The popular portrayal of young minority men is that of victims of poverty and discrimination. In contrast, ADream Denied investigates the social and cultural implications of the “American Dream” narrative for young minority men in the juvenile justice system in Boston and Chicago. The text connects young male offenders’ cycles of desistance and recidivism with normative assumptions about success and failure in American society, exposing a tragic disconnection between structural reality and juvenile justice policy. This book challenges us to reconsider, at a fundamental level, how American society relates to its most vulnerable members, how it responds to their personal failures, and how it promises them a better future.
