Hidden Rules of Economic Class (2 Pics)

From 'A Framework for Understanding Poverty' Dr Ruby Payne

Ruby K. Payne, Ph.D., is an American educator and author best known for her book A Framework for Understanding Poverty which has sold over 1.5M copies and also her work on the culture of poverty and its relation to education.

Hidden rules are the unspoken cues and habits of a group. If you are in a group, you understand the hidden rules of that group and the danger is you take these for granted that they are for everyone.

The following table from her book illustrates some of the hidden rules of groups defined by the resources they have. These can be; financial, emotional, mental ability, spiritual, physical, relationships and support systems. (Dr Payne relates this to class although we might be uncomfortable with that attribution).

Looking at the last row for example, it illustrates that the driving forces of the poor are survival, entertainment and relationships whereas for the middle class, the criteria against which most decisions are made relate to work and achievement. For the wealthy, decisions are considered based on the effect on finance, political and social connections.

Using money for security is grounded in the middle class and wealthy. Those in poverty see money as an expression of personality and it is used for entertainment and relationships.

Words are used to resolve conflict by negotiation in the middle class and wealthy but what if you don't have the necessary words or even respect them if you are in poverty? Violence is often the way to resolve issues.

You can see the problems here for a church wanting to help the poor. Hidden rules govern so much of our immediate assessment of an individual and his/her capabilities. 

There is a danger that a church which is mostly 'middle-class' will assume their hidden rules apply to the poor. They will create plans and strategies based on their rules and will only really accept people into their group that understand and conform to the hidden rules. If you really want the church to be for all, then something has to change...

The key is to understand the rules of other groups so that they can be used if one chooses. To help do this, why not have people from different groups speak into your plans and strategies?