Bridges out of Poverty – Book Review

Bridges out of Poverty was, for me, a before and after book. It was a text that helped me understand the world around me in a new and profound way. I know that sounds like a lot – but I reference it in my life and work at least once every 6 months and usually more frequently than that. Interestingly, while I was researching for this post I found a number of critics – mostly academics – with very valid points. One pair of authors (Laura Elizabeth Pinto and Lucyna Cresnik) argue that: Payne’s programs attempt to pinpoint the shortcomings of “lower classes” that live in the “culture of poverty”. I actually never read this text that way. For me this text was a discussion of differences – not ‘better or worses’. She does speak in general terms and stereotypes. She groups the North American population into three blanket socio-economic status ‘groups’ – which of course is never so clean or convenient. Does this book provide a solution to the ‘problem of poverty’? – no way. Nor, I think does it claim to. For me it provided a way of thinking about differences that has helped me understand people whose lived experiences are different than mine – on both ends of the socioeconomic spectrum.

I’ll start with my own biases. I was raised in the middle class. Both my parents were educated. We didn’t have a ton of extra cash but we always had everything we needed and a bit of extra. We believed we had choices in our life and could pursue any path we wanted. I knew how to do well in school, I knew how to talk to adults, I always assumed I would go to university or do post-secondary education of some kind. I had routines and bedtimes. What I wanted out of life always fit pretty nicely into societal norms. That’s my lived experience and I make all my decisions based on that world view. I don’t know how I could not. Based on that I’ll also start by apologizing for everything I say about anyone who has lived a different experience than mine. I can’t really understand where you’re coming from – but I promise to listen and try – and I give you permission to call BS on anything I say today that you don’t agree with.

In my work I have had the privilege of working with lots of people with very different lived experience than me. Half of my career has been working with mostly students from a community that struggles with generational poverty. The other half was overseas where I worked in a private international school. My father’s professional career was grounded in a public high school in one of the most expensive neighborhoods of Toronto. His friends and connections from that school peppered my childhood experience. I grew up in a small village where I saw the challenges with poverty faced by most small, remote towns. My review of this book comes grounded in my own bias and also my experience.

In her book Ruby Payne paints a wildly simplified but really clear picture of three different worlds. She calls them simply: poverty, middle class, and wealth. She starts Chapter 3 with a quiz. Could you survive in _____________?
Items from the “poverty” quiz include:
I know which churches and sections of town have the best rummage sales,
I know how to get someone out of jail,
I know how what problems to look for in a used car,
I know how to live without a checking account,
I know how to move in half a day.
The “middle class” quiz includes:
I know how to get my kids into piano lessons, soccer, etc.,
I know how to order at a nice restaurant,
I talk to my children about going to college,
I understand the difference between principal, interest, and escrow statements on my house payment,
I know how to get a library card,
I repair items in my house almost immediately when they break – or know a repair service and call it.
The “wealth” quiz includes:
I can read a menu in French, English, and another language,
During the holidays I know how to hire a decorator to identify the appropriate themes and items with which to decorate the house,
I have two or three ‘screens’ that keep people whom I do not wish to see away from me,
I am on the boards of at least two charities,
I support of buy the work of a particular artist.

All these items are based on class stereotypes but it quickly and simply highlights the differences in skills required to survive in each of the three SES categories proposed. Of course, there is lots of grey area. I happen to be an expert at where the best rummage sales are, and I know how to order food in French, English and Spanish. I also had to look up what escrow was when I was writing this review. But when I look at the whole list, the middle class one explains my reality and the skills I need to survive in the life I’ve been handed. Payne argues that if we are asking people to move out of poverty we have to recognize that there are a lot more changes that have to happen besides just financial. There are rules and skills that have to be explained and taught. For many it means learning to speak a whole new language – a language with different vocabulary and rules. She provides chapters and chapters of very practical suggestions about how to teach these skills and how to make your organization welcoming to people coming from, what she calls, the culture of poverty. Even if the suggestions are not based on empirical research – they work in a lot of cases. Whether or not middle class skills are the ‘right’ ones to teach we can argue another day – but right now, in Canadian society, they are the one’s most likely to get you a job. Payne has actually responded to her critics in a paper that you can see cited below. Her comments were more or less that: these suggestions may not be based on academic research but in the messy reality of working with complex groups there isn’t always time for years long, hyper focused research – and these strategies and frameworks will work a lot of the time. That has been my experience.

She also talks about what is going to be left behind. One of the diagrams in the book is this one: the picture is used to demonstrate the complex and often chaotic nature of families who are living with generational poverty. However, one of the things about big and interconnected families and communities is that they also offer big and interconnected support systems. Asking someone to leave poverty may be asking them to leave behind their support system – so you better have a good alternative if you are suggesting that.

Another chart that is often referenced from this book is the Hidden Rules. Below are just a few from the list.

Consider: when the only possessions you can count on are the people in your life, then it makes sense to spend any money that comes in as quickly as possible on people. Tomorrow someone else in your network will have money and do the same. Things and opportunities will come and go and are out of your control anyway and in the meantime you’re going to tell some really great stories, collect some memories and have a good time. There is nothing innately bad about this outlook. Relying on your community for your support is a good ideal. But… it doesn’t always fit particularly well into North American economics. It’s not a good way to build wealth. In poverty – the expectation that you will share everything you have goes directly against the economics needed to save money all month to pay rent and utilities. Your community will expect you to share, they need you to share. According to Payne many people leaving poverty find they also have to cut ties with all family and friends.

Asking people to leave their SES (up or down) is also asking them to leave behind their support network. I saw these hidden rules at play when I worked on the other end of the spectrum as well, and this book also helped me understand wealth. In wealth I observed a society where choices were not unlimited. Where the options available to children were only those which allowed them to maintain the lifestyle they had been brought up in. If you don’t have the money to join the activities at the country club – or the resources to purchase a new dress for each of the parties – you are out of the social circle. Not because of anyone’s overt exclusion but just simple access to resources. Again, leaving the SES may mean leaving behind the only support network you’ve had. I have never been asked to do that. I’m not sure I could or would want to.

All that brings me to my big take away from Bridges Out of Poverty. I can’t make value judgements about other people’s decisions without first understanding how those decisions relate to their ability to survive in the community they live in. The sense of ‘morals’ and ‘right and wrong’ that I thought were standard growing up were really just symptoms of my middle class upbringing. It’s easy to make those judgements from the middle class I think – because it’s in the middle – my moral compass fits with what society ‘expects’ pretty well. Knowing this doesn’t stop me from judging but I try to judge and evaluate the actions of people against the common good, without implicating the person. Does that make sense? The action can be bad for my students and our community without being amoral, if morality is more of construct of upbringing.

Bridges out of Poverty gave me a framework (overly simplified for sure) that helps me put myself in the shoes of another – if that is even possible. And also allowed me to recognize the privilege I have that allows me to do that mental exercise. I have the freedom of thought and education to see another person’s perspective and that gives me the responsibility to do so. Still, my thinking is always grounded in my experience. I always say to my students… “I’m a big fan of the middle class”. How could I not be? Ask someone who grew up in a big family of Habs fans and arrived to thanksgiving in a Toronto Maple Leaf’s jersey. My perception of the middle class is that it is generally more equal and provides me with lots of choices and options, without requiring actions from me that hurt my neighbors or community. I have even actively promoted the middle class as a good goal to strive for, to students on both end of the spectrum. However, when I convince myself that I am right then I am cutting myself off from learning from those that have had different lived experiences than I and creating meaningful relationships with them – which will inevitably benefit us both.

Lucyna Cresnik, & Laura Elizabeth Pinto. (2014). Mythology, Moral Panic, and the Ruby Payne Bandwagon. Our Schools, Our Selves, 24(1), 43–.

Payne, R. K., DeVol, P. E., & Smith, T. D. (2001). Bridges out of poverty: strategies for professionals and communities. Highlands, TX: Aha! Process, Inc.

Payne, R.K. (2009). “What Information Does A Framework for Understanding Poverty Have That Cannot Be Obtained Easily from Other Sources? Why Do Critics Love To Hate It and Practitioners Love to Use It?” Retrieved from: http://www.ahaprocess. com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Framework-for-Understanding-Poverty-InfoNot-Easily-Obtained-Elsewhere.pdf

Luthar, S. (2013) The problem with rich kids. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/articles/201311/the-problem-rich-kids