Abstract
Psychologists have observed that American adolescents often have difficulty committing themselves to efforts either in school or in other activities (Erikson, 1963; Keniston, 1970). While Erikson and Keniston recognize that this lack of commitment arises due to psychological, interpersonal, cultural, economic, and social factors, psychologists usually focus on intra-psychic processes. For instance, a textbook identifies “identity disorder” as one source of low achievement in late adolescence, recommends psychotherapeutic techniques to address the internal disorder, and does not even consider the possible influence of external social context on these behaviors (Mandel & Marcus, 1988, p. 299). Another psychologist says that adolescents lack “career maturity,” which makes them unwilling to work hard in school for the sake of their future careers (Crites, 1976). Psychologists are not the only ones to make such inferences. In the 1980s, labor economists sometimes explained youths’ job turnover by saying that some youth are unstable and immature (Osterman, 1980). Practitioners often make such inferences. In interviews in the 1990s, we have heard high school teachers and counselors say that adolescents are “present oriented,” cannot defer gratification, and will not work hard in school for future benefits. One guidance counselor reported, “these kids cannot plan beyond next Saturday night’s date.” In many of these accounts, the problem is inside students, and it comes from the adolescent life stage. These interpretations rarely mention social context.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arai, Katsuhiro (Ed.) (2000). What High School Students Learn in School? (Kouokusei ha Nani wo Manande Kuruka), National Center for College Entrance Examinations.
Baltes, P. B. (1983). “Life-span developmental psychology.” In Developmental psychology, R. Lerner (ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 79–111.
Benesse Educational Research Center (1999). The Second Report on Basic Survey of Teaching (Dai 2 kai Gakushuu Shido Kihon Chousa Houkokusho).
Blau, P., & Duncan, O. D. (1967). The American Occupational Structure. New York: Wiley.
Brinton, Mary (1998 December). “From high school to work in Japan: Lessons for the United States?” Social Service Review, 72(4), 442–451.
Brinton, Mary (2000). “Social capital in the Japanese youth labor market.” Policy Sciences, 33, 289–306.
Bronfenbrenner, U. (1979). The ecology of human development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Chubb, John E., & Moe, Terry M. (1990). Politics, Markets, and America’s Schools. Washington, DC: Brookings.
Crites, John O. (1976). “A comprehensive model of career adjustment in early adulthood.” Journal of Vocational Behavior, 9, 105–118.
Dannefer, Dale (1992). “On the conceptualization of context in developmental discourse,” pp. 84–110. In Lifespan development and behavior, vol. 2, David Featherman, Richard Lerman, Marion Perlmutter (Eds.). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Durkheim, Emile 1912 (1964). The division of labor in society. New York: Free Press
Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society. (2nd ed.). New York: Norton.
Fordham, S., & Ogbu, J. U. (1986). Black students’ school success. Urban Review, 18, 176–206.
Hallinan, Maureen (Ed.) (2000). Handbook of the sociology of education. New York: Plenum.
Halsey, A. H. (1977). “Towards meritocracy? The case of Britain. In Power and ideology in education (Eds.), Jerome Karabel and A. H. Halsey (pp. 173–185). New York: Oxford University Press.
Hamilton, Stephen F. (1986). School and work in the lives of German adolescents. Journal of Early Adolescence, 2(2), 99–110.
Herrnstein, Richard J. & Murray, C. (1994). The bell curve. New York: Free Press.
Heyns, Barbara (1978). Summer learning and the effects of schooling. New York: Academic Press.
Husen, T. (1967). International study of achievement in mathematics: A comparison of twelve countries. New York: Wiley.
Ishida, Hiroshi (1993). Social mobility in contemporary Japan. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Jencks, Christopher, et al. (1972). Inequality. New York: Basic
Jencks, Christopher, & Phillips, Meredith (1998). The Black-White test score gap. Washington, DC: Brookings
Kariya, Takehiko (forthcoming). Koudo Ryuudouka Shakai (A high mobility society: social mobility and education in Postwar Japan). In Naoi Masaru and Hidenori Fujita (Eds.), Kaiso (Social stratification), vol. 13, Kouza Shakaigaku (Series of lectures of sociology), University of Tokyo Press.
Kariya, T., & Rosenbaum, J. (1987). Self-selection in Japanese junior high schools: A longitudinal study of students’ educational plans. Sociology of Education, 60(3), 168–180.
Kariya, T., & Rosenbaum, J. (1999). Bright flight: unintended consequences of de-tracking policy. American Journal of Education, 707(3), 210–230.
Keniston, Kenneth (1970). Youth: a new stage of life. American Scholar, 39, 631–641.
Kerckhoff, Alan C. (1974). Ambition and attainment. Washington, DC: ASA Monographs.
Lee, Valerie E., Chow-How, Todd K., Berham, David K. Geverdt Douglas, & Smerdon, Becky A. (1989). Sector differences in high school course taking. Sociology of Education 71(4), 314–335.
LeTendre, Gerald (1996). Constructed aspirations. Sociology of Education 69, 193–216.
Levinson, D. J. et al. (1978). The seasons of a man’s life. New York: Knopf.
Lynn, Richard (1988). Educational achievement in Japan: Lessons for the West. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe.
Magnusson, D., & Allen, U. L. (1983). Human development. New York: Academic Press
Mandel, H. P., & Markus, S. I. (1988). The psychology of underachievement. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Matsubara, Haruo et al. (1981). Kokosei no Seitobunka to Gakkou Keiei (High school students’ subculture and school organization), Tokyo Daigaku Kyouikugakubu Kiyou (vol. 20, pp. 21–57).
Merton, Robert (1957). Social structure and anomie. In Social theory and social structure (pp. 131–160). New York: Free Press.
Meyer, John (1977). The effects of education as an institution. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 55–77
Meyer, John, & Rowan, Brian (1977). Institutional organizations: Formal structure as myth and ceremony. American Journal of Sociology, 83, 341–363.
NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress). (1985). The reading report card. Princeton, N.J.: Educational Testing Service.
NHK Hoso Bunka Kenkyujo (1991). Kokumin Seikatu Jikan Chosa (A survey report of people’s time spent for life). Nihon Hoso Shuppan Kyoukai.
Okano, Kaori (1993). School to work transition in Japan. Philadelphia: Multilingual Mattters.
Osterman, Paul (1980). Getting started: The youth labor market. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Rohlen, Thomas (1983). Japan’s high schools. Berkeley: University of California.
Rosenbaum, J. (1991). Are adolescent problems caused by school or society? Journal of Research on Adolescence, 7(3), 301–322.
Rosenbaum, J. (1998). College for All: Do Students understand what college demands? Social Psychology of Education 2(1), 55–80.
Rosenbaum, James E. (2001). Beyond college for all. New York: Russell Sage Foundation Press.
Rosenbaum, J., & Kariya, T. (1989). From high school to work: Market and institutional mechanisms in Japan. American Journal of Sociology, 94(6), 1334–1365.
Rosenbaum, J., & Kariya, T. (1991). Do school achievements affect the early jobs of high school graduates?-Results from the High School and Beyond Surveys in the United States and Japan. Sociology of Education, 64(2), 78–95.
Rosenfeld, Rachel, & Hearn, James (1982). Sex differences in the significance of economic resources for choosing and attending a college. In P. Perun (Ed.), Undergraduate woman. Lexington, MA.: Lexington.
Shavit, Yossi, & Muller, Walter (1998). From school to work, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Schneider, Barbara, & Stevenson, David (1999). The ambitious generation. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Sewell, W. H. (1971). Inequality of opportunity for higher education. American Sociological Review. 34: 793–809.
Sewell, W. H., & Hauser, Robert M. (1975). Education, occupation, and earnings. New York: Academic Press.
Sewell, W., & Shah, V. P. (1967). Socioeconomic status, intelligence, and the attainment of higher education. Sociology of Education, 40, 1–23.
Sorensen, A. (1979). Schools and the distribution of educational opportunities. Research in the Sociology of Education and Socialization, 8, 3–26.
Steinberg, L. (1997). Beyond the classroom. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Stevenson, H. W., & Stigler, J. W. (1992). The learning gap. New York: Touchstone.
Stinchcombe, Arthur L. (1965). Rebellion in a high school. Chicago: Quadrangle.
Tsutsui, Miki (2001). Changes in the labor market for high school graduates and the employment strategies of small-and medium-sized companies.” Kyouiku Shakaigaku Kenkyuu, 69, 5–21.
Velez, William (1985). Finishing college: The effects of college type. Sociology of Education 58, 191–200.
Willis, P. (1977). Learning to labor. New York: Columbia University Press.
Young, M. (1958). The rise of the meritocracy. London: Penguin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kariya, T., Rosenbaum, J.E. (2003). Stratified Incentives and Life Course Behaviors. In: Mortimer, J.T., Shanahan, M.J. (eds) Handbook of the Life Course. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48247-2_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-47498-9
Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48247-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive