Abstract
This study of poor, black, urban families relates mothers' views of the ideal relationship between their sons and the world to the sons' academic achievement. In open-ended interviews, mothers of high achievers express ideals for their sons that emphasize self-motivated, active, learning engagement with the world; mothers of low achievers express ideals that emphasize constraint, isolation, and adult control. The effects of a hostile environment on this family interaction among low achievers are considered.