A Framework for Understanding Poverty (Paperback)

by Ruby K. Payne (Author) "To better understand students and adults from poverty, a working definition of poverty is "the extent to which an individual does without resources..." (more)
Key Phrases: check question mark, casual register, situational poverty, Financial Emotional Mental Spiritual Physical Support, Census Bureau, Bureau of the Census (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Only a handful of books have impacted my career as an educator, but none as much as Dr. Ruby Payne's, A Framework for Understanding Poverty. Through reading and studying Dr. Payne's book, I came to find out that what I really needed to know was what my students were dealing with outside of school and how that was affecting their behaviors in college. I teach at Big Sandy Community and Technical College in eastern Kentucky, working with developmental education students (transitional students) who do not have entry-level skills in reading, writing, and/or math. With each page that I read, I found myself thinking more and more about what my developmental education students say and do. Why they don't have any self-esteem or have any sense of responsibility toward their education. And why many times they don't even have any motivation to persist toward graduation. Payne's book helped me look at my students' behaviors through a different lens. As a result, I have completely changed my perspective and my pedagogy. --Judith Valade, Faculty, English, Big Sandy Community and Technical College, KY

Poverty is not just a condition of not having enough money. It is a realm of particular rules, emotions, and knowledge that override all other ways of building relationships and making a life. This book was written as a guide and exercise book for middle-class teachers, who often don't connect with their impoverished students--largely because they don't understand the hidden rules of poverty In the same way, poor children misconnect with school because they don't understand the hidden rules of middle-class life. Ruby Payne, a former teacher and principal who has been a member of all three of the economic cultures of our time (poor, middle-class, and wealthy) compassionately and dispassionately describes the hidden rules and knowledge of each. I think it's useful not just for educators, but for anyone who has to deal with people of different backgrounds. Having read it, I feel a lot more confident about dealing with people as people, not as representatives of their social class. Especially noteworthy is the Could you survive? quiz on page 53. For example, can you keep your clothes from being stolen at the laundromat, or entertain friends with stories? (That's essential knowledge for the world of the poor.) Can you get a library card or use a credit card? (Essential for middle-class life.) Can you ensure loyalty from a household staff, or build a wall of privacy and inaccessibility around you? (Essential knowledge for wealth.) Every class assumes that their knowledge is known by everyone, which is one reason they assume that people in other classes don't & get it. I also appreciate the telling point about upward mobility in America: It's possible for anyone to shift classes, but only at the price of leaving behind your existing personal relationships. One sign of A Framework's value is the way that educators who grew up in poverty from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, embrace this book. --Whole Earth, Art Kleiner, [former editor]

The concepts from Framework were taught by Bethanie Tucker to many of our faculty and Administrators last spring. Those concepts, combined with increased Student Services advisors & Program Directors, community outreach, faculty involvement and a lot of hard work resulted in our annual attrition rate going from 6% to 4.3% last year. After all, it does take a village. --Ada Gerard, Campus President, Heald College, Rancho Cordova, CA

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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Product Details

• Paperback: 199 pages
• Publisher: aha Process, Inc.; 4 edition (May 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929229488
• ISBN-13: 978-1929229482
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (113 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,692 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Middle Class Analysis of Generational Poverty, April 7, 2007

By	Timothy Haugh (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

For a middle class reader and former teacher like myself, it is easy to like this book. There is so much that jumps out from the page to make a reader say, "I know people like that" or "I've seen that before." Still, a more considered, less emotional reading shows that Ms. Payne's analysis does have some limitations.

The strengths: I was impressed by the opening with its reference to the types of resources (of which financial are only a part) people need to break out of poverty. I was intrigued by the section on the "hidden rules" of the different classes. Equally intriguing was the section on use of the "formal" and "casual registers" in speaking. There are also a number of practical classroom techniques described in the latter part of the book.

The weaknesses: Payne did a great job of describing resources but never brought out anything useful from it. The practical examples of speaking registers seemed silly and out-of-date, lessening the impact of a useful idea though I think many teachers already take this into account even if they can't articulate it as well as Payne. Payne also has a tendency to make generalizations I'm not sure stand up across the board. In the end, though I think her analysis is useful in connecting better with parents and students stuck in generational poverty, it is less effective in understand other situations; particularly, borderline cases.

All books are impacted by the experience a reader brings to them. This one, however, even more so. For a someone deeply entrenched in the middle class, this books speaks directly to you. I think that a reader from poverty or wealth (or a middle class reader with wider experience of other classes) will hear a more sour notes in this text. Nevertheless, there is much of value here.

155 of 176 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So useful! A "must read" for educators!, January 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Framework for Understanding Poverty (Paperback)

As an educator, I found Dr. Payne's book to be one of the most useful and practical books I've ever read. Just as the title reads, she offers a framework for understanding an issue that is influencing not only our schools but also our society. Her definition of poverty as related to the eight resources she describes rather than being solely defined by one's lack of finances is especially helpful for educators. In addition, Dr. Payne offers concrete strategies for working with some of our most misunderstood students. I found her explanation of the registers of language and issues surrounding them to be particularly useful in understanding some of the problems in schools today that are related to both cognition and behavior. I highly recommend this book for educators and believe also that anyone who works with individuals from poverty will also find it helpful. It makes so much sense!

64 of 70 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good starting manual for teaching those born into poverty, October 29, 1998

By	[e-mail] Cynthia Rucker (Ohio, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Framework for Understanding Poverty (Paperback)

A Framework for Understanding Poverty provides a structure on which to build one's teaching. The way we teach is as important as what we teach, for , as Payne makes quite clear, we will not reach all children until we can understand--and accept--their backgrounds and any accompanying privileges or limitations children carry with them to the middle-class mindset of most American schools. As a high school English teacher, I found Chapter 2, "The Role of Language and Story", quite helpful--in fact, it has changed the way I approach writing in the classroom. Even if you have read bits of this information elsewhere, the author has gathered much relevant research in an easy-to-access format that any harried teacher can appreciate. For those teachers who balk at recognizing and/or accomodating behaviors related to class, I ask them to take the "Could you Survive in Poverty" quiz on page 53. I don't have any idea how to "get and use food stamps" or "how to get by without a car"--do you? I'd love to see a companion manual to this one that lists books for students that address class differences, either fiction or nonfiction.