ABSTRACT
United State sociologist John M. Jay MacLeod was born in 1961 and grew up in rural New Hampshire, the son of white lower-middle-class parents. In 1991, MacLeod moved to England to serve as a parish priest in the Anglican Church. Despite pursuing a career outside academia, he continued with his sociological research. MacLeod argues that poverty is the result of the structure of American society itself, rather than laziness, lack of willpower, or personal moral failure on the part of individuals. MacLeod investigates the role that belief in the American Dream plays in guiding the hopes of these two groups of young men. MacLeod's study helps clarify the root causes of unequal access to opportunity and shows how we can create more just societies. MacLeod shows that the urban poor do their best to create meaning and value in their lives despite severely limiting social circumstances.
