Core Studies
3
Prof. P. Currah
Reading:
Stephen Steinberg, "The Underclass: A Case of Color Blindness," (distributed in class).
Questions:
1. What was the original, quantitative definition of the underclass?
2. How was that definition later expanded? By who?
3. While this new definition of the underclass sounds objective, Steinberg says it is not. Why not? How does the distinction between "facts" and "values" get blurred in the new definition of the underclass? Which elements of the newer definition (critiqued by Steinberg) represent value judgments on the part of the social scientists?
4. Identify five words not discussed by Steinberg that transmit value judgements rather than just "facts."
5. What do proponents of the "culture of poverty" school argue is the main cause of the "underclass"?
6. What is the main problem in seeing "culture" as the key factor in explaining the underclass, according to Steinberg?
7. Write a paragraph to be read in class that identifies and analyzes the major points of disagreement between the culture of poverty school and Steinberg's structural analysis of the underclass. Consider the following questions as you formulate your comparisons before you write your paragraph:
i. What is the "unit of analysis" that Steinberg uses in his analysis? That the culture of poverty school uses?
ii. Does the economic structure play a causal role in the formation of the underclass or not in Steinberg's analysis? In the culture of poverty school's analysis?
iii. What role does human agency play in these different explanations of the underclass?
iv. Fill in the following table:
| Steinberg: | Culture of Poverty School: | |
| Cause of being in the underclass: |
|
|
| Effects of being in the underclass: |
|
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