Lareau Culture Of Poverty Thesis

Lareau’s piece studies the child-rearing styles of middle class and working class families. Lareau, much like Pierre Bourdieu, attempts to acknowledge a more fluid array of factors that contribute to an individual’s class than Moynihan’s culture of poverty thesis. While at times Lareau’s approach allows readers to draw conclusions that align with Moynihan’s thesis, more often her findings directly disprove major facets of the culture of poverty thesis.

The culture of poverty thesis suggests that, although societal systems may have a role in creating impoverished circumstances, within the working class group there are widespread and pervasive attitudes and behavioral patterns that kept people from entering other social classes. If one whole-heartedly

believed in the culture of poverty these they could read Lareau’s piece and extrapolate from her observations specific cultural traits that have trapped working class and poor children in their social class. For example, it could be argued that the poor grammar exhibited in the dialogue in Tyrec’s narrative supports the stereotype that poor people are ignorant and that this common cultural trait will limit the ability of children who grow up in this type of environment to be able to interact and integrate with people of other classes. Lareau’s piece’s focus on households and family units further suggests a more cultural examination of the circumstances of class. However, Lareau also incorporates background and explanation of the different societal institutions that are also at work. In her description of the college application process her background information on the differences between the high schools and the high school’s systematic rewarding of parental involvement over parental deferment to the school professionals clarifies why many low-income students have trouble gaining acceptance to elite colleges without relying on cultural evidence.
Lareau manages to challenge many aspects of the culture of poverty thesis.

In her chapters on Garret Tallinger and Tyrec Taylor Lareau is careful to point out that both Garret’s father and Tyrec’s mother try their best to attend their sons’ sporting events. Both Garret’s parents and Tyrec’s mother live hectic lives but both are concerned with their children’s happiness. It was a great stress on Tyrec’s mother to attend and afford Tyrec’s football, but she sacrificed so that her son could be happy. Unlike the references to “broken homes” made by the Moynihan report, Lareau highlights many of the virtues that are apparent in the lifestyle of the Taylor house, despite their lack of a live-in father. In some cases, she points out ways in which the working class families have better sibling and extended family relationships than those in middle class families. While it may be said that a specific culture, or as Lareau would say habitus, has arisen within the Taylor household, this culture is not inextricably linked to poverty nor is it one that is trapping the Taylor children within their social class. Lareau’s observations are not specifically collected to fit an assumed “culture of poverty”. For example, she observed that working class children had a more developed awareness of their parent’s sacrifices. This awareness arguably would compel individuals to try to escape poverty, rather than being a component of the Moynihan Report’s culture of

poverty.
Lareau’s piece acknowledges the nuances that exist in relationships between individuals and institutions once children reach adulthood. Her comparison of concerted cultivation and accomplishment of natural growth acknowledges the advantages and pitfalls of both approaches. For example, the middle class child rearing technique can make children whiny and give them an undeserved sense of entitlement that can be detrimental in adulthood. She also points outs that individuals do not always utilize all of the resources they have and thus parenting efforts sometimes have no effect on the child’s adult life. Lareau’s piece is not perfect, but it is fairer and less problematic than the strictly cultural reading of social class positioning found in the Moynihan report.