Hallway Hangers and The Brothers

1052 Words3 Pages

In his research Jay Macleod, compares two groups of teenage boys, the Hallway Hangers and the Brothers. Both groups of teenagers live in a low income neighborhood in Clarendon Heights, but they are complete opposites of each other. The Hallway Hangers, composed of eight teenagers spend most of their time in the late afternoon or early evening hanging out in doorway number 13 until very late at night. The Brothers are a group of seven teenagers that have no aspirations to just hang out and cause problems, the Brothers enjoy active pastimes such as playing basketball. The Hallway Hangers all smoke, drink, and use drugs. Stereotyped as “hoodlums,” “punks,” or “burnouts” by outsiders, the Hallway Hangers are actually a varied group, and much can be learned from considering each member (Macleod p. 162). The Brothers attend high school on a regular basis and none of them participate in high-risk behaviors, such as smoke, drink, or do drugs.
According to Charon, culture is one of the social patterns in society. It arises in social interaction. It is taught in social interaction. Culture is made up of three smaller sets of patterns: (1) rules, (2) beliefs, and (3) values (Charon p. 56). For these two peer croups, the contrast in their lifestyles and culture can be attributed to the influence, involvement, and expectations of their parents. The parents of the Brothers expect that their children will do well in school, they expect them to stay out trouble, and to refrain from the use of drugs and alcohol. Thus, from their families, the Brothers take away a contradictory outlook. On the one hand, they see that hard work on the part of their parents has not gotten them very far, an implicit indictment of the openness of the opportunity structure. On the other hand, they are encouraged by these same people to have high hopes for the future (Macleod p. 167). In contrast, the Hallway Hangers’ families do not hold high aspirations, they do not expect that their children do well in school, stay out of trouble, or refrain from the use of drugs. In fact they have very little influence in their children’s lives. It is not that the parents don’t want the best for their children, they are just afraid to set them up for failure. The Hallway Hangers have seen their older siblings and other friends fail in school. As a result, they hold a firm belief that children from higher econo...

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...rested. This how the group came to be stereotyped as “hoodlums”, “punks”, or “burnouts by outsiders” (Macleod p. 162). The Brothers have absolutely no interest in just “hanging out”, they prefer to remain active. Energetic and spirited, the Brothers dislike the idleness or the Hallway Hangers (Macleod p. 166). They also demonstrate that they know the difference between right and wrong and avoid trouble.
In conclusion, to be a Hallway Hanger is to live a life predestined to live in poverty. The Hallway Hangers are doomed to be looked down upon as a hoodlums, punks, or burnouts according to the dominate culture. The Brothers on the other hand strive and aspire to break free from poverty, to get through high school, and move up in their educational goals in order obtain well paying jobs. In the end the, rituals and family culture will result in a more positive future for the Brothers. The Hallway Hangers do have a chance to change the lives and their futures, but I doubt this can happen with the paths they are currently following. To paraphrase Marx, we must understand that teenage peer groups make their own history, but not under circumstances of their own choosing (Macleod p. 168).

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