Teaching about Poverty

Exercises:

Exercise 4: Stereotype Exercise

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Goal: This exercise involves active learning by students or group members who get the opportunity to examine our socially constructed stereotypes about the poor and the non-poor. By doing this, we can then discuss the forces that have shaped those stereotypes, and allow group members to think more critically about these stereotypes.

Divide participants into two groups, each with their own easel of paper and dry markers.

Give each group the name of a social group (ex. the middle class, the working class, the upper class, the working poor, welfare recipients, etc.)
Note: Races can also be used as a category to work on (i.e. whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, etc.)

Give them the following directions:

You are to record on paper everything you think, everything you know, and everything you think others think about {Insert group name here}. Do not censor each other and try to quickly make as complete a list as possible.

Note: You can decide whether to have them record the group name on the top of their pages or to leave the group title off their lists. Not labeling the lists provides an interesting result in Step 6.

While they work on their lists, the facilitator should listen in on the groups to ensure that everything offered by group members is put on the lists. (Some people will be embarrassed by the comments of others and try to avoid recording them.) Urge the groups to work quickly, and call time out when they have gone as far as they can on the first list. Have each group continue making lists for the other social group you name.

Use masking tape to put on the classroom walls the lists the groups have made.

Tell them that they have created a “Museum of our Stereotypes about Selected Social Groups.” And tell them that they are to take a museum walk, without talking (a rule they will try to break) to study these stereotypes, after which, they will be given the chance to discuss what they have noticed. Ask them to see if they can discern any patterns in what they see. You should act as the museum guard, making them stop talking as they observe their museum, and asking them to sit down when they have completed the tour.

While they tour, you will need to examine the lists yourself and make note of questions you want to ask to stimulate discussion.

Debrief the group members by asking the following questions (or others that seem relevant):

A. (If no labels were put on the lists)Ask: “Can you tell which lists are about which social groups? Were you able to guess fairly easily which were which?” Then you can have them identify each so that you can write the labels on them.

B. Which lists seem the most similar to each other? (If racial group names were used, they will tend to be most similar to the list of stereotypes made of the poor. Similarly, the middle class list will be similar to the list for white people.)

C. Ask if there are negative stereotypes that are shared on several lists, and if so, what are they? Are the shared stereotypes more often negative or positive?

D. What else do you notice about these lists? Are the images in them fair? Accurate?

E. How comfortable was it to do these lists? What behaviors while we did this exercise suggest that we were uncomfortable? Was there anything specifically happening that made it more comfortable or less comfortable? (Asking them to record “what they think others think” freed them to record stereotypes they would be ashamed to admit they know. Even so, this exercise can be stressful for people who had hoped to have gotten beyond social stereotypes in their lives. If members of group being listed were part of the process, this also can induce discomfort in participants.)

F. Discuss specifically the negative stereotypes (i.e. lazy, unemployed, dropouts, too many kids, juvenile delinquents, unwed mothers, thieves, prostitutes, drug addicts, etc.) that abound for both welfare recipients and minority groups. Discuss the difference between stereotypes of the poor and of the non-poor; to what extent are these differences “moral judgments” being made on these people’s lives? What do these moral judgments suggest about causes of poverty?

Note: Explain to the group that these negative stereotypes were applied to each “new” immigrant in the U.S. So the Jews, Italians, and Irish, etc. were each viewed as drunks, whores and thieves until they had a chance to achieve upward social mobility, often created by the advent of the next group of immigrants. But, these images have always been applied to the poor, regardless of their background.

What is the connection between moral judgments about the poor and our programs to aid the poor? Are there programs for the deserving poor and other programs for the undeserving? Which programs do we have for each and how do the programs differ? :

Example: There is a two-track aid system in the U.S.:

A. Social Security, worker’s compensation and Medicare are programs for the deserving poor, deserving because they have a work history.

B. AFDC, food stamps, Medicaid are for the undeserving poor, undeserving because they were not viewed as people who contributed to the formal economy by working in it.