ABSTRACT
Living in America's inner-cities are millions of people who are beset by high teenage birthrates, crime, drugs, prostitution, homelessness, and poverty that persists from generation to generation (Auletta 1982; Wilson 1985, 1987a, 1987b, 1989). These people are collectively known as the "underclass." The term is nearly synonymous with the large African-American population of the inner-city ghettos (Kasarda 1985; and Wacquant and Wilson 1989). The under class, however, is not the sole province of African-Americans; other minorities and poor whites are members as well (Auletta 1982).