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11- Intersections of Race, Class, and Poverty

Terms in this set (49)

Race, Racism, and Oppression
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1. similarities among African-American families
2. who are identified as Blacks in the US?
3. Challenges biracial and multiracial childrens face
1. share both a common African heritage and the degradation of slavery
2. Families (or ancestors) that have immigrated from the Caribbean or Africa
3. Labeled as black even though they have more identities
To African Americans, race has many meanings (3)
1. people with African ancestry: shared origin
2. Shared physical characteristics
3. A wide range of skin colors and appearance due to various mixtures of ancestry
1. outcomes of race acquiring a social meaning through stereotypes
2. thus, how does African-American families' perception of the world need to be analyzed?
1. Has evolved into the complex social structures that promote white supremacy and privilege.
2. through the lenses of the racial experience
Impact of Race on Childrearing
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Why do they instill a sense of racial pride and strong positive identity to their children?
1. Aware of the degrading message they may receive from society esp. from school.
2. To combat pervasive negative images esp. in the media
normal family development requires parents to
1. Practice racial socialization
2. To educate the realities of racism and discrimination
3. To prepare them for the negative messages they may encounter
1. parents reported being more vigilant. especially on which child?
2. Why should parents give the tools to understand racism?
3. but why do you need to find the balance.
1. a male child
2. so that they do not internalize the process and install them a belief that they can achieve anything and overcome racism
3. So that children do not become consumed with rage and bitterness
Racism, The Invisibility Syndrome, and Gender Issues
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1. from a very early age, African males are perceived as?
2. assertiveness is seen as
3. what is "invisibility syndrome"?
1. fear
2. aggresiveness
3. society views them as threats because of their high visibility. As a result, people treat them as if they are invisible.
1. how do teachers often see male children?
2. what is "fourth-grade failure syndrome"?
1. threat
2. teachers become intimidated so they label them as aggressive, hyperactive, and failures
consequences of being perceived as aggressive by society
1. labeling within the school system
2. high dropout and unemployment rates
3. overrepresentation in the prison system
4. early death on the streets
Class and Race
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1. Social class as a driving force of creating which cycle?
2. how do these negatively affect black families?
1. cycle of poverty
2. oppress and limit opportunities for upward mobility
1. how are the class distinctions of the middle-class different from the dominant society?
2. why enhanced class status is more difficult to maintain?
1. many poor, working-class considered as middle-class because of their values, aspirations, and expectations for their children
2. vulnerable to layoffs. "last hired, first fired"
how to assess the normal family processes
1. acknowledge class and race together with oppressive poverty when working with inner-city families.
2. explore how it affects the lives of middle-class Black families
Middle-Class African American Families
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middle-income black families compared to whites
1. most require two incomes
2. less wealth and assets
1. which new type of racism is esp damaging to them?
2. often experience white backlash from who?
1. more subtle and covert racism
2. those who felt their own opportunities threatened
1. when do many middle and upper Blacks report anger and rage?
2. common experience when anticipating promotion
3. does class replace race as a primary social identity?
1. when their high educational and socioeconomic level does not prevent these
2. glass ceiling. few hired and promoted to higher-level positions
3. no, many continue to support agendas, despite their higher income
Poverty and the "Victim System"
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characteristics of many african american communitiies
1. rife with drug and alcohol abuse, gangs, crime, homelessness
2. increasingly dangerous public housing
3. violence and death
4. teenage pregnancy
5. high unemployment and school dropout rates
6. poor educational systems
7. ongoing issues with the police and the justice system
1. define a victim system
2. how does it work?
1. a circular feedback process that threatens self-esteem and reinforces problematic responses in communities, families, and individuals
2. Barriers to opportunity and education limit the chance for achievement, employment, and attainment of skills. this leads to poverty or stress in relationships, which interferes with family roles.
1. Why does adolescence begin early within the poor, inner-city communities?
2. major concern for these families
3. why do they struggle with helplessness?
1. Expected to assume household responsibilities and exposed to pressures related to sexuality, drugs, and alcohol use
2. random violence, esp. drug-related
3. view the possibility of streets claiming their children
Chronic PTSD
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why do inner-city children and families experience chronic PTSD?
1. Intense fear due to darkened halls or past deserted buildings and crack houses
2. needle park- children witness crack vials and discarded syringes in the playground
3. violence in their homes from a very early age: spousal, child, or sexual abuse
4. common drug overdose and.or AIDS in their families
1. children's common experiences after witnessing a traumatic event
2. what are significantly and negatively related to the level of exposure to violence?
1. behavior problems, anxiety, or depressive symptoms
2. significantly related to behavioral problems and negatively related to school achievment
1. what do the clinicians often overlook?
2. out of 43% with symptoms, but how many were diagnosed?
3. Among urban, poor African community, PTSD is
1. The classic features such as nightmares, flashbacks, and generalized fear and anxiety
2. 11%
3. undertreated and underreported
Racism and Poverty, Anger, and Rage
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1. poor African Americans face dual oppression based on
2. two causes of their pessimistic views of their future options
3. Anger and rage have been rising for decades in which families?
1. class and race
2. high dropout rates and chronic unemployment, esp for men ages 15-25
3. who are trapped in poverty, unemployment, high drop out rates, drugs, violence, crime, and homelessness
three ways these anger and rage are expressed
1. Turned on to those living in the community. "black on black" crime
2. Act it out through conduct disordered or delinquent behavior or in the family (stealing, abuse, domestic violence)
3. Internalized and manifested as depression, or self-distructive drug or alcohol abuse
1. What does service providers must be aware of?
2. How should the training programs address the issue and prepare them?
1. Anger and rage may be directed against them regardless of their race and ethnic status
2. By helping them learn not to personalize it and by teaching them effective strategies for joining and building trust
Attitudes of Mental Health Workers Toward Poor AFrican American Families
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prior to the 1970s,
1. how were poor African families treated?
2. comom response of clinicians
1. pathologized and labeled
2. Blame the victim and dismiss them as untreatable
1. the problems with current intervention models
2. need greater focus on
1. limited focus on individuals and families without considering the social context
2. homelessness, teenage pregnancy, unemployment, crime, living conditions, hunger, poor health care, and mistreatment by public agencies
how does it impact clinicians?
1. overwhelmed and ill-equipped to cope with the reality of inner-city poverty
2. Often find themselves mirroring the lack of empowerment that these families feel
Responses of Poor African American Families to Mental Health Services
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1. often live with which fear and memory?
2. How did the Aid to Dependent Children Program contributed to the invisibility of African-American men
1. fear of removal of their children by child welfare or protective services; the memory of the policies in the past
2. Assistance was denied if a man was supporting the family. as a result, many refused to get married, putting men to a peripheral status
1. results of the legacy of intrusion by outside agencies
2. common response of professionals who are unaware
1. healthy cultural suspicions- suspicious of their efforts
2. personalize and assume that the family do not want their services or cannot be treated
1. How do many enter treatment?
2. stigma of therapy in black communities
3. barriers to care seeking
1. No self-referred. usually coerced
2. For crazy, sick, or weak people or for white folks
3. shame and denial
1. why it's difficult to acquire information
2. what providers must do when working with them
1. Teach their children that the family business is nobody business, but their own
2. address these issues first before the intervention, so they can establish trust
Family Strengths and Survival Skills
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strengths and skills
1. kinship bonds
2. strong work and achievement orientation
3. adaptability of family roles
4. a willingness to seek counseling
5. strong religious orientation
6. strong and clear family hierarchy
1. kinship network comprises which family members?
2. what do they provide?
3. which families usually come to the attention of mental health services
1. both blood and non-blood family members
2. Provide support, encouragement, reciprocity in terms of sharing good, money, and services
3. Those who have become isolated or disconnected from their traditional support network
possible causes of disconnection
1. when the key "switchboard" family members of the older generation begins to die. they are the ones who share news and initiates family reunions
2. behavior causes (ex. stealing due to gambling addiction)
3. a "cut off" may be homeless due to eviction or being burnt out
4. networks have become so overwhelmed. unable to take on additional responsibilities
1. the primary task for therapists to search...
2. sometimes, why do they need to obtain permission to visit the home?
1. For persons who represent "islands of strength" within the family
2. these members often do not come to agencies or clinics. needed to identify or meet those who really hold the power
1. how are poor African Americans often presented as?
2. the distress is often overpathologized by
3. what should the therapists do?
1. overwhelmed single parents
2. by locating the problems within them as individuals
3. avoid making judgments based on the first impression and be familiarized by formal and networks to which the family may be connected
for families who are "cut off", why the focus must be on helping them to resolve conflicts?
1. to reconnect with their families of origin
2. to form new support networks within their communities
Religion, Spirituality, and Other Survival Skills
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