Culture, Class, and Learned Helplessness:

Recognizing Our Own Issues

and Frustrations

presented by

Keith A. Bailey, Ph.D.

Keith Bailey Consulting www.keithbaileyconsulting.com

keith@keithbaileyconsulting.com

Copyright © 2006 by Keith A. Bailey

How many times have you heard, thought, or said:

“Why won’t they just try harder?” “He’s just given up?” “She just doesn’t want to be helped!” “Why should I keep helping them when

they won’t help themselves?”

This leads to:

We will think about:CultureClassMiddle-class mindsetLearned helplessnessRecognizing our issues and frustrationsWhat we can do

What makes up a Culture?

Socio-economic BackgroundEducationSalaryJob status

How do we assess people by Class?

Gender Ethnicity Religion Sexual orientation Where they live

How safe is it

Physical and mental well-being

Credit lines Disposable income Vacations When to start work

or retire How many

paychecks they are from homelessness

(Kliman & Madsen)

Classes Superstars Business Owning Professional/

Managerial Working Class Underclass (Kliman & Madsen)

Upper

Middle

Lower

The Middle Class MindsetJust World Theory

“You get what you deserve.”The American Dream

“If you just work hard enough, you can be anything you want to be.”

An Internal Locus of Control

Learned HelplessnessThere Is No Justice

“I’ll get a bad deal no matter what I do.”No Dream

“Why work at it; it’s not going to get any better.”

External Locus of Control

Learned HelplessnessSeligman’s experiments with dogs

Learned HelplessnessMotivational DeficitCognitive DeficitEmotional Deficit

Children and Learned HelplessnessAbuse

Can associate old events with new situations

Attribution of failure made to self rather than the circumstances

Personal helplessness Universal helplessness

Learned helplessness can lead to depression.

Learned helplessness

leads to

hopelessness

Helplessness can be UnlearnedSeligman’s dogs …

… the rest of the story.

We can help our children and families unlearn helplessness by helping them to succeed and gain control in their lives.

But first ……we have to remember that our own

class background will color our view of those with whom we work

But first ……we have to understand our mindsets as

opposed to theirs … and be sympathetic (understanding) or even empathetic (sharing of feelings).

“…we must … fit our understanding to [children and] families rather than fitting [children and] families to our understanding.”

(Kliman & Madsen)

“The poor and lower classes, because of their lack of resources and power, often are unable to manage stressful events will, and thus remain highly vulnerable

as they depend on the coping strategies of passive acceptance or fatalism

simply because these are all they have.”

(Pauline Boss)

Then …… we have to deal with our frustrations and not give up

on them, too.

Vent to a peer or supervisor Be patient and persistent Problem solve Be patient Seek guidance Be persistent Pray or meditate … …to develop the patience of a saint

But …

…don’t give up.

Because they need …

…AND YOU MAY BE THEIR LAST HOPE !!

Help and HopeRegain [or gain] self-esteem in self or

family member and pride in themselves or in the family as a team

Regain control over what happens to themselves or to the family members, individually and as a group.

(Pauline Boss)

Help and HopeMake some bit of sense out of what

happened by finding some meaning in what happened.

Share with others while actively working to prevent it from happening again.

(Pauline Boss)

Help and HopeSet them up to succeed

Point out and praise every success,

no matter how small.

What are your successes in helping others to succeed?

You are the

embodiment of hope

for someone.

ReferencesBoss, P. (1988). Family stress manamement. Newbury Park, CA:

Sage Press.

Kliman, J. & Madsen, W. (1999). Social class and the family life cycle. In B. Carter & M McGoldrick (Eds.), The expanded family life cycle: Individual, family and social perspectives (pp. 88-105). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Martin E.P. Seligman, et al. Learned helplessness: A theory for the

age of personal control.