The Underclass
About this book
The acclaimed author and
New Yorker columnist delves into the core of American poverty in the early 1980s: "Invaluable." —
The Washington Post
First appearing as a three-part series in the
New Yorker, Ken Auletta's
The Underclass provides an enlightening look at the lives of addicts, dropouts, ex-convicts, welfare recipients, and individuals experiencing homelessness.
Auletta's investigation began with a seemingly simple goal: to find out who exactly makes up the poorest of the poor, and to trace the many paths that took them there. As the author follows 250 hardened members of this "underclass," he focuses on efforts to help them reconstruct their lives and find a functional place in mainstream society. Through the lives of the men and women he encounters, Auletta discovers the complex truths that have made hard-core poverty in America such an intractable problem.
In a nation where poverty and welfare rolls are declining but the underclass persists, the United States is as conflicted as ever about its responsibilities toward all its people. With his empathy, insight, and expert reportage, Auletta's
The Underclass remains as pertinent as ever.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Contents
- Introduction
- 1. The BT-27 Class
- 2. Profile of the Underclass: Its Size, Causes and Effects
- 3. The Class Versus the Experts
- 4. Howard Smith: Life-Skills Teacher
- 5. Single Mothers: “The Feminization of Poverty”
- 6. BT-27 on Broken Families, Unemployment, Racism, Crime …
- 7. Crime: The Law-Enforcement View
- 8. The “Welfare Mentality”
- 9. BT-27: Goals and Obstacles
- 10. BT-27 After Ten Weeks
- 11. Who Is to Blame, the System or the Individual?
- 12. Appalachia: The White Underclass
- 13. The Rural Black Underclass
- 14. Differences: The White, Black and Hispanic Underclass
- 15. BT-27 Graduates
- 16. What Became of the Members of BT-27
- 17. MDRC and Supported Work: Results of a National Experiment
- 18. A Guaranteed Job for Youths: The National Results
- 19. Lingering Questions
- 20. Has There Been Progress in the “War on Poverty”?
- 21. What To Do? The Wholesale Option
- 22. The Laissez-Faire Option
- 23. The Retail Option
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Copyright