Schooling, the Hidden Curriculum, and Children's Conceptions of Poverty

Chafel, Judith A.

doi:10.1002/j.2379-3988.1997.tb00004.x

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…For example, 3‐ to 5‐year‐old children can use visual cues to differentiate “rich” and “poor” people (Ramsey, 1991), first‐grade children assign people depicted as rich to fancier cars and houses (Mookherjee & Hogan, 1981), and by 9 years of age children endorse stereotypes that rich people are better than poor people in domains such as academics and music (Woods, Kurtz‐Costes, & Rowley, 2005; see also Skafte, 1989, for stereotypes associated with wealth in adolescents). Research has also shown that children and adolescents understand some of the social factors that contribute to wealth and poverty (e.g., having the right connections, knowing that there are not enough jobs for everyone; Chafel, 1997; Flanagan, Ingram, Gallay, & Gallay, 1997; Karniol, 1985; Leahy, 1983, 1990).…”

Section: Wealth As An Indicator Of Social Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children Associate Racial Groups With Wealth: Evidence From South Africa

et al. 2012

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Group-based social hierarchies exist in nearly every society, yet little is known about whether children understand that they exist. The present studies investigated whether 3- to 10-year-old children (N=84) in South Africa associate higher-status racial groups with higher levels of wealth, one indicator of social status. Children matched higher-value belongings with White people more often than with multiracial or Black people and with multiracial people more often than with Black people, thus showing sensitivity to the de facto racial hierarchy in their society. There were no age-related changes in children’s tendency to associate racial groups with wealth differences. The implications of these results are discussed in light of the general tendency for people to legitimize and perpetuate the status quo.

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Section: Wealth As An Indicator Of Social Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Children Associate Racial Groups With Wealth: Evidence From South Africa

et al. 2012

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“…Leahy (1983) argued that socialization to the legitimacy of economic inequality may be “so effective that it actually offsets the application of formal operational thought to this domain of social concepts” (p. 122). The textbooks and classroom discussions available in most U.S. schools certainly endorse the view that economic success is open to all while remaining notably silent about societal barriers to such success (Apple & Christian‐Smith, 1991; Chafel, 1997; MacLeod, 1995).…”

Section: Attributions In Childhood and Adolescencementioning

confidence: 99%

Contested Interpretations of Economic Inequality Following Hurricane Katrina

Belle

2006

Anal Soc Iss & Public Policy

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Americans are deeply divided over the meaning of the poverty and racial exclusion revealed in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Media accounts of the hurricane riveted, angered, and depressed many Americans, but did not lead to a national consensus in favor of new policies to fight poverty and economic inequality. This article considers theories and research evidence that may help to explain this failure. Self‐serving and group‐serving biases lead many economically advantaged Americans to assign responsibility for poverty to individual actors, ignoring systemic factors. Motivated reasoning to justify existing economic and political systems and to maintain belief in a just world leads many, of all socioeconomic statuses, to explain economic inequalities as the result of purely individual factors. Media coverage of the hurricane may inadvertently have deflected attention from systemic causes of poverty by focusing attention on individual actors in the wake of the storm.

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