Acknow ledgements

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Given the large amount of time writers spend alone at their craft, some might be
tempted to conclude that the process of creating a book is fundamentally an
individual experience. It is not. In researching and writing this manuscript I have
benefited greatly from the assistance and wisdom of others.
This book began as a doctoral dissertation in the Department of Sociology
at the University of California, Berkeley. I am very grateful to Troy Duster for
all of his assistance. Arlie Hochschild and Charles Benson also were especially
helpful. While at Berkeley I struggled with the problem of moving from a
description of social events to an analysis and interpretation of these events. As I
detail in the methodological appendix, this process of developing a conceptual
analysis was neither linear nor smooth. I remain indebted to Michael Burawoy
for his help in this area, especially his persistence in posing the question 'So
what?' Others were also helpful, most notably John Ogbu, Karen Garrett, and
Keith Osajima.
After leaving Berkeley, I was supported by a NIMH Post-Doctoral
Fellowship in the Research and Training Program in Organizations and Mental
Mealth, Stanford University, directed by W. Richard Scott. I am particularly
grateful to Milbrey McLaughlin for giving me a clearer sense of what qualitative
research is - and is not - and a new understanding of data analysis in
qualitative work.
I probably would have never written this book if it hadn't been for Philip
Wexler. He offered me the opportunity and, more important, he provided
sage advice throughout. After beginning the project I undertook a new analysis
of the data and completely rewrote the manuscript. This took time; despite my
Copyright 2000. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

slow pace, he was always supportive. I am indebted to him also for his
encouragement to study the linkages between social institutions.
Aaron Cicourel played an important role throughout the project. From the
beginning his criticisms improved the work. I have found him to be a source of
invaluable suggestions. I am indebted also to him and to Hugh Mchan for
arranging office space during the summer of 1987 at the Department of

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Sociology, University of California, San Diego, and for making me feel

welcome during my stay.
At Southern Illinois University at Carbondale my department chair, Lon
Shelby, supported the research in many ways, including arranging for the
transcription of interview tapes. I appreciate Ruth Smith's coordination of this,
as well as the work of Tamara Davis, Sara Eynon, Becky Frerker, Ruth Perk,
and Deanna Yocum. Laura Cates has been an enormous help; her meticulous
word processing is especially appreciated.
The book benefited from the advice of colleagues. Nicole Biggart, George
McClure, Hugh Mehan, Cathy Vigran, and Julia Wrigley made detailed
comments on the entire manuscript. Pierre Bourdieu graciously commented on
an earlier version of this project. Samuel Kaplan has been a valuable source of
criticism as we have argued about the contribution cultural capital can make to
sociology. lowe a special debt to Katherine Mooney. Her fastidious editing of
the draft manuscript greatly improved the book. For comments on portions of
the manuscript I am grateful to Deirdre Boden, Marlis Buchmann, Thomas
Burger, Michael Burawoy, David Fetterman, Michele Lamont, Mary Metz,
Kathryn Ward, and Amy Wharton. Of course I remain solely responsible for
any errors or omissions.
Finally, I am very grateful to the parents, children, and school staff
members at 'Colton' and 'Prescott' schools. They invited me into their
classrooms and homes and with patience and good cheer answered my
seemingly endless questions. Many of them took a special interest in the project;
they included me in school events and shared materials that they thought would
be of interest. Although to protect their confidentiality I cannot thank them by
name, I remain deeply appreciative of their help.

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