Poverty in the African American community has always been a problematic. Most African American woman that live in poverty are single mothers. The family resources correlates to the child cognitive and behavioral development in early school years. For instance the mother’s employment, education attainment, depression symptoms and the environment the family lives in. The children that are being raised in poverty are at a disadvantage because they don’t have the proper support from their family.
Statics show in 1990 nearly a fifth of children in the United States were poor in 1997. African American children were 42% poor. In addition 43% of families headed by single mothers were poor ( Jackson, 2003). The welfare reform law in 1996 would give …show more content…
It does not matter if the youth were directly or indirectly exposed to violence within their communities, the child will suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder. These symptoms include the inability to sleep, anxiety, reduced awareness and unable to concentrate when performing a cognitive assessment (Sharkey & Patrick, 2010). When a child is living in poverty, there is an immense amount of stress which impairs declarative memory. This effects the child’s ability to read and do well on certain assessments in school. According to Sharkey & Patrick as the times between the homicide and children taken the assessments diminishes the effects it has on reading and vocabulary assessments. The closer the homicides is to the child the more effects it will have on the child’s cognitive abilities. Surprisingly, when homicides occur in urban areas Hispanics children do not generate acute stress, like African America children (Sharkey & Patrick). Part of the reason would be the majority of the time the homicides always involve African Americans. This is well known where crime rates are high in poverty for African American youths. Growing up in with a single mother that does not have job will generate this type of behavior for youths. The child would see their mothers becoming depressed and showing poor parenting skills, which pushes them to hangout in the streets with children like
Statics show in 1990 nearly a fifth of children in the United States were poor in 1997. African American children were 42% poor. In addition 43% of families headed by single mothers were poor ( Jackson, 2003). The welfare reform law in 1996 would give …show more content…
It does not matter if the youth were directly or indirectly exposed to violence within their communities, the child will suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder. These symptoms include the inability to sleep, anxiety, reduced awareness and unable to concentrate when performing a cognitive assessment (Sharkey & Patrick, 2010). When a child is living in poverty, there is an immense amount of stress which impairs declarative memory. This effects the child’s ability to read and do well on certain assessments in school. According to Sharkey & Patrick as the times between the homicide and children taken the assessments diminishes the effects it has on reading and vocabulary assessments. The closer the homicides is to the child the more effects it will have on the child’s cognitive abilities. Surprisingly, when homicides occur in urban areas Hispanics children do not generate acute stress, like African America children (Sharkey & Patrick). Part of the reason would be the majority of the time the homicides always involve African Americans. This is well known where crime rates are high in poverty for African American youths. Growing up in with a single mother that does not have job will generate this type of behavior for youths. The child would see their mothers becoming depressed and showing poor parenting skills, which pushes them to hangout in the streets with children like