Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy and Richard Wright's Native Son clearly demonstrate the influence a lack of education has on one's propensity to commit violent crimes by linking criminal tendency to early childhood training. Prior to World War II, dropping out before high school graduation was not a tragedy. Many were able to find work and a comfortable living without any schooling. However, the past war period brought higher expectations in the job market. "School became not a rite of passage but a ticket to a still better life for children" (Goodlad 82). Now that some form of early childhood training has become a necessity, the statistic criminal behavior changed. Studies have shown the direct relationship between failure in school and a high crime rate.

It is no great phenomenon that the slums and ghettos of urban America produce the highest crime rate. Poverty and need are...