Concerted Cultivation: Thanks Mom and Dad!

Larueau posits that there are two prevailing modes of understanding in equality in society

1) Society is fundamentally open. Personal attributes dictate outcomes. We are a society of individuals

2) Disparities exist, yet are a matter of “degrees” of difference

“the communal aspects of class, class subcultures and milieu, have long since disappeared

Larueae seeks to dispel these notions and show that class truly matters in her study. And from the books that we have read, this is not a farfetched case to make. We have shown in Marked, there is correlation with the incarceration rates as well as finding a job after incarceration. Additionally we have seen the disparities the distribution of industrial waste and the correlation to socio-economic status, which generally correlates to race.

While her sample size was small for the study, I found her qualitative analysis of different parenting styles, their relationship to social class, and the resulting differential transmission of benefits to be fascinating. It reconfirmed my own appreciate for my parents, because despite all of the praise I have received I have always truly felt that my parents were responsible for my success. They definitely took the cultivated approach and when I compare childhoods with friends I am often left thankful for the amount of dedication that my parents poured into my upbringing. They worked extremely hard to get me to do things outside of my comfort zone, a work ethic that I hated at the time, but I now appreciate. I am glad that my parents realized the benefits of the concerted cultivation, because the positive outcomes that Laruea attributes to CC, I have definitely feel that I have received those very same benefits. I definitely entered college with a sense of entitlement and some practice at making social institutions work me. I honestly got along better with adults than peers growing up, a trait that has led to great relationships with professors at UNCA.

It has been a shock to see that not everyone was as naturally comfortable with figures of authority as myself. Most of all this course has been an eye opener to the world of others. My parents always told me I was in a world of my own, and college allowed me to finally make a connection with world of others, particularly this class, as it was of course intended to do.