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A Framework for Understanding Poverty By Ruby K. Payne ( aha Process, Inc. )
Release Date: 2005-05-15
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $22.00
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Product Description
Fourth Revised Edition. People in poverty face challenges virtually unknown to those in middle class or wealth--challenges from both obvious and hidden sources. The reality of being poor brings out a survival mentality, and turns attention away from opportunities taken for granted by everyone else. If you work with people from poverty, some understanding of how different their world is from yours will be invaluable. Whether you're an educator--or a social, health, or legal services professional--this breakthrough book gives you practical, real-world support and guidance to improve your effectiveness in working with people from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Since 1995 A Framework for Understanding Poverty has guided hundreds of thousands of educators and other professionals through the pitfalls and barriers faced by all classes, especially the poor. Carefully researched and packed with charts, tables, and questionaires, Framework not only documents the facts of poverty, it provides practical yet compassionate strategies for addressing its impact on people's lives.
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 Oh for heavens sake ( paddocke@sofnet.com )
As an individual who works with children in a variety of settings (club settings, classrooms, Youth Groups, etc), I picked up this book thinking it would provide me with some useful insights.
Two pages into it I was annoyed by a "hidden rule" she listed as applying to families who live in generational poverty. Half-way through I put it down in search of better resources.
I'm sure Dr. Payne's intentions are good and I suspect many of her offerings are useful. But close examination of the specific "hidden rules" as they apply to the supposed societal group who live in poverty (as though there was only one kind) reveals an author who needs to spend more time with people and less time writing books about them. It's so riddled with stereotypes it's difficult to take it seriously.
One for instance: Payne's first reference to one of the "hidden rules" of poverty is that households of this group are noisy--with televisions always on and everyone talking at once. I read it twice as I was sure I'd missed something. Surely someone with a Ph.D who'd done the proper research, would know better than to make a generalization of such ridiculous proportions, I thought.
'Guess not.
Personally, I come from a large middle-class loud German-Irish family with a television always on, music always playing (often live), and people talking all at once. The ability to tell a good joke or story was extremely important in our family, as was a sharp wit and the ability to defend one's point of view. This family produced three educators of which I am one. We're readers, thinkers, amatuer actors, singers, writers, and communicators. So for the life of me I can't quite grasp how on earth a noisy household is equated with class.
The idea that there are educators out there who are using this book as a basis to understand children who come from poor families concerns me. Apart from sparking discussion, I don't see this book as offering much of real value to educators and I would recommend those considering it to look past the hype and the slick marketing techniques and give this one a miss.
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 Fast shipping
Book was exactly what I thought it would be. I ordered it for a class that I was taking this summer and it arrived promptly. I was impressed with how quickly it arrived and it was in excellent shape. I have no complaints at all!
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Understanding Poverty ( laurbach )
Excellent book by Ruby Payne. She has changed the way educators teach to children living in poverty. The book provides tools that can help break the cycle of generational poverty. Should be required reading for all educators and social service professionals!
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 Payne as a Culture of Poverty Theorist
I have been reading "Bridges out of Poverty" for a social work class I am taking at The Ohio State University. I am a senior in psychology and sociology, and I find this book academically lacking and socially irresponsible. This text is classic culture of poverty--the theory that those in poverty are there because of character flaws and bad behavior. Payne never confronts the structural barriers which bar the poor from increasing their economic position. Education, full-time employment (at a living-wage), and inadequate social safety-nets are stronger correlates to poverty than language and perspective as Payne would suggest. Payne suggests, though never directly, that the family is the primary socializing force in the development of an individual. Schools, and the staff and educators who operate them; neighborhoods and their relationship to the city as a whole; and the national and political culture, defused to homes through the media, are all prominent factors in the socialization of every individual.
Thus, when one receives messages of worthlessness and derogation from the whole of society, when your existence is viewed as a cause to herald and correct, when you are bombarded by a consumerist culture in which you cannot participate, the logical end is an attitude of hopelessness and dissociation. Instead of a steadfast defense of "middle-class ideals," I propose a more critical analysis of this society. A society with more wealth than any other nation in the world, but also with a poorly performing education system (which is blamed on the student and not the lack of funding), a service focused economy which will force us to sell to each other the products of distant lands, and an obsession with consumption which is destroying our planet.
When it is proposed that a critical look be taken toward a particular group, we must first look at ourselves. Before we espouse the lifestyle and ideology of one group onto another, we must first determine if that lifestyle is "correct." In my opinion, there is no certificate or qualification which a person can obtain that gives them the power to do that. It is hypocritical to ask of the poor what we would not ask of ourselves. Ruby Payne, and "academics" like her, have become unable to see the forest for the trees.
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A Leader in the Field of Socio-Economic Levels
Ever wonder why people who win the lottery often end up in worse shape after they win than before?
It's often because our lives are governed by the way we perceive the world and think. Our social networks, entertainment, perception of resources, and so on shape our interactions with others and with the world. There is literally a different culture in generational poverty than in the "middle class" or among the wealthy. And moving across cultural strata is not so simple as just having or not having money.
I've often wondered why (in my experience) it can be so hard to help those in need - specifically, those who seem to be living in generational poverty. Sure, I can give a few dollars to help with an urgent situation such as getting the electricity turned back on but I have often felt powerless to help bring real, lasting change to people in need. Ruby Payne addresses these issues in a powerful way. Her research and understanding make hear a well-qualified leader and her suggestions have helped shape my ability to be more effective.
I've found this book to be so good that I have recommended this book to many of my friends and colleagues. In fact, I have loaned out copies.
-- Bryan Entzminger
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Addiction
