Going Straight

Abstract

Living in the poor inner-city black community places young people at special risk of falling victim to aggressive behavior. Although forces exist in the community that can counteract the influences that spawn violence and aggression - by far the most powerful is a strong, loving, `decent' (as inner-city residents put it) family committed to conventional social values - the despair is so pervasive that it has created an oppositional culture. The norms of this `street' culture are often consciously opposed to those of mainstream society. This article examines these two orientations, decent and street, and the way that they socially organize the community, by telling the story of a young innercity ex-convict's successful effort to `go straight' after release from prison.