

degree.

This man believes that a good education will ensure his children a competi-

tive

edge;

a

belief that

will

compel

him

to

push

his children

to

get

a

college

degree.

The attitudes of the middle-class

parents

in

the

sample

are driven

by

what has been called the culture of

professionalism (Bledstein

1976)

where the

pursuit

of

higher

education and a career are

central

to increas-

ing

one's social

standing

and wealth.

A

professor

commented:

I'm

not

so

confident

about

the future

in

the

aggregate

because I think the

country

faces some hard

problems

which will

impinge

on

(my children)

whether

they

like

it or not. On the other

hand,

I

would have to

say

in

the

case

of

my kids, they're

bright kids, well-educated, good

work

habits. I think

they

have

quite bright

futures.-

Age: 47, male, college professor, Ph.D.

A

lawyer reflecting on the current economic/political situation

sounds a

more ominous note:

I am

very

concerned about

what

the future

will

be like in

America. We ar

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