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Tag Archives: Poverty

Poverty and Politicians

20 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Susan E. Craig in Childhood Behavior, Protecting children, stress management, Uncategorized

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academic failure, emotional regulation, Neural Development, Poverty, Social Policy, Zero-to-Three

2016 presidential elections concept

In the run up to the Iowa Caucus and New Hampshire Primary,  candidates struggle to gain a foothold on potential voters. Many fault economic disparity as the root cause of other troubling issues like the over incarceration of minorities, limited job creation, and class based differences in health, education, and overall quality of life. All legitimate 2016 problems – ones that require 2016 solutions. And that’s where the politicians’ rhetoric falls short.  Too often these rely on policies that ignore the science of the 21st century. Nowhere is this more apparent than in discussions of poverty and economic disparity that ignore the neurology of brain development.

The architectural foundation of neural development is laid down during the first three years of life. The stress associated with poverty, which includes not only economic insecurity but also inadequate housing, and limited opportunities for enrichment activities, disrupts this process.  The effects of poverty on areas of the brain related to emotional regulation are of particular concern, as these threaten children’s academic success.

Income is associated with differences in the hippocampus and amygdala. The size and volume of both structures are smaller in poor children than in their more affluent peers. Similarly, recent research finds that income also effects how these structures connect to other regions of the brain. The neural connections of children living in poverty are less efficient, making it more difficult for them to regulate their emotions and behavior (Barch & Luby (2016). Effects of hippocampal and amygdala connectivity in the relationship between poverty and school depression. The American Journal of Psychiatry).

Why should politicians care?

Because if left unattended, the effects of these early neurological alterations result in children’s academic failure and compromised mental and physical well-being. These drive the costs of special education and health care, two high cost items for federal, state and local governments.

More importantly, these early deficits can be overcome with appropriate early intervention to families with children under three years old.  The intergenerational cycle of poverty can be broken. But only when policy makers promote solutions that are informed by what science teaches rather than by what they think voters want to hear.

Please visit my blog at www.meltdownstomastery.wordpress.com

Trauma-Sensitive Schools: Learning Communities Transforming Children’s Lives is now available at http://www.amazon.com

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It’s More Than Economic Disparity

05 Tuesday May 2015

Posted by Susan E. Craig in ACE Study, children's mental health, David Brooks

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ACE Study, David Brooks, Developmental Trauma Disorder, executive function, Poverty, Traumagenic

Tower of cardsDavid Brooks is on a book tour for his latest book The Road to Character. The tour comes at a time when once again conversations about poverty are percolating across all types of media. And Mr. Brooks is taking a stand that inspires wrath from some (Paul Krugman, Race, Class, and Neglect NYT, May 4, 2015) who mistakenly equate his reference to social psychology with morality.

Those familiar with the now famous Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study (Felitti et al., 1998) recognize that Mr. Brooks’ reference to “relationships in a home and neighborhood that either encourage or discourage responsibility, future oriented thinking, and practical ambition” has nothing to do with morality. Rather he is referring to the alterations in brain development that are the result of prolonged exposure to childhood adversities such as poverty. These early childhood experiences inhibit the development of executive functioning. In other words, the area of the brain responsible for cause and effect, personal agency, motivation, and the ability to regulate behavior to achieve future oriented goals. This is not a moral judgement but scientific fact (see Bessel van der Kolk, Developmental Trauma Disorder, 2005).

Prolonged financial insecurity eats away at the protective capacity of the family in ways that are traumatizing to both parents and their children. Poor people are “under resourced and overburdened” (Babcock, 2014). For many parents, the struggle to survive hijacks their ability to make decisions, or solve problems (Babcock, 2014). The cognitive burden imposed by poverty leaves little bandwidth to do many of the things needed to improve their situation (Badger, 2013). They are unable to imagine a way out.

It is this intersection of poverty and trauma that is so detrimental to children. Until society can provide the personal support families need to move beyond the traumagenic foundations of chronic poverty, efforts to break its intergenerational cycle are unlikely to succeed.

Read more at:

Babcock, E. (2014). Using brain research to design new pathways out of poverty. Brighton, MA: Crittendon Women’s Union.

Badger, E. (2013, August 29). How poverty taxes the brain. The Atlantic CityLab. Retrieved from http://www.citylab.com/work/2013/08/how-poverty-taxes-brain/6716

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