Book Reviews by Becky Ahlberg
A Framework for Understanding Poverty
By Ruby K. Payne, PhD
Highlands: aha! Process, 2013
Ruby Payne”s book, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, is already considered a classic and must reading for people working with families in poverty. It is a simple book and a fast read, but it is truly an eye-opener. Its initial audience was educators trying to break through to children in poverty. It has since become an industry standard training course for employers, policy makers, and service providers of all kinds.
What makes it so valuable are the practical, clear tools and vocabulary that bring insight about the mind-sets and patterns individuals use to survive different economic environments. She focuses on solutions as well as analysis and things that can be done immediately to improve understanding and communication. The strategies she employs are particularly refreshing and practical.
Here are just three of the concepts (there are many more!) that were particularly helpful for us as we launched My Safe Harbor:
Generational poverty and situational poverty are different.Â
Generational poverty is defined as being in poverty for two generations or longer. Situational poverty is a shorter time and is caused by circumstance (i.e., death, illness, divorce, etc.).
Poverty is about more than money.
An individual experiences poverty when he or she does without resources, such as financial, emotional, mental, spiritual, physical, support systems, relationships and role models, and knowledge of hidden rules. Poverty is not simply doing without money. Lack of money isn”t even the causal problem. It is a complex combination of a lack of access to and/or knowledge of resources in a variety of areas that lead to the pathologies of poverty. Payne”s case studies in this area are particularly compelling.
Family patterns are confusing.
Family patterns are among the most confusing things about addressing generational poverty. In a middle-class family, even when there is divorce, lineage is fairly easy to trace because of the legal documents. In generational poverty, there are few, if any, “paper trails” that can lead to an understanding of “where did I come from.”
With people in generational poverty, Mother is always the center of the family, and depending on how many children she has, with how many different men, the stepchildren/parent connections can be very murky and confusing, even for those in her family. Personal example: we are working with a mother right now whose grandson is also her nephew.
One caution: be careful not to let the generalizations become prooftexts. When you work with people, there are always exceptions. Much of the book is descriptive from Payne”s experience. Don”t allow this information to give you permission to pigeonhole people. No book will ever take the place of engaging with another human being and building a unique relationship.
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Mindset: The New Psychology of Success
Carol S. Dweck, PhDÂ
New York: Ballantine Books, 2007
Dr. Carol Dweck, well-known Stanford University psychologist, has written a simple, but fascinating book that is a powerful presentation of how to unleash potential. After decades of research on achievement and success, she has presented her findings in an easy and informative read.
She contends that mind-sets are beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities: your talents, personality, and intelligence. Are these qualities simply fixed traits, a result of your genes, or are they qualities that can be developed and, over time””with plenty of effort””be enhanced and improved?
People with a fixed mind-set believe their traits are just givens. What they have is what they have and nothing can change that. If they have a lot, they”re all set, but if they don”t . . . too bad. So people in this mind-set often worry about their traits and how adequate they are. They constantly have something to prove to themselves and others.
People with a growth mind-set, on the other hand, see their qualities as things that can be developed through their dedication and effort. They are happy if they are smart or talented, but they believe that is just the beginning. They understand that no one has ever accomplished great things””not Albert Einstein or Peyton Manning or Itzhak Perlman””without years of committed effort and perseverance. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment. Virtually all great people have had these qualities.
New research shows the brain behaves like a muscle. The more you challenge your mind, the more your capacity grows. Dweck contends a person”s true potential, intelligence, and ability are unknowable, because what can be accomplished with years of effort and training is unforeseeable.
What does this have to do with poverty? Perhaps one of the greatest prejudices about working with those in poverty is the belief they are either incapable of helping themselves or are lazy; that they are unable to take care of themselves, unable to finish school, find a good job, make good choices. Too often we focus on what we can do for them, not how we can encourage, empower, equip, and expect them to unleash their own potential. It takes longer, but it brings with it the gift of dignity””the key to success.
As Ruby Payne pointed out, poverty is about the lack of resources, none more basic to success than the belief that you are capable and have the support and encouragement needed to reach your full potential. This book radically changed the way we thought about helping others and gave us tools to move from pity to unleashing potential.
Becky Ahlberg serves as executive director of My Safe Harbor in Anaheim, California.
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