This article responds to the Alba, Kasinitz and Waters' commentary on the authors' article. The authors state that not all kids are doing "all right," and the substantial number at risk of social and economic stagnation or downward mobility looms as a significant social problem. They contend it is true that right-wing commentators may pick on…

Attributions of panic are almost exclusively directed at members of the general public. Here, we inquire into the relationships between elites and panic. We review current research and theorizing about panic, including problems of identifying when it has occurred. We propose three relationships: elites fearing panic, elites causing panic and…

The literature on the black middle class has focused predominantly on married-couple families with children, reflecting a conception of the black middle class as principally composed of this family type. If that conception is correct, then declining rates of marriage and childrearing would imply a decline in the presence and vitality of the black…

Wilson (1987) and others argue that poor neighborhoods lack important organizational resources the middle class takes for granted, such as childcare centers, grocery stores and pharmacies. However, this approach does not distinguish poor neighborhoods from segregated neighborhoods, ignores immigration and neglects city differences. Using…

Ethnographic data from a black middle-class Chicago neighborhood indicate that dense social networks fostered by residential stability facilitate informal supervision of neighborhood youth and enhance formal crime-prevention activities. Nevertheless, inclusion of gang members and drug dealers in networks of law-abiding kin and neighbors thwarts…