The Negative Side of Payne’s Framework for Understanding Poverty

“The poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny. His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically innocent. The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for which we are responsible.” —Gustavo Gutierrez

For Ruby Payne, understanding poverty means more than just knowing about money. Payne believes that poverty is a form of culture with its own norms, values, rules, and particular knowledge passed down through generations. She believes that children in the culture of poverty do not succeed in school because they have been passed down knowledge about the rules of poverty and not the rules of being in the middle class. Payne also believes that because most teachers in public school are from the middle class, they do not understand the poverty culture and the children within it. She believes the aim of her mission should be to open communication between teachers and students, to make all of the rules of every class known to everyone, and to encourage the teaching of middle class rules to the to the children in poverty. Due to some of these ideas, there are many critics of Payne and her ideas which point out the negative aspects in her mission.

One of the negativities that have been pointed out by critics is that Payne over-stereotypes the people in poverty. Some of the rules of poverty she believes in include “I know how to physically fight and defend myself physically,” “I know how to get a gun, even if I have a police record,” and “I know how to get someone out of jail.” These statements are believed to be highly stereotypical, as well as are the rules of middle class. Payne’s middle class rules include, “I know how to evaluate and purchase appropriate medical, life, disability, homeowners, auto, and personal property insurance.” Some may agree with statement, however, not every middle class person can do this. For these reasons, many critics say that Payne is stereotypical. They believe that Payne has simply appealed to the assumptions people have about the poor, such as promiscuous, gang affiliated, on welfare, gun owning, and drug dealers. However, many people know that is not the case of all people in poverty. Payne must address the fact that there are people in the middle class who may not even know her middle class rules and that some people in poverty may actually know them and not their set of poverty rules.

Another negative criticism of Payne is that she owns the company through which her books and articles and, most importantly, research is all published. Payne speaks in her books about all of the research she has done, yet all of the other research on poverty has concluded that people in poverty do not have their own values, beliefs, or rules. Also, when one begins to read her book, they find that she only points to people she has encountered over the years and not verifiable and reliable research studies.

Lastly, the most negative aspect of Payne’s ideas is the message that teachers are getting from her book and seminars. Teachers have left her workshops believing that “poor people can’t think abstractly,” and have gone back to teaching believing such ideas. Payne offers a quick fix to teaching children in poverty by planting ideas in teachers’ and administrators’ heads that children in poverty cannot learn until they are taught to be upper class. This leads to the belief, by critics, that Payne is virtually stopping social change. The research done by social scientists shows that changing social beliefs may change social policy. So, why are why are we not changing our beliefs and policy about poverty, instead of believing all that needs to be done is teach them middle class rules?

To conclude, there are many critics of Payne’s framework which bring many negative aspects of her ideas. However, it is important that we each take the good and the bad from her work and come to our own conclusions. Mainly, the children in poverty who are failing in school need to be helped and we need to find a way to help them.

Bohn, A. (2006). A framework for understanding Ruby Payne. Rethinking Schools Online, 21(2). http://www.rethinkingschools.org/

Payne, R. (2005). A framework for understanding poverty. Highlands TX: Aha! Process Inc.

Redeaux, M. (2011). The culture of poverty reloaded. Monthly Review: An Independent Socialist Magazine, 63(3), 96-102. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.