Significant Adults,Caretakers,and Structures of Opportunity: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

During the Chicago study of "Street Corner Groups and Pat terns of Delinquency," adolescent boys (gang and nongang lower- class, and middle-class) were asked to nominate adults with whom they were in regular contact. Family members were ex cluded from nomination and the resulting rosters of adults, many of whom were local community residents, were included in a program of personal interviews.

This article is a first report on these interviews and focuses on patterns of adolescent-adult relations in the communities under study. Particular attention is given to the fashion in which adults operate to shape the social and economic opportunities that youngsters will encounter. There are marked differences in this regard among the groups of adults studied. Adults close to gang boys are less likely to express concern for the life chances of boys they know and they are less likely to be sought out by the boys for advice in handling problems that the boys have encountered in school.