Lecture 19: Growing up Poor vs. Rich Flashcards
Martha Farah’s indicators of growing up poor
- Don’t own a home
- Move frequently
- Single parent
- Live with relatives
- Public assistance
- Food stamps
- Charity clothes
- Exposure to violence and drugs
impact of growing up poor on kids
- Growing up poor can be unpredictable, dangerous, and highly stressful
- Poverty and stress are associated with brain impairments
did Koestner grow up poor?
Koestner used to think he grew up poor but now he understands that he didn’t
Farah on impoverished kids making it to university
Farah argues that if you grow up in an impoverished family, it’s almost impossible to develop the cognitive skills to make it to university
Appalachians
a poor area in the U.S.
Appalachians video
- Follows a girl named Courtney, whose mother used to be a drug addict
- The family struggles to afford food and lives off of food stamps
- Her 2-year-old sister drinks Coke because they can’t afford milk for her
- The children feel unsafe
- 12 family members live together under one roof
prevalence of poverty in the U.S.
About 12.5% of families in the U.S. are eligible for welfare and food stamps
allostatic load
the biological impact of stress
Farah’s babysitters observation
- Farah hired babysitters for her children, many of whom were single moms themselves
- Farah’s children were developmentally similar to her babysitter’s at age 2
- By the time they were 4, there were noticeable differences
- By the time they were 6, there were striking differences
- Farah hypothesized that this was due to allostatic load; that the number of years you spend living in poverty neuropsychological and behavioural outcomes, including school achievement
IQ and SES
There is a 15-point IQ difference (1 standard deviation) that emerges by the age of 7 between rich and poor children
executive functioning
has to do with memory and self-control
Farah’s poverty and psychological developments study findings
- Farah found that a 10-year-old who has been in poverty for 6 years vs. one who has been in poverty for 3 years show significant differences in neuropsychological development
- As they get older, the children show differences in deviant behaviour
what is the most likely explanation for Farah’s findings?
parenting (supporting vs. ignoring children’s basic needs)
two growth processes according to self-determination theory
- Intrinsic motivation
- Internalization
three necessary conditions for intrinsic motivation & internalization
- Connected
- Competent
- Autonomous
context and need satisfaction
Context can support vs. thwart the satisfaction of these needs
two parenting mistakes
under-parenting and over-parenting
parenting mistakes and SES
- Under-parenting tends to occur in poor families
- Over-parenting tends to occur in wealthy families
scaffolding
A process in which teachers model how to solve a problem, and then step back, offering support as needed
function of scaffolding
it helps children progress from co-regulation to self-regulation
3 critical features of parental invovlement
- Child-centred
- Achievement oriented
- Responsibility training
Child language study by Hart & Risley, 1995
- By age 4, professional kids have heard 45 million words
- Working-class kids have heard 26 million
- Welfare kids have heard 13 million
issues with the child language study by Hart & Risley, 1995
- 9/10 of the welfare families were Black and may have been uncomfortable with a white researcher in their home, which is a confound
- Regardless, there are still significant differences
picture books by age 5 study
- Professional families: 1500 hours
- Poor families: 20 hours
when do psychological differences based on SES emerge?
- Around 6-9 months
- These differences get more pronounced with more years spent living in poverty
the smokey mountain study
- A longitudinal of a poor North Carolina community in which family income was raised by casino royalties
- Found that kids in the families who received extra money had less behavioural problems and did better in school
- This points to a causal relationship
what was the deciding factor in the great smokey mountain study?
- The deciding factor appeared to be the amount of time parents had to supervise their children
- Parents who moved out of poverty reported having more time to spend with their children
takeaway of the great smokey mountain study
an economic shift can allow for more time and better parenting
motivational risks of growing up wealthy
- Wealthy kids may experience over-parenting rather than under-parenting
- Their motivation becomes controlled
- Parents set highly demanding and pressuring goals that make kids feel alienated
preschool parents video
- Wealthy parents in NYC are obsessed with getting their kids into “Baby Ivy” preschools
- They believe that getting their children into these preschools will eventually lead them to get into real Ivy League universities
- Parents get very disappointed if their kids don’t get in
- The admission processes involve parents writing essays about their families
ego involvement
when feelings of self-worth depend on certain levels of good performance
ego involvement in parents
- Their ego involvement can be transferred to a child’s attainments, especially when competition and responsibility are highlighted
- Parents are more achievement-oriented today than ever-before
the traditional view of SES on childrens’ outcomes
- Wealthy kids have never been viewed as an at-risk population
- Poor children were seen as at-risk for behvaioural problems and educational failure
Luthar’s SES and outcomes study method
Measured depression, anxiety, and substance abuse in large samples of teenagers from wealthy vs. middle class backgrounds
Luthar’s SES and outcomes study findings
- Found that the wealthy children were significantly higher in depression, anxiety, and substance abuse than middle-class children
- Substance abuse suggests self-medication
Luthar study mediating mechanisms
- Excessive parental pressure for achievement
- Isolation from parents
dangers of hyper-parenting
“I just want to do what is best for my child” may transform into:
“I want my child to be the best.” and
“I want to be the best parent.”
Bill Doherty on hyper-parenting
“Well-intentioned parents are acting like recreation directors on a turbo-charged cruise ship. Parents today have so many extracurricular activities on their household calendars that there’s little room for such family activities as dinners, vacations, weekend outings and visits to relatives.”
CNN gymnastics clip
- Parents want to help their child be the best
- Too many parents push their kids at a young age
key features of hyper-parenting
- Ego-involvement in child’s goals
- Micro-managing child’s development
- Over-scheduling of enrichment activities
being the child of immigrants means….
- Growing up faster
- Taking responsibility for your family
- Carrying the hopes and dreams of your family
impact of growing up poor (summary)
involves underparenting, which leads to amotivation and a lack of intrinsic motivation
impact of growing up rich (summary)
involves overparenting, which leads to anxiety, depression, and substance abuse
best country for immigrants
Overall, Canada is the best country for immigrants because it encourages people to maintain their cultural identities
