KickballDeac
Bernie Eskimo Bro
Point:
Can Brain Science Help Lift People Out of Poverty?
What works best and what doesn’t work?
We know that according to brain science, we can help people of any age build new skills, learn new ways of coping. We know it’s easier to do this with children, but adults can do it too. We know that the stress of poverty compromises our decision-making abilities. We also know that getting out of poverty is complicated. We need to make certain they have good housing, job skills training and/or education, help build parenting skills, manage finances, deal with transportation issues, and other basic needs. [Incorporating all this] into a person’s life and …getting all the pieces to fit together is tough.
It is not enough to give people directions like: “Go here, fill out that application, bring a resume written like this and wear that,” or “Raise your kids this way; pay your rent on time; make a budget…”
These are all the simple, rules-driven directives that the older, anti-poverty interventions told us we should do to help families. But we’ve found this is not terribly effective.
We advocate that programs should be as user friendly as possible: help people along by breaking complex directions into a series of easier steps; make staff available for consultations, referrals, and feedback. Don’t just point people to a resource that requires multiple applications, steps and processes and send them on their way without any opportunity for further support.
Instead, we focus on helping people become successful and have a better life by providing opportunities to assess their own problems, recognize that they do have options, weigh choices based on what’s best for their family, set goals, juggle priorities, multi-task, and stringing together all of these things over time, helps improve problem solving, decision-making, and critical thinking.
__________________________________________________________
Counterpoint:
Why Brain Science Won't Cure Poverty
[h=2]Holding the individual to blame[/h]Social attitudes and policies regarding poor and marginalized Americans today are dominated by a culture that emphasizes individual rather than social pathology, and holds the individual accountable for the failings of the collective. That orientation is made clear in our national welfare policy - the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act,” and in our world-leading rates of incarceration and use of psychiatric medication.
Within this climate, the notion that we can change or cure the brains of poor people so that they will no longer be poor assumes that if the individual just tries hard enough, in the right way, with the right mentoring, there really is a path out of poverty, abuse or prison. And it assumes that the current social landscape gives all people a fair shot at a decent life, that violence and deprivation are isolated incidents that took place in the past, and that it’s always possible to “move on”.
Can Brain Science Help Lift People Out of Poverty?
What works best and what doesn’t work?
We know that according to brain science, we can help people of any age build new skills, learn new ways of coping. We know it’s easier to do this with children, but adults can do it too. We know that the stress of poverty compromises our decision-making abilities. We also know that getting out of poverty is complicated. We need to make certain they have good housing, job skills training and/or education, help build parenting skills, manage finances, deal with transportation issues, and other basic needs. [Incorporating all this] into a person’s life and …getting all the pieces to fit together is tough.
It is not enough to give people directions like: “Go here, fill out that application, bring a resume written like this and wear that,” or “Raise your kids this way; pay your rent on time; make a budget…”
These are all the simple, rules-driven directives that the older, anti-poverty interventions told us we should do to help families. But we’ve found this is not terribly effective.
We advocate that programs should be as user friendly as possible: help people along by breaking complex directions into a series of easier steps; make staff available for consultations, referrals, and feedback. Don’t just point people to a resource that requires multiple applications, steps and processes and send them on their way without any opportunity for further support.
Instead, we focus on helping people become successful and have a better life by providing opportunities to assess their own problems, recognize that they do have options, weigh choices based on what’s best for their family, set goals, juggle priorities, multi-task, and stringing together all of these things over time, helps improve problem solving, decision-making, and critical thinking.
__________________________________________________________
Counterpoint:
Why Brain Science Won't Cure Poverty
[h=2]Holding the individual to blame[/h]Social attitudes and policies regarding poor and marginalized Americans today are dominated by a culture that emphasizes individual rather than social pathology, and holds the individual accountable for the failings of the collective. That orientation is made clear in our national welfare policy - the “Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act,” and in our world-leading rates of incarceration and use of psychiatric medication.
Within this climate, the notion that we can change or cure the brains of poor people so that they will no longer be poor assumes that if the individual just tries hard enough, in the right way, with the right mentoring, there really is a path out of poverty, abuse or prison. And it assumes that the current social landscape gives all people a fair shot at a decent life, that violence and deprivation are isolated incidents that took place in the past, and that it’s always possible to “move on”.
