CHAPTER 2
Environmental/Societal Factors That Contribute to Risk
SUMMARY
This chapter reviews some environmental influences that place young people at risk for
poor outcomes. Current economic trends are discussed, with particular attention to
poverty and the complex interactions between socioeconomic status, ethnicity, the
recession, national trends, and public policy. A case study, the Baker Family, is included
to illustrate the impact of single motherhood and homelessness.
OUTLINE
The Economy
♦ Poverty
o Working Poor Families
o Vulnerable and Underserved Families
o Young Single Mother Families
o Homeless Families
Case Study: The Baker Family
o Poverty’s Contributions to At-Risk Youth
Policy Proposals and Suggestions
♦ Child Care
♦ Comprehensive Preschool Programs
Box 2.1 Mother Gets a Head Start
♦ Before- and After-School Educational Centers
♦ Empowerment
o Critical Consciousness
Conclusion
SUPPLEMENTS
PowerPoint: Chapter 2 Summary Points
ACTIVITY
Candy Bowl (Walters, 2011)
Often students have a difficult time understanding how the exosystem impacts those in
poverty. Too often the middle class message of “if you work hard, you can always make
it” pervades their thinking to the exclusion of other complications. This exercise helps
them begin to see that not everyone has the same opportunities. It also helps them
connect the macrosystem and the exosystem together, in that many will start to “judge”
the Group 2 as lazy and unmotivated the longer they take to get the candy.
To set this up, buy about 30 pieces of small candy and 2 bags. Put about 8 pieces into 1
of the bags and keep this in a hidden spot in the classroom (this could be just behind the
podium.) Put the rest of the candy in the other bag and go hide the bag somewhere
close…but not too close…to the classroom (e.g., next to a tree, under a bench.) It has to
be far enough so that it would take a student about 1 minute to run there from the
Discussion questions:
1) Ask each group about their experience.
2) As the audience about their thoughts during each group’s “race.”
3) Begin to connect these thoughts (lazy, unmovitated) to macrosystem beliefs about
the poor. In the same way, Group 2 will probably report they were embarrassed
Discussion points:
• everyone does not have equal opportunity
• some people have access to more resources than others
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. What are some ways you can develop critical consciousness in the populations
you will work with in the future? Be sure to identify how you will address power
2. Describe three aspects of empowerment and explain how empowerment can be
3. Describe the exosystemic and macrosystemic factors than impact families in
poverty. How do these factors influence each other (i.e. how do our views of the
4. Outline the ways in which access to the internet is (a) beneficial, and (b)
detrimental to today’s adolescents. Do you believe that the detrimental effects of
internet access would be mitigated? Would the ways in which you see mitigated
5. Outline the various social identities that children might possess. How might the
interactions of these identities lead to children being placed at greater or lesser
risk? Outline how you might try to identify these identities in the children that you
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
The following questions conform to the standards required by CACREP, EPAS, and other
accrediting agencies.
1. The risk factor most closely associated with family stress and highly correlated with
school failure is:
A. homelessness.
B. parental depression.
C. poverty.
D. neighborhood violence.
2. What reduces poverty?
A. Work
B. Recession
C. Homelessness
D. Ethnicity
3. What impairs language development and memory?
A. Poverty
B. Ethnicity
C. Stress
D. Low social status
4. Employment indices fail to reflect that during a recession:
A. people of color face increased discrimination.
B. gay people have lower employment levels than straight people.
C. unemployment benefits fall.
D. workers who lose their jobs and are then rehired often earn less in their new job.
5.Why are Native Americans less affected by national economic cycles than other ethnic
groups?
A. They work in jobs that are not affected by economic cycles.
B. Reservations are not included in national economic data.
C. They are consistently subject to high unemployment.
D. Gambling is unaffected by economic downturns.
6. Children and adolescents living with single mothers are often at a higher risk for future
behavior and educational problems due to:
A. the higher risk of poverty for single mothers.
B. the lack of a male parent involved in their lives.
C. a higher incidence of poor parenting skills.
D. the increasing birthrate for single teenage mothers.
7. Homelessness, at the fundamental level, is caused by:
A. poor financial management of families.
B. a community’s lack of low-cost housing.
C. a high incidence of alcohol and drug use.
D. a lack of personal responsibility and motivation.
8. Which one of the following is not an example of a beneficial policy proposal, as
suggested in Chapter 2:
A. quality child care that is available and affordable.
B. comprehensive preschool programs.
C. extensive residential school services.
D. development of community learning centers.
9. Which of the following is not one of the four aspects of empowerment:
social activism.
skill development.
self-esteem building.
critical consciousness.
10. Which of the following is an example of critical consciousness:
A. discussing the impact of racism with juvenile offenders.
B. engaging in personal practice meditation or prayer.
C. assertiveness training.
D. helping a client gain access to additional benefits.
11. What is a major barrier for single mothers who wish to move off welfare?
A. Language
B. Ethnicity
C. Poverty
D. Lack of affordable child care
12. Which factor lessens the perception of being disadvantaged?
A. Being White
B. Being Native American
C. Equality of poverty
D. Economic inequality
13. Which of the following is not linked to homelessness?
A. Depression
B. Anxiety
C. Erratic school attendance
D. Consistent school attendance as an attempt at stability
14. The largest and most cost-effective gains associated with good day care are realized
with:
A. middle class children.
B. the poorest children.
C. white children.
D. asian children.
15. Ennui is an emotion akin to:
A. anger.
B. boredom.
C. joy.
D. anxiety.
16. Over what period of time has the number of people below the poverty line grown?
A. The last decade
B. The last five years
C. The last two decades
D. The last three decades
17. Affluenza is a figurative illness affecting those who:
A. are homeless.
B. have too much wealth.
C. live on reservations.
D. lack access to health care.
18. Ennui often affects children from:
A. reservations.
B. other countries.
C. affluent households.
D. poor households.
19. Anomie involves:
A. a lack of wealth.
B. a lack of connectedness to others.
C. nutritional deficiency.
D. violent outbursts.
20. What has not been shown to make life rich?
A. Material wealth
B. Love
C. Work
D. Play
21. People who lived through the Great Depression often lacked the perception of being
disadvantaged.
A. True
B. False
22. Between 2008 and 2014 the percentage of people who considered themselves to be
middle class in America grew.
A. True
B. False
23. Much of American child care is not of high quality.
A. True
B. False
24. Zigler advocated extended opening hours for public schools.
A. True
B. False
25. Empowerment helps people to confront their environment.
A. True
B. False