Adolescents' perceptions of military service as a vehicle for social mobility: A racial comparison of rural youth

Abstract

The broad purpose of this paper was to investigate orientations toward military service held by Negro and white teen-age boys, utilizing data gathered in rural East Texas during 1966. Two hypotheses guided the analysis: (1) that Negro youth are more positively inclined toward military service than white boys and (2) that lower class boys with high status aspirations, regardless of race, are more positively oriented toward military service than others. Measures were available for aspiration for military service, expected military service, certainty of this expectation, and general attitude toward service. These variables were manipulated by race, SES, and level of job aspiration to test the hypotheses. The findings did not support the hypotheses: Negro and white youth were generally positive about military service and lower class youth with high aspirations differed little from other youth in their orientations toward military service. Appropriate implications were drawn and suggestions made for future research.