Social Class- Implications for Family Therapy

Even if unacknowledged, society in the United States IS divided by social class.

A contradiction in American Society is that there isn’t an “acknowledged” division in class, and yet… the American Dream is ultimately having the ability to move up in class.

Myth:

What each person has or does not have is the direct result of her or his effort and perseverance.

 -This causes those with economic privilege to feel self-righteous and deserving of all that they have…and that hard work alone produced their success. For the economically disadvantaged, this causes everything they don’t have to be the result of not giving as much effort or persistent and ultimately their fault.

Three myths

1.We’re a classes society

2. yet we akk gave an equal chance of upward mobility

3. therefore we are all individual responsible for what we have or do not have

These myths obscure our understanding of the realities of how class shape our society. This leads to further myths,..

“Blessed are the poor”

-Judeo-Christian heritage help shape the myth that poverty is synonymous with virtue. Aka: lack of material wealth underpins spiritual abundance and is the pathway to spirituality.

-This is isn’t the reality of what people believe or strive for.

-being poor is to be loathed and treated poorly by those with privilege and to be marked as inferior and the poor come to loath themselves.

-poor people learn to devalue themselves like the broader society devalues them.

-It is more accurate that the poor are cursed.

“I’m Middle-Class”

-Most people identify themselves as middle-class but the factors that cause them to define themselves as middle is different than their actual class location.

-Wealthy people justify themselves as middle-class by looking upward at those who have more than them and see their “deprivation” rather than abundance.

-the poor say there are middle class in response of the shame of poverty and wanting to distance themselves from that.

-Both poor and rich promote the myth of middle class.

-Most Americans are somewhere between being neither rich or poor, but middle-class is a myth because of the extreme diversity of circumstances and opportunity that may exist between two families that both consider themselves middle class.

“All Black People are Poor and All White People are Rich”

-Most Whites see the face of poverty as Balck and for Blacks, Whites are wealthy.

-This myth is fueled by the mass media that portray reality in these terms.

-Extremely famous/successful black people are usually seen as exceptions.

“Only the Poor Receive Welfare”

-The reality is that an array of government programs exist that provide support to Americans of all socioeconomic levels.

Implications for Family Therapy

-The field of family therapy hasn’t given much attention to class issues

-Class is like the air we breath, we cannot see it or touch it but it is all around us and influencing our lives and relationships at all times

-Factors shaped by class: parenting styles, political affiliations, approaches to finances, temporal orientation, perceived locus of control.

-Therapists need to be in tune with how class has shaped the lives of their clients

Exploring Class Stories

-We all have a class story

-Class is often seen to be a product of income, but also reflects a complex interaction of factors like income, education,  occupation, and wealth (assets that result from an accumulation of income.

-Class stays can change throughout our lives, but class identities tend to remain more constant.

-Therapists need to explore their own class stories and identity

-recognize gaps between class status and class identity

Naming Class

-therapists need to bring awareness to class dynamics and integrate them into the therapy process (aka: find ways to talk to your clients about class)

-you can ask questions and have your client identify their class identity and status

Confusing Class biases and Prejudices

-it important to be aware of our class-based biases

-we are more likely to harbor negative biases against the poor, but it can be against any class

-media tries to convince us that our worth is determined by our material possessions

-We shouldn’t remain silent when prejudices and biases are voiced.  

-devaluation of the poor can be implied or explicit

-We can challenge our client’s stereotypes by questioning in ways that are not threatening and cause them to examine the stereotypes they are expressing. Through this, we can introduce another way of seeing things in addition to the client’s view

*For Clinical Examples, read the articles.

Re-visioning Class in Family Therapy

-FIRST STEP: Acknowledge that class matters!

There are a few more points on this one that I am working on typing up...