You are on a long road trip when a woman spies you reading Streetwise by Elijah Anderson. How do you respond (using crime and cultural theory to back your opinions) when she makes this statement:

Woman: "I've read some Anderson. I think that if that's the way those people want to live, then we should just let them alone. I mean, it's their choice." Me: Slow down. I need you to define "those people," tell me how it is they live, and then give your reasons for why we should leave them alone. Woman: The niggardly conditions of impoverished inner-cities are the inevitable result of the self-destructive behaviors practiced by …

…mixed income" project currently underway in Atlanta that limits occupants receiving public assistance to 40% of all residents has seen a 90% reduction in crime and a considerable increase in employment. Unfortunately, no reform is likely to yield radical changes overnight. It takes time to reverse decade long trends. Cultural norms and capital accumulation develop cross-generationally. However, seeing the problem of concentrated poverty as essentially one of culture will begin to help us along the right path.