Jobless Poverty: A new Form of Social Dislocation in the Inner-City Ghetto- Wilson

In this article, Wilson is discussing jobless poverty and how it is effecting different racial groups. When Wilson is talking about "joblessness" he includes both official unemployment and non-labor-force participation. With these statistics he provides for us, it shows that people who live in the high neighborhood joblessness are more devastating than those of high neighborhood poverty. Wilson feels that this is because all of the problems in the inner-city ghetto neighborhoods such as crime, welfare, and low levels of social organizations. The example he presented in this article was a child who grows up in a family with a steady breadwinner and in a neighborhoods in which most adults are employed the child will tend to develop some of the disciplined habits that are reflected in the behavior of those around him. This could be true to some point, however, I do not feel that this is always the case. Some people grow up in poverty and they use this experience to guide them into becoming successful. Many times they learn from this and try to succeed.

Another thing Wilson talks about the "statistical discrimination" employers make when they are hiring individuals. Statistic shows that employers make assumptions about the inner-city black workers in general and make a decision before they even have a chance to interview. It is sad that this still happens in society. Just because someone is from a certain area or they are a certain race it should not matter. What should matter is their skills, work experience, and if they fit the job criteria. Also, employers judge people on where they are from due to the lack of skills that the one area may have. This makes me suspicious because just because you may be raised in a lower-class area, does not mean that you are like everyone else. Several times this may be the class, but you should not judge someone before you get to meet them. Wilson shows good statistics that show all the "joblessness" out there and why this may be a major problem in our society today.