Chapter 7: Conclusion (pp. 208-231)

Explain the crucial significance of Liebow’s assertion that ghetto related behavior is directly related to the specific socio-economic conditions of life in the neighborhood. 

How does he defend his assertion that employment is of primary importance in altering ghetto related behavior?

How do the corner and its shadow system of values provide a sanctuary for these men?

Summarize the content of the corner culture’s attitudes toward

1. Fatherhood

2. Marriage

3. Friendship

4. The Corner Culture itself

Has Liebow successfully made a case that we should create programs that change the mechanism which produces these behaviors rather than programs which address the ‘immorality’ of the behaviors themselves?

Appendix: A Field Study in Retrospect (232-256)

How had Liebow planned to conduct this study?

Why did Liebow alter his initial plans for conducting this study?

As Liebow entered into friendships with the people who were the subjects of his study, how was his objectivity threatened?

To what extent should the racial divide between the writer and his subjects affect our judgment of the conclusions which he draws about their lives?

On the other side, what benefits does this human perspective bring to our understanding of the behavior of street corner men?

Is this type of study of poverty more valuable than a statistical study which seeks to eliminate the subjective bias of human feelings and intuitive insights?