A Framework for Understanding Poverty Ruby Payne, PhD, Aha Process Inc, Highlands TX.

77562, 2005 Bridges Out of Poverty Ruby Payne, Phillip DeVol, Terie Smith, Aha Process Inc, Highland TX 2001 Notes By Stan Rowland Rev 5/23/10 I originally did notes on A Framework for Understanding Poverty which is an excellent book to understand poverty and worth owning for review. Since then I have read an older version of their book Bridges Out of Poverty which adds some additional insights. Both books contain much of the same content therefore I decided to include both as one set of notes. Some Key Points to Remember Poverty is relative. Poverty or wealth only exists in relationship to known quantities or expectations. Poverty occurs in all races and in all countries. Economic class is a continuous line, not a clear cut distinction. Individuals are found all along the continuum of income and they sometimes move on the continuum. Generational poverty and situational poverty are different. o Generational poverty is being in poverty for two generations or longer. o Situational poverty is a shorter time and is caused by circumstances. Poverty is based on patterns, but all patterns have exceptions An individual brings with them the hidden rules of the class in which they were raised. Schools and businesses operate from middle-class norms and use hidden rules of middle-class. We can neither excuse nor scold them for not knowing the rules. As educators we must teach them and provide support, insistence, and expectations. To move from poverty to middle-class or from middle-class to wealth, an individual must give up relationships for achievement for a period of time. To do this one needs emotional resources and stamina to draw upon. Two things that help move one out of poverty are education and relationships. Four reasons one leave poverty are: o Its too painful to stay o A vision or goal to shoot for o A key relationship with a role model o A special skill or talent Some Statistics about Poverty

The poverty rate in 2003 for all individuals was 12.5 percent, For children under 18 it was 17.6 percent, and for children under 6 it was 20.3 percent The foreign born population has increased by 57 percent since 1990 to 30 million. Immigrant children are twice as likely to be poor as native born children. For parents of children who work full time, immigrant children are at a greater risk of being poor. Regardless of race, etc., poor children are more likely than non-poor children to suffer developmental delays, drop out of high-school, and give birth during teen years. Poverty-prone children are more likely to be in a single parent family. Poor inner-city kids are seven times more likely to be victims of child abuse or neglect. Poverty is caused by inter-related factors: o Parental employment status o Earnings o Family structure o Parental education Children under six remain particularly vulnerable to poverty. Children under six living in female led homes have a poverty rate of 53.7 percent which is more than five times the rate for children in married-couple households (9.7%). Percentage of children in poverty by race: o All Races 17.6% o Caucasian 14.3% o Hispanic 29.7% o African Am. 34.1% o Asian 12.5% o Native Am. 31.9%

Definitions: Financial: Having the money to purchase goods and services. Emotional: Being able to choose and control emotional responses, particularly in negative situations. Mental: Having the mental abilities and acquired skills (reading, writing, computing) to deal with daily life. Spiritual: Believing in divine purpose and guidance. Physical: Having physical health and mobility. Support Systems: Having friends, family, and backup resources available to access in times of need. There are external resources. Relationships/Role Models: Having frequent access to adults who are appropriate, who are nurturing to the child, and who do not engage in selfdestructive behavior. Knowledge of Hidden Rules: Knowing the unspoken cues and habits of a group.

Hidden Rules among Classes Hidden rules are unspoken cues and habits of a group. Distinct cueing systems exist between and among groups and economic classes. This is generally recognized for racial and ethnic groups, but not particularly for economic groups. Hidden Rules Among Classes POVERTY POSSESSIONS MONEY PERSONALITY
People To be used, spent. Is far entertainment. Sense of humor is highly valued. Social inclusion of people he/she likes. Key question: Did you have enough? Quantity important. Clothing valued for individual style and expression of personality. Present most important. Decisions made for moment based on feelings or survival Valued and revered as abstract but not as reality. Believes in fate. Cannot do much mitigate chance. Casual register. Language is about survival Tends to be matriarchal Sees world in terms of local setting. Love and acceptance conditional, based upon whether individual is liked Survival, relationships,

MIDDLE CLASS
Things To be managed. Is for acquisition and stability. Achievement is highly valued. Emphasis is an selfgovernance and selfsufficiency. Key question: Did you like it? Quality important. Clothing valued for its quality and acceptance into norm of middle class. Label important. Future most important. Decisions made against future ramifications. Crucial for climbing success ladder and making money. Believes in choice. Can change future with good choices now. Formal register. Language is about negotiation Tends to be patriarchal Sees world in terms of national setting. Love and acceptance conditional and based largely upon achievement Work, achievement

WEALTH
One-of-a-kind objects, legacies, pedigrees. To be conserved, invested. Is for connections. Financial, political, social connections are highly valued. Emphasis is on social exclusion. Key question: Was it presented well? Presentation important. Clothing valued for its artistic sense and expression Designer important. Traditions and history most important. Decision made partially on basis of tradition and decorum. Necessary tradition for making and maintaining connections. Noblesse oblige. Formal register. Language is about networking Depends on who has money Sees world in terms of international view. Love and acceptance conditional and related to social standing and connections. Financial, political, social connections

SOCIAL EMPHASIS FOOD CLOTHING

TIME

EDUCATION DESTINY LANGUAGE FAMILY STRUCTURE WORLD VIEW LOVE

DRIVING

FORCES HUMOR

entertainment About people & sex

About situations

About social faux pas

Characteristics of Generational Poverty Background noise. The TV is almost always on, no matter what the circumstances. Importance of personality; Individual personality is what one brings to the setting because money is not brought. Significance of entertainment; when one can merely survive then respite from survival is important. Importance of relationships. Matriarchal structure with the mother being the most powerful position in the family. Oral language tradition with little reading ability. Survival orientation. There is little room for the abstract. Discussions center on people and relationships. A job is about making enough to survive. Identity tied to lover/fighter role for men. Identity is tied to rescuer/martyr role for women. Importance for non-verbal/kinetic communication. Touch is used to communicate. Ownership of people. People are possessions. Negative orientation; Failure at anything is the source of stories and belittling comments. Belief in fate; Destiny and fate are major tenets of the belief system. Choice is hardly ever considered. Polarized thinking. Options are hardly ever examined. Life is one way or the other, no middle ground. Mating dance is about using the body in a sexual way and verbally and sub-verbally complimenting body parts. Time occurs only in the present. The future does not exist; Time is flexible and not measured. Sense of humor is highly valued as entertainment is one of the key aspects of poverty. Lack of order and organization. Many of people in poverty are unkempt and cluttered. Lives in the moment and does not consider future ramifications. Being proactive, setting goals and planning ahead are not part of generational poverty. How these Characteristics Surface in Adults from Poverty Getting mad and quitting their job Working hard if they like you

Not using conflict resolution, preferring to settle issues in verbal or physical abuse. Using survival language Not emotionally reserved when angry, usually saying exactly what is on their mind. Extreme freedom of speech, enjoy a sense of humor, using their personality to entertain, and love to tell stories. Very independent Periodically need time off or arrive late due to family emergencies. Need emotional warmth from boss and colleagues in order to feel comfortable. Require a level of integrity from management, actively distrusting organizations and the people who represent the organization. They see organizations as dishonest. Exhibiting possessiveness about people they really like. Need a greater amount of space to allow for uniqueness of their personalities. Showing favoritism for certain people and giving them preferential treatment. Men socialize with men, and women with women. Men have two social outlets: bar and work. Women with children tend to stay at home and have only other female relatives as friends. A real man is ruggedly good-looking, is a lover, physically can fight, and takes no crap. A real woman cares for her man by feeding him and downplaying his shortcomings.

What This Means: An education is a key to getting out of and staying out of generational poverty. Poverty is rarely about a lack of intelligence or ability. Many individuals stay in poverty because they do not know there is a choice. Schools are virtually the only place where students can learn the choices and rules of middle-class. Role Models and Emotional Resources A System is a group in which and individual have rules and relationship. Being dysfunctional is the extent to which an individual cannot get their needs met within the system. All systems are dysfunctional to some extent and a system is not equally functional or dysfunctional for each individual within the system. An individual operating in a dysfunctional setting is often required to take an adult role as a child where they become caught between being dependant and independent.

To become a fully functioning adult one moves developmentally from being dependent to independent to interdependent. All three are part of a continuum. To move from poverty to middle class one must tradeoff some relationships perhaps for a time in order to achieve. To do this requires emptional resources and stamina. How can you provide emotional resources when they have no access to an appropriate role model: o Through support systems o By using appropriate discipline strategies and approaches. By establishing long-term relationships, apprenticeships, and mentoring, with those who are appropriate. o By teaching the hidden rules they need to move into another class o By helping them identify options. o By increasing their achievement levels through appropriate instruction. o By teaching goal setting.

Support Systems There are seven general categories of support systems: Coping strategies which are ways in which one copes with daily living, disappointments, tragedies, and triumphs. Discover options during problem solving. Provide information and know how Provide temporary relief from emotional, mental, financial, and or time constraints. Create connections to other people and resources they can turn to. Help the people have positive self talk which they listen to in times of stress. Help people develop procedural self-talk which helps them talk themselves through a task. It is critical that those working with the poor help to build these support systems. Discipline In poverty, discipline is about penance and forgiveness, not necessarily about change. The key is to teach in discipline a separate set of behaviors, ones that will help them survive in work situations. Two anchors of an effective discipline program is having structure and choice. Behavior Related to Poverty Laughing when disciplined which is a way to save face in a matriarchal society.

Arguing loudly with those perceived in authority. Poverty is participatory and their culture distrusts authority therefore they see the system as dishonest and unfair. Angry response which is based on fear which may be related to loss of face. Inappropriate or vulgar comments as they do not know how to react in other ways appropriate for middle-class society. Physically fight which is necessary to survive in poverty. They only know the language of survival and know nothing about conflict resolution. Hands always on someone else because touch is important. Cannot follow instructions because they have little procedural memory. Sequence is not used or valued. Extremely disorganized because or lack of planning, scheduling, or prioritizing as it is not taught in poverty. Complete only part of the task as they have no procedural self talk. Disrespectful to those in authority because they have a lack of respect for those in authority maybe because they know no one who is worthy of respect. Harm others verbally or physically which is their way of life. Cheat or steal, which is indicative of a poor support system, weak role models and emotional resources. Talk constantly because poverty is participatory.

Registers of Language (New) To understand poverty we must understand language used. There are different registers which are important which include: Frozen: Is language that is always the same as an example the Lords Prayer, wedding vows etc. Formal: Is the standard sentence syntax and word of choice of work and school. It has complete sentences and specific word choices. Consultative: Is a formal register when used in conversation but the discourse pattern is not as quite as direct as a formal register. Casual: Is language between friends and characterized by a 400 to 800 word vocabulary. Word choice is general and not specific. The conversation is dependent on non-verbal assists and the sentence syntax is often incomplete. Intimate: Is language between lovers or twins. Findings as Related to Poverty (New) Those in poverty do not generally have access to the formal register at home. A problem is all SAT, ACT tests for higher education are in the formal register. Most jobs instructions, applications etc are in the formal register.

Many of them do not have the vocabulary nor understanding of sentence structure Acquisition of language only happens where there is a significant relationships between the learner and teacher. In a job managers want to get right to the point but in poverty many times information is shared in story form which is not linear. It seems to managers that they are beating around the bush. The formal register story starts at a beginning and goes to the end in chronological order while those in poverty use a casual register story approach. The story is told in vignettes. Formal register needs to be formally taught to those in poverty in order to get a job while the middle class manager needs to recognize that the informal register is used by the poor.

Three Types of Voices Child Voice is defensive, victimized, emotional, whining, losing attitude, strongly negative or non-negative. It can also be playful, spontaneous, and curious. Many of the phrases used are conflict or manipulative and impede resolution. Parental Voice is authoritative, directive, judgmental, evaluative, win-lose mentality, demanding, punitive, and sometimes threatening. It can also be very loving and supportive. Adult Voice is non-judgmental, free of negative, non-verbal, factual, often in question format, attitude of win-win. What This Means in Work People from poverty need to have at least two sets of behavior from which to choose, one for the street and one for work situations. The purpose of discipline should be to promote successful behavior at work. Teaching the poor to use the voice of an adult, language of negotiation, is important for their success and can become an alternative for physical aggression. Structure and choice need to be part of the discipline approach. Discipline should be seen and used as a form of instruction. Learning Teaching is what occurs outside of the head while learning is what occurs inside the head. Learning is what is needed in learning for all people, both inside and outside of poverty. There are four parts to learning: Cognitive structure is the fundamental way we process information. Concepts store information and allow for retrieval. Skills including reading, writing, computing, and language which make up the processing of the content.

Content is the what of learning, the information used to make sense of daily life.

People in poverty have cognitive issues which include: No consistent or predictable way of getting information. They do not have the vocabulary to deal with cognitive tasks. They do not have the ability to orient objects, people, etc., in space. Direction, location, object size, and shape are not available to them They do not have the ability to organize and measure in time. They do not have the ability of the brain to hold an object t inside their head and keep memory of the object. They have poor problem solving ability because they do no t have the strategies to gather precise and accurate data. They do not have the ability to hold two objects or sources inside their head while comparing and contrasting them. Therefore it is important to develop the following behavior: Use planning behavior Control impulsivity Use evaluative behavior Explore data systematically Use specific language. The key to helping people in poverty is to be insistent in what your are helping the poor with, having high expectations and giving consistent support in helping to develop cognitive strategies. Relationships Nine out of ten times when someone moves successfully from poverty to middleclass it is because of a relationship with a mentor or role model who took an interest in them. Support systems are simply networks of relationships. Covey uses the notion of an emotional bank account to convey how relationships are made. In all relationships one makes deposits and withdrawals with the other individual in the relationship. A successful relationship occurs when emotional deposits are made with emotional withdrawals being avoided. DEPOSITS Seek first to understand Keep promises Kindness, courtesies Clarifying expectations Loyalty to the absent Apologies Open to feedback WITHDRAWALS Seek first to be understood Breaking promises Unkindness, discourtesies Violating expectations Disloyalty, duplicity Pride, conceit, arrogance Rejecting feedback

In regard to poverty there are also deposits and withdrawals which foster or hinder movement from poverty.

Deposits Made to Individual in Poverty Appreciation for humor and entertainment provided by the individual Acceptance of what the individual cannot say about a person or situation Respect for the demands and priorities of relationships Using the adult voice Assisting with goal setting Identifying options related to available resources Understanding the importance of personal freedom, speech, and individual personality.

Withdrawals Made From Individual in Poverty Put-downs about humor or the individual Insistence and demands for full explanation about a person or situation Insistence on the middle-class view of relationships Using the parent voice Telling the individuals their goals Making judgments on the value and availability of resources Assigning pejorative character traits to the individual

The primary motivation for people in povertys success will be in their relationships. We must find ways to establish relationship that will enable this vital resource to take root and grow. Additive Model for Working with People in Poverty Dr. Ruby Payne has developed the a ha process to help people move out of poverty, though her main target is children and teenagers through schools. Her approach is based on dealing with the positive and helping them to learn how to live in a middle-class society for school and work by understanding middle-class hidden meanings. She uses the knowledge of people in poverty to build an accurate mental model of poverty. Dr. Rubys Additive Model can be summarized as follows: Honors internal assets of people from all economic classes Names problems accurately Identifies the mindsets and patterns that individuals use to survive different economic environments and provides a vocabulary to talk about it. Identifies strengths and resources already found in the individual, family, school, and community.

Offers economic diversity as a prism through which individuals can analyze and respond to issues. Identifies skills, theories of change, program design, partnerships, and ways of building success. Encourages the development of strategies to respond to all causes of poverty.

People who are working in low-wage jobs and who live at the bottom of the economic ladder, live in an intense and stressful situation. Cars and public transportation are unreliable and insufficient. Low-wage jobs come and go, housing is crowded and expensive and much energy is spent in caring for the sick and trying to get health-care. Many of the interactions with those in power are demeaning and frustrating. Vulnerability of people living in poverty is very real and concrete. To survive, people develop relationships of mutual reliance and they face down problems with courage and humor. It is reliance on family, friends, and acquaintances who will help you. But the current mental model of those in poverty is that they are needy, deficient, diseased, and not to be trusted. This inaccurate mental model is fed by media reports. For the last two decades discourse on poverty has been dominated by two areas of research that either poverty is caused by the behavior of the poor or is caused by political/economic structures. Neither area of research in themselves is accurate and is tightly intertwined. The availability of human and social capital is also involved. Strategies are never developed to restrict, replace, or sanction those who exploit the poor. There is a need for accurately naming the problem and then finding solutions. Most problems are defined in terms of deficit which needs to be changed from blaming the individual to not blaming the individual. There are models that offer alternatives to the deficit model which build on the positive, but the positive approach also has its critics. The a ha process combines the accurate problem identification with a positive, strength-based, communitywide approach to change. To survive in poverty, individuals must have reactive, sensory and non-verbal skills, but when they meet middle-class society they do not have all the assets or understanding of hidden meanings for middle-class necessary to survive. The additive model offers insights into how hidden rules of economic class work, along with a framework for building resources to succeed.

Causes of Poverty 1. Behaviors of the individual Definition: Research on the choices, behaviors, characteristics, and habits of people in poverty Sample Topics:
Dependence of welfare Morality Crime Single parenthood Breakup of families Intergenerational character traits Work ethic Racism and discrimination Commitment to achievement Spending habits Addiction, mental illness, domestic violence Planning skills Orientation to the future Language experience

2. Human and Social Capital in the Community Definition: Research on the resources available to individuals, communities, and businesses. Sample Topics:
Intellectual capital Social capital Availability of jobs Availability of well-paying jobs Racism and discrimination Availability and quality of education Adequate skill sets Childcare for working families Decline in neighborhoods Decline in social morality Urbanization Suburbanization of manufacturing Middle-class fight City and regional planning

3. Exploitation Definition: Research on how people in poverty are exploited because they are in poverty. Sample topics:
Drug trade Racism and discrimination Cash-advance lenders Sub-prime lenders Lease purchase outlets Gambling Temp work Sweatshops Sex trade Internet scams

4. Political/Economic Structures Definition: Research on the economic, political, and social policies at the international, national, state, and local levels. Sample topics:
Globalization Corporate influence on legislators Declining middle class De-industrialization Job loss Decline of unions Taxation patterns Salary raise of CEO to line worker Immigration patterns Economic disparity Racism and discrimination

The Additive Process: People in poverty are problem solvers Stabilizes the environment Provides support during transition Build future stories, practice choice, and develop power and influence.

Resources are to be developed by communities, families, and individuals. The optimal way to build resources is to build on ones strengths. We must develop resource-building strategies in all four areas of poverty research: o Behavior of the individual o Human and social capital in the community o Exploitation o Political/economic structures People build relationships by using the registers of language in which a person lives. The rules for a different class need to be added to what is already known about hidden meaning. They hold that family structure evolves to meet the survival needs of the family and that they are strengths. Awareness gives people optional ways to stabilize the chaotic circle of life, to envision new patterns, to practice choices, and to build new resources. Using mental models for learning and reasoning allow people to move from the concrete to the abstract. People can be trusted to make good use of accurate information presented in a meaningful way by facilitators who provide a relationship of mutual respect. The community must provide services, support and meaningful opportunities during transitions over the long term. In partnership with people from the middle-class and wealth individuals in poverty can solve community and systemic problems that contribute to poverty. All three classes of people must be at the table to work out solutions. Strategies must cover all causes of poverty, from the behaviors of individuals to political/economic structures. Communities must build on intellectual capital Quality of life indicators must be monitored and reported regularly in the same manner that economic indicators are monitored and reported.