Achievement Ideology

The achievement ideology is the idea that the better yo do in school, and the higher the education you receive, the better the job you will receive will be. Basically the achievement ideology is the notion that socially perceived success is achieved through hard work and education. The Hallway Hangers totally reject this ideology. They believe that school is not going to help them in the long run. They feel that they can get jobs that require no HS diploma. They feel that the time they spend in class is worthless. They feel that tit will never take them anywhere. Another problem that the Hallway Hangers seem to encounter is having an authority figure tell them what to do. Authority to them means a sense of restriction. The teachers at LHS not only would hold authority over them, but would also keep the boys from striving to their fullest potential. Because the boys were labeled as "troubled", the Hallway Hangers had a lack of attention that ultimately deterred them from school, and also helped them reject the presence of authority.

THe brothers are the complete opposite. They accept the achievement ideology and feel that if they do work hard in school, and get a higher education, that they will achieve a socially precieved notion of success. Also, if they fail at something, it has nothing to do with their environment or people that are in their lives. Success soley depends on them. They also feel that failure solely depends on themselved. The Brothers Strive to be the best. They feel that they have equal opportunities towards the labor market, schools, etc.

The Hallway Hangers feel that nothing is given to them for free. THey feel that there a prejudice against them, and that minority groups, such as the Brothers, tend to get all of the attention. The Hallway Hangers feels like the world is against them while everyone else has opportunity knocking at their front door. This is interesting because in America, minority groups always seem to struggle, and always seem to be bypassed. Social discrimination as well as racial discrimination hardly falls upon white people.

This book is also shedding light on the social reproduction theory. The hallway Hangers seem to understand and know that they come from a low income neighborhood, they grew up in a low income neighborhood, their family has grown up in a low income neighborhood, and that is more than likely that THEY TOO will be living in a low income neighborhood. The Brothers seem to think that with the achievement ideology, they will get out of their low income status and move up to working, middle class living. It will not be easy for them, especially coming from a neighborhood who's reputation is looking so down upon. However, the boys share an interest in getting out of the neighborhood or at least making some money to support themselved at some level.