Ambivalent Classism as a Barrier to Successful Outcomes in a Behavioral Intervention Program

• In Event: Poster Session 02
  In Poster Session: PS 02 Topic -Diversity, Equity & Social Justice

Abstract

Students transitioning from alternative education placements may experience difficulty readjusting (Haskins et al., 2016). Because of this, organizations have partnered with school districts to provide support during this transition. This study expands on how awareness of social issues may affect the way intervention programs design their curriculum and trainings. A qualitative analysis was conducted on interviews with community advocates who provided intervention programming for students transitioning to their “home” campus from an alternative/disciplinary education placement. Internal evaluation of the intervention program showed reduced recidivism rates for students. This study, however, investigated the nature of the relationships between students and their assigned advocates to better inform training practices by understanding what strategies led to successful relationships versus less effective ones. Approximately 73% of students receiving advocate services during the year in which these interviews were conducted were considered economically disadvantaged by the school district and 17% were categorized as at-risk. Only 11% of the students served by the program were white, whereas the majority of the advocates were white (73%).
A feminist grounded theory analysis was conducted on a sample of 15 qualitative interviews with the advocates. Data were initially coded line-by-line (Charmaz, 2000) and developed into an open-axial-selective coding model (LaRossa, 2005). Coding was checked by a second member of the research team and determined to be sufficiently coded with agreements above 90% after the process of comparison was complete.
Ambivalent classism emerged as a concept that inhibited the ability of the student-advocate relationship to promote positive change for the students. Ambivalent classism reinforces classism, often in a benign way (“It breaks my heart to hear that”) by acknowledging but not challenging or attempting to change, systematic inequities that others face. Previous work offers cautions about the poor impact that ambivalent prejudices can have on relationships (Fiske, 2012) and the harm that these types of prejudices can still inflict (Glick & Fiske, 1996).
Ambivalent classism was demonstrated by participants who showed a lack of empathy and understanding of the students’ situations. Instead, participants who demonstrated this idea often used pity or sympathy to express their feelings about their students. Fiske (2012) notes that pity is a paternalistic emotion that does little to motivate one to help another. In the case of this study, pity was linked with passivity; despite feeling bad for the situation their students were in, these advocates did not take proactive steps toward providing resources and support for the students.
The results of this study offers practitioners important insights into issues related to racism and classism that may affect the success of interventions with children and adolescents. This timely and important flash talk will use the evidence from this qualitative analysis to make suggestions for interventionists working with children and students to consider the factors of race, gender, and class when planning interventions and training interventionists. Best practices for comprehensive and inclusive work with students with diverse identities will be addressed.

Authors

• Matthew Rivas-Koehl, Texas Tech University
  Presenting Author

• Sara L Dodd, Texas Tech University
  Non-Presenting Author