Deficit explanations deflect analysis of structural barriers like low-wage jobs

Evidence

Some readers might think, “But, isn’t this true? Some kids don’t learn skills such as counting or letters at home, while others do. They are deprived, right?” Among the problems with this way of thinking is that it begins from a white middle class standard of what success is, and it is focused on what working class kids and their cultures lack in comparison, rather than giving any value to their strengths. And explaining school failure as resulting purely from individual/family deficits deflects an analysis of the ways that a hierarchical society discriminates, discourages, and deters a person from success, or excludes him or her from the opportunities necessary to culturally defined achievements. For example, parents in a society such as the U.S. that creates many low wage jobs without health insurance may be working multiple jobs to provide for their family—leaving them little time to teach their children those expected basic school skills, or little extra money to provide books, videos, music and other skill-building resources in the home. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 942

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The ideal of meritocracy rationalizes social inequality as natural individual failure. — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 552; Deficit labels persist under new names like ‘at risk’ after old terms fade — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 938; Deficit frameworks like Ruby Payne’s let schools shift blame onto poor families — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 950 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Three splashy economics revisions diverted attention from structural crisis causes #corroborates (0.82) — Philip Mirowski, Never Let a Serious Crisis Go to Waste, 725
• Development economics RCTs blame individuals while ignoring poverty’s structural causes #expands (0.78) — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 289
• Deficit explanations shift between genetics and laziness without changing their logic #expands (0.75) — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education, 934