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Cultural Deprivation

Cultural Deprivation

Why is there so much poverty and what is the reason for it? A theory which was at one time highly popular, controversial, and outdated that attempted to answer this question was the cultural deprivation theory. It basically states that the culture of the working class people, regardless of race, gender, and ethnicity, is inherently deficient and different from the middle class. For this reason, the working class will always remain poor.

Cultural Deprivation

The working class are deficient in the following areas:

• Social Experience : There social experience are different than the middle class and therefore, they cannot succeed because institutions carry middle class values.

• Cognitive: This refers to their IQ.

• Linguistic: This refers to their style of speaking and there ability to master the English language appropriately. For example, the kids of the working class tend to utilize more slang and have poorer English when compared to the middle class.

• Motivation: This suggests that the working class lack motivation for the future and desire instant gratification, unlike the middle class who value education a lot more.

Also, this theory believes that they have inappropriate values: For example, they believe that the working class places less value on education and more instant gratification. They value things like respect and strength more than the middle class.

Education

Focus has been placed on this theory in terms of educational failure of the working class. These 5 areas of deficit hinder them from achieving educational success. Another assumption of this theory is that the educational structure is built on middle class values and since it is believed that the culture of the middle class is different, it would be extremely difficult for them to succeed. Also, because the teachers have middle class values as well, the cultural deprivation theorists believe that they will have a bias against the working class kids and therefore they will not be able to teach them properly since their values and cultures conflict.

Parenting

Bad parenting skills as a result of working class frustration, lack of time to devote to kids, low level of education, bad job and therefore, they could not pass on adequate skills to their children. This describes the father as usually sexually promiscuous, a substance abuser, abusive, as well as a poor provider. The mother is generally described as inadequate, sporadically affectionate, bad role model, and one that fails to teach her children the value of education.

Home Life

This is also described as being inadequate and poor for preparing the child to assimilate in society. The home life is deemed inadequate for sensory stimulation for the optimal development of the children. It is also inadequate for giving the child a sense of space and time.

These result in a deficit in a child and thereby continuing the so called cycle of deprivation which one cannot get out of. The assumption is that the child is left with poor cognitive development, linguistic development (restrictive vocabulary or they poor use of it), as well as having characteristics such as of mistrust, poor impulse control, low self esteem, and being fatalistic. The children of the working class do not have knowledge that there middle class peers have as well as the social experience, and values (money or education). As a result of this bad socialization, they are set up for failure in the educational system as well as in society. The cycle is continued in that the next wave of the working class is also disorganized, noncompetitive and anti-intellectual.

History

The cultural deprivation theory originated from the cultural theory of poverty which was first introduced by Oscar Lewis in 1950. In this theory he stated that because the working class are culturally deprived, they are unable to take full advantage of the resources that are available to them. This theory resulted in two solutions: The working class would have to change and become like the middle class culture or the working class children would have to be compensated for their deficits in attempt to give them equal opportunity to compete with the middle class.

From this, many policies were created in an attempt to compensate and give them equal opportunity. This awareness led to things such as the War on Poverty in the 1960’s and continued to the program known as Operation Head Start under the Johnson administration. These programs were a failure because it attempted to change their values and beliefs and transform them into those of the middle class. This failure shed light on the fact that it is a different culture and therefore, instead of changing it, they should work with it so they can prepare the working class and give them equal opportunity to succeed.

From this decade long failure, a new theory emerged known as the cultural difference theory. This theory moved away from the thinking that the working class was deficient to the thinking that the working class was different. This theory focused on the way schools responded to teaching methods, value assumption, teacher attitudes, and most importantly the curriculum that would take into account cultural difference and not just the dominant culture of the middle class.

Major Criticisms

• One criticism is that this theory assumes that the white middle class cultures and values are the correct ones and therefore, when compared with the working class’, their culture is defined as deficient. The claim here is that in no one is in a position to say that this culture and values are the correct ones as opposed to another culture and its values.

• It does not account for all the people that rose out of poverty and are now successful and wealthy.

For example, the popular Oprah, Biggie Smalls, and Abraham Lincoln. These people were all dirt poor and still, they managed to rise above their poverty, and become very wealthy as well as popular. The theory does not account for this.

• It blames the working class. This is harmful because it suggests that no person, no institution can help them rise out of poverty, therefore, they should not try. It also suggests that they have to help themselves, however, this is not plausible because they have to interact with others of a different socioeconomic status.

• It is not inherent but it is a result of their environment. This means that the problem is not in their culture but of their environment and if their environment does not make the change necessary for them to rise out of poverty, than most likely, they will not be able to. For example, health insurance, “Cost increases hitting workers include larger hikes in the cost of family coverage, less access to needed prescription drugs through stricter HMO formularies and higher prices for more comprehensive coverage”. They argue that it is a result of a cycle of poverty lead by disadvantages

• The culture is not deficient but different.

• They are not deficient but they also strive for the middle class values and so, it must be that they are poor because of their disadvantages.

• This theory see very little things wrong with society and school as an institution. This is because the upper class as well as the middle class have not problem with it. Therefore, they believe that the problem must lie with the working class.