Ruby Payne:
Framework for
Understanding Poverty
Introduction: Ruby Payne
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Poverty is relative:
Poverty occurs in all
races and countries.
 SES is a continuous
line, not a clear
distinction.
 Generational poverty is
different from situational.
 These statements are
patterns not absolutes.
 Each SES level has its
own hidden rules.
 Schools and business
follow middle class
rules.
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We must understand
the hidden rules of
those in different SES
for them to be
successful.
Teach and provide
support, do not scold
for their hidden rules.
To move from poverty
to middle class, one
must give up
relationships for
achievement.
You need education
and relationships to
move from poverty.
Chapter 1: Resources

Financial: Money to
purchase goods and
services.
 Emotional: Able to
choose and control
emotional responses.
 Mental: Having mental
abilities and acquired
skills to deal with daily
life.
 Spiritual: Believing in
divine purpose and
guidance.
(Payne, 2005)
Chapter 1: Resources

Physical: Having
health and mobility.
 Support System:
friends, family, and
backup resources.
 Relationships/ role
models: access to
those who are nurturing
and not selfdestructive.
 Knowledge of hidden
rules: knowing the
unspoken cues and
habits of a group.
(Payne, 2005)
Role of Language and Story

Language consists
of registers (type of
language).
 Discourse patterns
(how one organizes
information).
 Story structure (how
one goes about
telling a story or
recalling an event).
Registers of Language

Frozen: Language
is always the same
(e.g., Lord’s Prayer,
wedding vows).
 Formal: Standard
in work and school.
Complete
sentences, specific
word choice.
 Consultative: Not
quite as direct as
formal and used in
conversation.

Casual: Language
b/w friends and
limited to about
400-800 words in
total vocabulary.
Strong use of nonverbal cues.
 Intimate: Language
b/w lovers, family
members, and
sexual harassers.
Register: Impact on Interaction

You can go down one
register in a
conversation w/out
offense, but not two.
 Most children in
poverty do not use
formal register at home
or know how to use it.
 Formal register: middle
class “hidden rule.”
 Writing does not use
non-verbal cues, thus
MUST use formal
register.
Discourse Pattern
Getting to the point
 Formal: get straight
to the point.
 Casual: go around
and around to get to
the point.
Primary & Secondary
Discourse
 Primary discourse:
L1
 Secondary
discourse: L2
 A student who only
knows casual in L1,
now has to learn
casual in L2 and
formal in L2.
Discourse: Impact on
Interaction

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When parents use
casual and school uses
formal, there can be a
disconnect.
When a child has to
write a story, then
casual register impacts
the child as does
discourse patterns.
–
What is the average
teacher looking for out of
a writing assignment?
Group assignment: Chapter 2

Discuss the impact of language differences
in an IEP meeting with a parent from poverty.
–
Register
– Discourse Pattern
– Story Structure.

Describe how the parent and the educators
feel.
 What are some ways to ease any tensions?
Comparing:
Generational Poverty

Generational Poverty:
– Decisions made based on needs of
entertainment and relationships
– Ability to fight or have someone who is
willing to fight for you.
– Money is for entertainment and
relationships
– The world is what is locally around you.
– Comments are usually made about you
before you are introduced to others.
Comparing: Middle Class

Middle Class:
– Decisions are made related to work
and achievement.
– Able to use words as tools to
negotiate conflict.
– Money is for security.
– The world is your own nation.
– You introduce yourselves to others
Comparing: Wealth

Wealth:
– Ramifications of the financial, social,
and political connections.
– Money is for security.
– The world is international.
– Someone in the group formally
introduces you.
What does that mean for
schools?

Assumptions about IQ and approaches to school
work may relate more to hidden rules than to actual
facts.
 Students need to be taught the hidden rules of
middle class.
 Work w/in the attitudes and hidden rules of the
students and parents whenever possible (instead of
forcing middle class rules).
 If you understand their values, then you will be less
frustrated in your interactions.
 Poor students may not see themselves as “poor.”
Group Project:
Apply the Theory

In your groups, discuss the following:
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14 y/o girl from poverty has been given an assignment from
her home ec. teacher to balance a household budget for 4
on $3000/ mo. She is to list all “necessary” expenses,
prioritize them, and assign different people in the family to
be in charge of different parts of the family budget (grocery
shopping, paying the bills, etc.).
The teacher comes from a middle class family with little
experience of families from poverty.
Describe the responses given compared to the teacher’s
expected responses from the student.
How might that impact the student’s perceived ability?
Characteristics of Generational
Poverty
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Background “noise”: Almost always the TV is on,
people talk over one another in conversations.
Importance of personality: You bring your
personality, because it is what you have. If you
have a good, entertaining personality, then you are
valued.
Significance of entertainment: It is important to get
away from basic survival for awhile and
entertainment is a for of escapism.
Importance of relationships: Since you depend on
others, you need to get along with them.
Characteristics of Generational
Poverty

Matriarchal Structure: The mother is the
most important (caretaker)
 Oral-language tradition: You say things
instead of read or write them, and you use
casual language.
 Survival orientation: Little room for abstract,
academic topics. You talk about people and
relationships.
 Identity tied to lover/fighter for men: Men are
expected to work hard physically. Idea of
the “sensitive male” is not valued.
Characteristics of Generational
Poverty

Identity tied to rescuer/ martyr for women:
Be a care taker and put the family first.
 Importance of non-verbal/ kinesthetic
communication: Touch, space, and gestures
are used to communicate.
 Ownership of people: People are
possessions. You don’t betray them and you
take care of one another.
 Negative Orientation: Failure at anything is
the source of stories and being made fun of.
Characteristics of Generational
Poverty
Discipline: Punishment is about
penance and forgiveness, not change.
 Belief in fate: Destiny and fate make or
break you… not choices.
 Polarized thinking: Things are either
black or white (few shades of grey).
 Mating dance: Use your body to attract
others or complement others on their
body (not their mind, personality, etc.)

Characteristics of Generational
Poverty
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Time: Think of the present, not the past or future.
Think of time as an emotional event and not actual
date/ day.
Sense of humor: If you have one, then you are
valued. You joke about other people (most often
people you know).
Lack of order/organization: Many of the
homes/apartments are unkempt and cluttered.
Lives in the moment: Not a lot of goal setting or
planning. Consequences are not often considered.
Review the Family Diagrams
(pg. 55).

Mother is always at the center in generational
poverty.
 Many times relationships are confused; however,
everyone is always aware of the main caretaker
“mom.”
 Many relationships do not result in marriage.
 Men will often come and go in relationships.
 Who you depend on on any given day may vary
depending on the current situation.
 Many times teenage parents pass their children
back to “mom” and take on a sister role.
Generational Poverty @ School
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Disorganized
Excuses, excuses
No homework
Aggressive
Class-clown, Joker
Concrete thinker
Can’t get started
Can’t monitor own
behavior
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Laugh when
disciplined
Will work if they like
you
Tell stories in casual
language
Don’t know middle
class rules
Dislike authority
Talk back
Extremely
participatory
Moving from poverty to
middle class

Emotional memory bank: emotions that are
accessed habitually and “feel right.”
–
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In poverty, relationships are the most valued. As
you move away from placing importance on
these relationships toward placing importance on
achievement you may “feel wrong.”
Emotional resources and stamina: allow the
individual to live with feelings other than
those in the emotional memory bank.
Why take the risk to change
emotional memory bank?

Current situation is too painful for the
individual to stay
 A compelling goal or vision of the future
drives the individual
 A talent or skill takes the individual into new
surroundings
 A spouse or mentor provides an emotional
comfort level while the individual learns the
new skills/ knowledge.
Group Project
Step 1: Get together in your groups
 Step 2: Discuss “Ellie” who is
described on pages 63-64
 Step 3: Offer up some suggestions of
interventions that might have been
tried to keep her from dropping out of
school. Possible suggestions are on
pages 66-67; however, think in terms of
what a school psychologist might offer.

Penance and Forgiveness
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Discipline is not about change.
 The mother is the disciplinarian.
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She is judge, jury, and executioner.
She determines the amount and price of
penance.
Once it is complete, she provides forgiveness.
Behaviors go back to normal after forgiveness is
granted.
As mother is in control, self-control is not a
requirement.
Behavior Related to Poverty

Laugh When Discipline:
Saves face.
 Argue Loudly w/
teacher: Distrust of
authority/ poverty is
participatory.
 Angry Response:
Anger=fear (loss of
face?)
 Inappropriate
comments: Causal
Language
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Physically Fight: do not use
language to resolve conflict.
May be “less of a
man/woman if don’t fight.
Hands always on someone
else: communication is
often nonverbal
Cannot follow directions:
little procedural memory in
poverty. Sequence not
used.
Behavior Related to Poverty

Extremely
Disorganized: Lack of
planning scheduling, or
prioritizing. Also may
not have tools.
 Complete only part of
the task: W/out selftalk, they may only see
part of the task.
 Disrespectful of
Teacher: lack of
respect for authority
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Harm other students,
physically or verbally:
habitual response, way
to buy space or
distance.
Cheat or steal: weak
support system,
financial need.
Talk incessantly:
Poverty is participatory.
Problem Solving Steps
Stop: Take a moment before acting.
 Think: Think of all possible options.
 Choose: Choose the best option.
 Do: Do that option.
 Evaluate: How did that work out for
you? What would you do differently
next time?

Group Project: IQ and Poverty
Students in poverty score on average 9
points lower on IQ tests.
 Payne states that this is due to lack of
acquired knowledge consistent with
middle class.
 What are some other possibilities that
we find IQ differences b/w different
cultural groups and different SES
groups?

Importance of Relationships
9 out 10 students who have
successfully left poverty say that a
relationship with another individual
(e.g., teacher, counselor, etc.) made
the difference to them.
 A successful relationship occurs when
emotional deposits are made to
students and emotional withdrawals
are avoided. This is true in any
relationship.

Middle class view of
Deposits and Withdrawals
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Deposits
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Seek first to
understand
Keeping promises
Kindnesses,
courtesies
Clarifying
expectations
Loyalty to the
absent
Apologies
Open to feedback
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Withdrawals
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Seek first to be
understood
Breaking promises
Unkindness,
discourtesies
Violating
expectations
Disloyalty, duplicity
Pride, conceit,
arrogance
Rejecting feedback
Poverty view of
Deposits and Withdrawals
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Deposits
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Appreciation for humor and
entertainment
Acceptance of what the
individual cannot say about a
situation
Respect the demands and
priorities of relationships
Using the adult voice
Assisting with goal-setting
Identifying options related to
available resources
Understanding the
importance of personal
freedom, speech, and
individual personality

Withdrawals
–
Put-downs or sarcasm
about their humor
– Insistence for full
explanations about a
person or a situation
– Insistence on the middleclass view of a relationship
– Using the parent voice
– Telling the individual his/her
goals
– Making judgments on the
value and availability of
resources
– Assigning pejorative
character traits
90/90/90 Schools
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At least:
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90% combined minority
90% free or reduced lunch
90% successful on standardized assessments
5 Commonalities
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Strong emphasis on achievement
Clear and integrated curricular choices
Frequent assessment to monitor progress
Strong emphasis in writing in all academics
External scoring of student work
90/90/90 Success through…
Ongoing and focused professional
development
 Modeling of effective teaching and
assessment practices
 Ongoing professional collaboration
 Effective communication between
school staff, parents, and students
 Visible tracking of student progress on
a frequent and regular basis.

Work by Douglas Reeves