Abstract
When treating psychological patients, there are many factors which need to be considered. In fact, depending on the problem, the context under which the evaluation takes place may influence the outcome of the evaluation. Looking for solutions to psychological problems, there are times when known relationships can be leveraged to make a difference. In this paper, the relationship between education and poverty, in light of psychological inquiry, will be considered, compared and contrasted within multiple contexts.
Social Change in Context:
Poverty and Education
Introduction
During treatment, it is important to establish an open, honest relationship with the psychologist; however, often times a client may be embarrassed, or ashamed to be completely honest. For example, when an individual has not achieved even a minimal degree of education, say past grade school, or when an individual’s financial situation places him/her below the poverty line. As clinicians, the way patients are treated, the advice they are given and ultimately the path chosen to move past illness may have a profound impact on the individual’s life. As a result, many persons who are poverty stricken, or who have not gone through basic education training may choose not to reveal these facts for fear of being ridiculed. That is to say, persons who struggle financially, people who have not achieved in the world of academia may have a difficult time in treatment. Is difficulty cause by clinician bias? What about client bias? “Will the Psychologist understand the plight of someone in my situation”? “Will the psychologist treat me differently”? Surely the daily struggles of an individual who has concerns about paying for the next meal, or the daily grind of an individual who cannot read will impact the possibility for the individual to build and maintain a relationship, especially a relationship clinical in nature. Is it possible, however, the relationship between poverty and education goes deeper than what is on the surface? Lack of education and poverty, are they really two distinct problems?
Poverty
In the United States, the term poverty is thrown around with absurd freedom. However, according the US Census Bureau, poverty is calculated quite precisely. To begin, poverty is computed by including: earnings, unemployment compensation, public assist...
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Yali, Ann Marie,Tracey A. Revenson, How Changes in Population Demographics Will Impact Health Psychology: Incorporating a Broader Notion of Cultural Competence Into the Field , Health Psychology, 0278-6133, March 1, 2004, Vol. 23, Issue 2
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Show MoreHays, P. A. (2008). Addressing cultural complexities in practice: Assessment, diagnosis, and therapy (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Larsen, P. D., & Hardin, S. R. (2013). Culture and cultural competence. In I. M. Lubkin & P. D. Larsen (Eds.), Chronic Illness Impact and Intervention (8 ed., pp. 343-367). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Perez, M. A. & Luquis, R.R. (2009). Cultural competence in health education and health promotion. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.
Shifting the definition toward cultural humility [14] as an alternative to “cultural bias” by making the provider engages in a regular self-evaluation and self critique, or through what is called as cultural competence [15]; which defined as the level of provider’s knowledge, attitude, and skills about cultural values, health related beliefs, disease incidence, prevalence, and treatment efficacy for diverse cultural group. Those models encompass under cross-cultural competence umbrella, both share the ultimate goals of preparing providers to manage sociocultural issues that emerge. On the other hand, Journals and magazines ranging from Social Science and Medicine to Psychology today have published articles describing structural competency [16 ] as a “new way “to combat the structural bias .structural compenetecy emphasizes recognition of the complex ways that matters such as rising income inequalities, decaying infrastructure, poor food-distribution networks and other economic factors lead to worse
Poverty in the United States is one of many difficult problems handled today. In 2010, 15.1% of the American population was living below the poverty threshold. But, how did the government calculate the poverty rate? The United States government uses the Orshansky poverty thresholds, which uses family budgets to determine if the family is above or below the poverty threshold. The current United States poverty measure is an absolute, headcount measure using family income as its scale of resources. However, many would agree that the poverty measure is flawed and that the poverty measure overstates how many people are really in poverty. This is a problem because resources government programs uses to help the poor can unevenly distribute. Therefore, I would like to propose a different poverty measure. In this paper, I would like to argue for a poverty intensity measure that is relative, with earnings capacity as the scale of resources and counts the household as the unit of analysis. First, I will discuss more about the flawed U.S. poverty measure; second, I will explain the four components necessary for poverty measures; third, I will make my proposal against the current measure and conclude about the two poverty measures.
Cultural Competence is important for many reasons. First, it can help develop culturally sensitive practices which can in turn help reduce barriers that affect treatment in health care settings. Second, it can help build understanding, which is critical in competence, in order wards knowing whom the person recognizes as a health care professional and whom they views as traditional healer, can aid the development of trust and improve the individual’s investment and participation in treatment. Third, our population in the United States is not only growing quickly but also changing, cultural competence will allow us as educators and healthcare workers keep up wi...
Poverty in America is a very complex issue that can be looked at from many directions. There are a plethora of statistics and theories about poverty in America that can be confusing and at times contradicting. It is important to objectively view statistics to gain a better understanding of poverty and to wade through the stereotypes and the haze of cultural views that can misrepresent the situation.The official poverty line in America begins with a person making at or below $12,060. To calculate the poverty line for a family, an additional $4,180 is added to the base of $12,060 for each additional member(“Federal Poverty Level Guidelines”). According to the last U.S. census, over 45 million or 14.5% of Americans are at or below the poverty line(Worstall). At this level, the U.S. poverty level has not changed much from the 1970s when the government began a “War on Poverty.” However,
Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J. L., & Beardslee, W. R. (2012). The effects of poverty on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: Implications for prevention. American Psychologist, 67(4), 272.
Poverty has been a growing problem in America, and it most likely will never stop being one. Someone who is identified as being in poverty lives beneath the poverty line determined by the Federal government. The poverty line in 2015 for a family of four was $24,250. These are the people who are really considered poor. Poverty isn’t just a problem in the United States; in fact, other countries struggle just as much, if not more, than the United States does. Many people struggle to keep themselves above the government’s poverty line, shown by the fact that the percent of poor people in America hasn’t drastically changed over the years. However, it is possible to get out of, and ultimately stay out of, poverty.
Yoshikawa, H., Aber, J. L., & Beardslee, W. R. (2012). The effects of poverty on the mental, emotional, and behavioral health of children and youth: Implications for prevention. American Psychologist, 67(4), 272.
There is a lack of conceptual clarity with cultural competence in the field and the research community. Cultural competence is seen as encompassing only racial and ethnic differences, and omitting other population groups who are ethnically and racially similar to providers, but are stigmatized or discriminated against, who are different in other identities, and have some differences in their health care needs that have resulted in health disparities. (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality,
Cultural competence in health care provision refers to the capacity of health care systems to offer good care to patients and accommodate employees, who have diverse beliefs, behaviors, and values to meet their cultural, linguistic, and social needs. It comprises of policies, attitudes, and behaviors that integrate to form a system that can operate efficiently in cross cultural conditions. Healthcare organizations look at cultural competence from two major viewpoints. Firstly, it is a tool to enhance patient care from all backgrounds, social groups, languages, religions, and beliefs. Secondly, it is a tool that strategically attracts potential clients to their organizations and, hence, expands
Miller, Leininger, Leuning, Pacquiao, Andrews, and Ludwig-Beyer, (2008) support that the skill of cultural competency in nursing is the ability to gather relevant cultural data on the presenting problem of the patient. This cultural assessment is defined as a "...
Poverty is an undeniable problem in America. In 2014, 14.8 percent of the United States was in poverty (“Hunger and Poverty Fact Sheet”). There are more people in the United States than it seems that do not have their basic necessities. In an
Poverty is generally defined as a state of deprivation in well-being. The conventional perspective connects well-being basically to control over commodities, so the poor are individuals who do not have sufficient income or consumption to place them above some adequate bare minimum threshold (Lyman et al, 2004). Poverty is also tied to a particular type of consumption, for instance people may be considered health poor, house poor or food poor. The poverty dimensions can often be determined directly. For instance it can be measured by assessing malnutrition or levels of literacy (Alla...