From what I've read of it,A Framework for Understanding Poverty, lays down how the thought processes of the poor differ from the rest of us pretty well.
Honestly, I couldn't read the whole thing, primarily because I found it depressing. I kept remembering stuff I don't want to remember. Anyway, you might find her explanations a little simplistic, but they work.
With Michael Vick in the news, it serves us well to remember how silly we can be. We make great claims of equality and then ban the pasttimes that the lower classes enjoy. Sure, Vick's rich now, but apparently his tastes have not changed.
Money alone won't do that for you.
So, this book may help bridge the gap. A very few people actually want to rise. In order to truly rise they must understand the middle class ways, or they'll get treated like Vick. You can't take dogfighting to the country club.
Maybe, if we're lucky, taking a middle class lifestyle to the hood might work, if we can explain why in the world they would want to live that way.
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