The Road to Whatever: Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence (Paperback)

by Elliott Currie (Author) "One clue to the sources of trouble among adolescents is that if you ask them why they did something dangerous or self-destructive-something that put them..." (more)
Key Phrases: smoking crank, contingent worth, inner culture, Concise Guide, United States, Doc Martens (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Popularly deemed a problem of the minority poor, adolescent crime is also an issue of the suburban middle class, argues sociologist Currie (Crime and Punishment in America) in his close look at disaffection and transgression among the teenage bourgeoisie. Drawing on numerous interviews with college students and a two-and-a-half-year study of adolescents in drug treatment programs, Currie argues that because "we are accustomed to deploying the image of a stable and successful middle class as measuring stick against which the less... successful parts of our society... can be judged," we demonize and/or fail to understand middle-class kids who go astray. One of Currie's subjects, who began using drugs at 13, reminisces about growing up in a "beautiful home, really a beautiful home"—but financial comfort didn't prevent her from stealing from her family to buy drugs. In addition to the teens' detailed (and harrowing) personal accounts, Currie offers suggestions as to why teens from supposedly ideal homes are lured into irresponsible and criminal behavior. It's not our culture of permissiveness but our "culture of contingent worth," in which kids feel like they're never good enough; similarly, an intolerance for transgression and a "totalizing moralism" labels kids as bad rather than acknowledging their mistakes. Surprising, insightful and potentially controversial, Currie's analysis adds further nuance to burgeoning critiques of adolescence in the U.S. Agent, Katinka Matson at Brockman Inc. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist
When the shootings at Columbine occurred, the offenders were demonized, and there was little acknowledgment that anything is amiss among white middle-class youth. But Currie, sociologist and author of Crime and Punishment in America (1998), notes that middle-class white youth are more likely to commit suicide and abuse drugs and alcohol than other teens. Putting these kids at risk are social and cultural forces, including Darwinian notions of "tough love" and punishing youth who don't fit expectations for high achievement. Drawing on interviews with white middle-class youth either in the throes of a crisis or looking back on recovery, Currie offers harrowing portraits of teens who shot up heroin or speed, drank themselves senseless, were nearly killed in car accidents, or attempted to kill themselves more directly. Though each case is unique, two similarities stand out: none of the teens had a single issue or problem, and each family responded harshly. Currie also examines both the elements affecting individual kids and their backgrounds and the resources that eventually helped them to recover. Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (December 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805080007
• ISBN-13: 978-0805080001
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #375,509 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Analysis of a Real Problem, January 20, 2005

By	Dr. Jonathan Dolhenty (Port Orford, OR United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Road to Whatever: Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence (Hardcover)

After spending many years studying history and politics, I've come to the conclusion that a strong, stable, and relatively prosperous middle-class is the key to providing a strong, stable, and relatively prosperous society and its accompanying political organization. We will always have the very wealthy and we will always have the poor. The rich and the poor, representing the two extremes on a social spectrum, must, however, be the minorities in any stable society. The middle-class represents what we ordinarily refer to as the "mainstream." It seems obvious then that the future of a stable and prosperous society must always rest with the generation coming of age and that middle-class adults, particularly those who are involved in the raising of middle-class youth, should be nurturing these younger members, preparing them to take their place as responsible adults in the larger society, thereby guaranteeing the continued stability and prosperity of that society.

But, according to sociologist Elliott Currie, not all is kosher among middle-class youth in America and he provides an interesting investigation into the core causes of the epidemic of violence, drug abuse, and hopelessness among those American teenagers who are part of what is generally called "mainstream America," that is, these teenagers are true members of the middle-class and do not represent the impoverished young people of the poorer class who are generally thought to be responsible for most of the antisocial behavior in our society and who are considered to be "disadvantaged" and "alienated" from the larger society as a whole.

The title of Currie's book, "The Road to Whatever," I initially found to be very curious and I wasn't quite sure what the author really meant. It didn't take long to discover why he was using that particular title. Indeed, if the current crisis among middle-class adolescents is to be marked with a single word, the word "whatever" is about as good a word as one can use. "Whatever," in the sense which seems to be used in this book, is full of meaning and embodies an expression of carelessness, heedlessness, despair, thoughtlessness, riskiness, and so on, behaviors and attitudes which are not considered desirable attributes to be fostered in our young. Too many middle-class youths in America are not on the "Road to Maturity," or the "Road to Success," or the "Road to Prosperity." They are, well, on the road to "Whatever."

What, asks Currie, has brought this phenomenon about? What is going on in American culture that appears to be the catalyst for this circumstance? What are the root causes, if any? The author rejects the usual answers we hear all over the media from the pundits, partisans, and self-declared experts. Some say it is violence and sex on television that is responsible. Others claim it is the new "permissiveness" in our society which causes these young people to behave and feel as they do. Still others point to other causes and suggest solutions, some of which can easily be described as "Draconic." Currie discusses these issues, provides a critical analysis, and dismisses them.

There are a number of points the author makes which I found right on the mark and, although I may tend to interpret them in a slightly different way, he and I are basically in agreement (I think). Currie says that many of our middle-class youths are living in a "culture of exclusion." I suspect he is correct. The communities our young people are growing up in today are not as supportive of the young as those of the past. Today, even simple and unintended mistakes made by teenagers are not overlooked, but seem to generate a social outcry for an immediate solution, even to the point where the punishment for infractions far exceeds the consequences of the infraction itself. The recent "zero tolerance" policies, so beloved now by public schools, are an example of the unforgiving nature which has come to dominate interactions between "authority" figures and adolescents.

Another important issue raised by Currie is the widespread use of medications to control young people who don't meet societal or parental expectations, or are otherwise "out of control." For over twenty years, I have been trying to draw attention to this abuse of pharmacology, beginning with the overuse of the drug Ritalin back in the 1980s. I've also been critical of the tendency among so-called "mental health" professionals to "manufacture" diseases and "syndromes" where none can actually be objectively shown to exist, but it is easier to label and categorize, then "treat" and medicate, resulting, of course, in profits in somebody's pocket. I am in complete agreement with Currie, if I rightly understand his position, on the matters of behavioral medications and adolescent psychotherapy.

In general, Currie does an outstanding job of analyzing, dissecting, and criticizing contemporary middle-class society in America and the crisis which has resulted for teenagers growing up within the current cultural milieu. Much of the material he presents is anecdotal, actual interviews with middle-class adolescents involved in various forms and degrees of self-destructive behavior. These are not the kids from the other side of the tracks. These are not the disadvantaged or the impoverished. These are, however, the future of American society and culture. These are the kids who will determine what sort of communities this nation has in the years to come.

The concluding chapter of the book, entitled "Toward a Culture of Support," suggests some reforms which Currie thinks are important to implement in order that the present problem be resolved. Most of them are well thought out and reasonably supported. A few I would want to discuss with him further because they involve philosophical issues with which I might take issue. I can think of one or two suggestions for reform I might suggest, but he doesn't include. Be that as it may, I hope the book is widely read and discussed; the problem is out there and Professor Currie's work is an excellent place to begin the conversation.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars timely but nowhere thorough enough, March 5, 2005

By	E. M. Bristol "bibliophile" (boston, mass) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Road to Whatever: Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence (Hardcover)

I hesitate to examine these teens' stories in any but the most complimentary detail, simply because the damage suffered by the subjects is far beyond anything I experienced at that age, and the author is to be commended for letting their stories be heard and examining the factors that led to their having such a horrendous time. Still, I wish this book had:

Given a sharper definition of "middle class." There is a world of difference between "lower" and "upper," middle class, especially attitudes toward the mental health profession.

Held HMOs partially responsible for the mess the mental health care system is now in. True, there are assembly-line shrinks out there that do their patients little good. But many are handicapped by managed care that pressures them to prescribe drugs in lieu of long-term, in-depth therapy. Therapists must now justify and document their patient's every visit. As for over-diagnosing, every patient has to have a label in order to have their insurance kick in. It's not done to dehumanize the patient but to ensure that they'll get treatment. In a lot of cases, mental health workers have no choice.

Also, the family as an institution is not precisely the same as a school or a drug treatment facility. While parents should certainly be taken to task for neglect, and kicking their children out, I got the sense the author was applying these same standards to the other institutions the teen subjects felt had "betrayed" them. A principal who receives a death threat (to use an example) should certainly expel the student. One would hope the safety of the other students and staff would take priority. A principal is not betraying anyone by doing this, but I got the sense that the author was as equally disturbed by this act as he was by the parent who kicked her child out.

I was skeptical of some of the subjects' claims that they had managed to make through their youth without encountering a single supportive adult. Many were described as good students at some point, excelling at athletics or community service. It seems odd that they never once received positive reinforcement for these things. Surely there was a relative, teacher, coach, pastor, etc. at one point, who encouraged them, however briefly.

One last thing. I wish the subjects had had a bit more insight into why they started their self-destructive behavior and why they stopped. Too often, they made it sound like they woke up one day and decided to kick the habit and go back to school. Someone reading this might be tempted to think their behavior was just a phase, did little damage (most subjects are now in college), and that other teens who are struggling (including their children) will wake up one day, too, and become law-abiding citizens. But these kinds of decisions are rarely made and succeeded at overnight with minimal adult help. More information is desperately needed.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harshness and Heedlessness, April 11, 2005

By	Deziree (Pasadena, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Road to Whatever: Middle-Class Culture and the Crisis of Adolescence (Hardcover)

A recipe for disaster. As Erma Bombeck once said, children need love the most when they deserve it the least. Elliott Currie writes incisively with intelligence and compassion, and brings a world of harsh realities, heedless schools and families with arbitrary punitiveness to light. He demonstrates how resilient young people can be. This book is necessary for parents, educators, and people who allocate funds for social services.
Other books along the same lines: Small Criminals Among Us, by Gad Czudner, and Resiliency for Educators, by Nan Henderson and Mike Milstein