MacLeod, Jay

Jay MacLeod is best known for his book Ain't No Makin' It, in which he interviews and observes two groups of adolescent boys: the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers of Clarendon Heights. MacLeod not only provides readers with traditional ethnographic analysis, but he offers additional insight into the lives of these boys by conducting longitudinal assessments. He follows up with them eight years after graduating from high school and again in their midlife. He was prompted to study these two groups of students because of his previous experience as a youth counselor, during which he recognized a tremendous amount of desperation and hopelessness in working-class youth's perceptions of their future prospects. His background as a youth counselor and a pastor makes for an informative glance ...