OPPORTUNITY, COMMUNITY, AND RECKLESS LIVES - SOCIAL DISTRESS AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN WEST-VIRGINIA

Social distress among West Virginia adolescents has many manifestation s. Among the most conspicuous of these are dropping out of high school ! teen pregnancy and violent death. Ebr more than 30 years, state poli cy makers have explained these behaviors by invoking the notion of a p ervasive culture of poverty and morbidity which is transmitted from ge neration to generation. Participants in this primitive and fatalistic culture, it is commonly claimed, lack the prudence and foresight neede d to make best use of the opportunities offered by our modem world. Ed ucation-intensive strategies aimed at enabling West Virginia adolescen ts and their families to overcome this disabling world view seem the b est responses. By contrast, however based on 8 years of empirical rese arch in West Virginia, we contend that an ''Oh, what the Hell!'' sort of recklessness is interpretable as a rational response to deteriorati ng social and economic circumstances. West Virginia communities have b ecome increasingly anemic and devoid of economic opportunity. In this economically uncertain, culturally insubstantial world, adolescents ri ghtly judge their prospects to be pool: In this social context, seemin gly irrational acts make more sense. Why be prudent in the absence of opportunity and community? Why be prudent in the absence of a future?