Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Abstract: This study used data from 15 in-depth interviews to better understand how perceptions of birth families by White adoptive parents rely on and challenge cultural perspectives of poverty. Findings show the complexity of their views: even when adoptive parents recognize structural causes of poverty, they tend to rely on the idea that birth parent poverty results from inadequate choices made by individuals. Findings have implications for agency practice, relationships with birth families and adoptee identity
That was an interesting small study on the views of poverty. I think many people think anyone in poverty made bad choices - not always the case, sometimes life just hands you skunk cabbage...(I just wrote that and then realized you don't have skunks where you live and likely not skunk cabbege either...)
That was an interesting small study on the views of poverty. I think many people think anyone in poverty made bad choices - not always the case, sometimes life just hands you skunk cabbage...(I just wrote that and then realized you don't have skunks where you live and likely not skunk cabbege either...)
Skunk cabbage - sounds delightful lol. The Western version looks prettier than the Eastern one though I am assuming they both smell. I see it is used as by bears as a laxative.
Definitely an interesting study, and although I definitely agree that it is very hard to overcome poverty (I speak from experience) and people should not be judged for being poor, the reality is that large percentages of the poor (especially younger poor people) make poor choices such as drug and alcohol abuse and getting involved in crime. I grew up in Appalachia, and we lived in a 125 year old mining shack with no indoor shower or tub. We even had only an outhouse for a while, and my parents had 7 kids. My dad only had an 8th grade education, but he always worked at least two jobs, (sometimes three) to try to keep us fed. I had four older brothers and two younger sisters and I remember many times when there was no food in the house to eat. If it was summer we all picked berries and my brothers would try to get frogs for frog legs and if it was fall they would hunt squirrel, rabbit turkey and deer. We NEVER received any public assistance, and thankfully my parents were not drinkers or abusive. We were taught to work for what we wanted and that we could do better than our parents. We had many cousins in the same boat as us, and they chose alcohol, drugs and crime and their lives are crap now, but we chose hard work and a reliance on God. All seven of us are doing well, and while we aren't rich, we have nice homes and good jobs, and NONE of us drink or do drugs. I am an adoptive parent who adopted two unrelated children whose parents chose alcohol, drugs and crime, so my opinion of them is born out of what choices they made, not from the fact that they came out of poverty.
Last edited by Dreammaker; 04-24-2013 at 05:34 AM..
I do find it interesting that APs view American mothers as deserving of less compassion than mothers from foreign countries. I also noticed the "bad seed" stereotype is still very much alive. If a child ends up making bad choices or having behavioral issues it isn't because of the way they were raised, or adoption-related issues -- they just assume it all must be due to genetics.
The adoption industry needs to be held to a higher standard here... every adoptee deserves to know the truth about their origins, & they deserve to hear only the facts, not these pre-packaged narratives that are designed to appease AP guilt/insecurity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dreammaker
Definitely an interesting study, and although I definitely agree that it is very hard to overcome poverty (I speak from experience) and people should not be judged for being poor, the reality is that large percentages of the poor (especially younger poor people) make poor choices such as drug and alcohol abuse and getting involved in crime.
People who are well-off make many of the same "poor choices" that poor people do. Many abuse drugs & alcohol, are promiscuous, drive under the influence, beat their partners/children, steal, sell drugs, commit sexual assault, etc. The difference is when people who are well-off commit crimes they are also far less likely to get caught & when poor youth turn to crime it is usually out of desperation & lack of better opportunities.
Last edited by thethreefoldme; 04-24-2013 at 08:14 AM..
While I do agree that the rich also get involved in drugs/alcohol abuse etc. they of course have money for attorneys to help keep them out of jail and to pay for the pricey rehab centers, and because of their money while their kids do suffer emotionally (and yes, sometimes physical abuse) because their parents are abusing drugs/alcohol,but they still have plenty of food and a decent roof over their heads, so DSS doesn't get involved normally. Most kids end up in foster care because of neglect (no food in the house, unlivable homes etc.) I don't buy into the premise that the poor turn to crime mostly because of lack of opportunities. They turn to crime because they think that is the easy way to make money. It takes much more effort to climb out of poverty the hard way, but too many people have done it and continue to do it when the odds are stacked against them to have me waste any sympathy on those who chose not to put forth the effort. Everybody has to make choices, and some people have more difficult choices to make than other people, but ultimately we all have to be responsible for the choices we make. I have no sympathy for criminals and especially none for child abusers.
I don't buy into the premise that the poor turn to crime mostly because of lack of opportunities. They turn to crime because they think that is the easy way to make money. It takes much more effort to climb out of poverty the hard way, but too many people have done it and continue to do it when the odds are stacked against them to have me waste any sympathy on those who chose not to put forth the effort. Everybody has to make choices, and some people have more difficult choices to make than other people, but ultimately we all have to be responsible for the choices we make. I have no sympathy for criminals and especially none for child abusers.
You should not have sympathy for child abusers or criminals... but it is not correct to assume all criminals had the same opportunities you had. & if you don't know someone personally, you can't possibly know what kind of effort they put into escaping poverty. Not everyone has job or education opportunities or the ability to move somewhere that has them.
Definitely an interesting study, and although I definitely agree that it is very hard to overcome poverty (I speak from experience) and people should not be judged for being poor, the reality is that large percentages of the poor (especially younger poor people) make poor choices such as drug and alcohol abuse and getting involved in crime. I grew up in Appalachia, and we lived in a 125 year old mining shack with no indoor shower or tub. We even had only an outhouse for a while, and my parents had 7 kids. My dad only had an 8th grade education, but he always worked at least two jobs, (sometimes three) to try to keep us fed. I had four older brothers and two younger sisters and I remember many times when there was no food in the house to eat. If it was summer we all picked berries and my brothers would try to get frogs for frog legs and if it was fall they would hunt squirrel, rabbit turkey and deer. We NEVER received any public assistance, and thankfully my parents were not drinkers or abusive. We were taught to work for what we wanted and that we could do better than our parents. We had many cousins in the same boat as us, and they chose alcohol, drugs and crime and their lives are crap now, but we chose hard work and a reliance on God. All seven of us are doing well, and while we aren't rich, we have nice homes and good jobs, and NONE of us drink or do drugs. I am an adoptive parent who adopted two unrelated children whose parents chose alcohol, drugs and crime, so my opinion of them is born out of what choices they made, not from the fact that they came out of poverty.
So in fact you do blame people for being poor.
I believe that a rich person and a poor person can make the exact same choice and have very different outcomes. It's not so much the choice that people condemn, it's the outcome.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
)
