Deficit thinking is a pseudoscience founded on racial and class bias. It "blames the victim" for school failure instead of examining how schools are structured to prevent poor students and students of color from learning. Dismantling Contemporary Deficit Thinking provides comprehensive critiques and anti-deficit thinking alternatives to this oppressive theory by framing the linkages between prevailing theoretical perspectives and contemporary practices within the complex historical development of deficit thinking. Dismantling Contemporary Deficit Thinking examines the ongoing social construction of deficit thinking in three aspects of current discourse – the genetic pathology model, the culture of poverty model, and the "at-risk" model in which poor students, students of color, and their families are pathologized and marginalized. Richard R. Valencia challenges these three contemporary components of the deficit thinking theory by providing incisive critiques and discussing competing explanations for the pervasive school failure of many students in the nation’s public schools. Valencia also discusses a number of proactive, anti-deficit thinking suggestions from the fields of teacher education, educational leadership, and educational ethnography that are intended to provide a more equitable and democratic schooling for all students.
This volume explores the linkage of the life sciences with policy (biopolicy). It features two points of departure: the implications of the neurosciences for public policy; and the implications of evolutionary theory for policy-making. It includes several case studies of how these points of departure inform our knowledge of policy.
Understanding Social Psychology Across Cultures Second Edition starts by asking why social psychology needs a cross-cultural perspective. It then examines cultural differences and their origins, before addressing traditional social psychological themes cross-culturally, for example group processes, self and identity, intergroup relations. Themes of contemporary relevance including migration, ethnic conflict and climate change are also covered. Key features: Presentation of concepts and theories made accessible to the reader using practical examples and everyday life experiences from diverse parts of the world Biographical portraits of key researchers in the field Coverage of the appropriate methods for conducting state-of-the-art cross-cultural research This textbook is appropriate for students of social and cross-cultural psychology. It will also interest practitioners wanting to understand the impact of culture on their fields of work, such as international relations, social policy, health promotion, ethnic relations and international business.
Poverty is more than just lack of income, it is deprivation from basic capabilities, rights, and freedoms that provide individuals the necessary choices and opportunities they need to lead a life they value. The Encyclopedia of World Poverty provides extensive and current information, as well as insight into the contemporary debate on poverty. The three volumes of this state-of-the-art Encyclopedia contain over 800 original articles written by more than 125 renowned scholars. The entries contributing to this work explore poverty in various regions of the world, and examine the difficulties associated with the definition and measurement of poverty, along with its causes and effects. Key Features Examines the geographic, political, social, cultural, and other economic characteristics of 191 countries and provides current vital statistics on poverty such as the mortality, disease, literacy, and illiteracy rate for each country Addresses the various definitions and measurement techniques of poverty and includes each country′s ranking according to the Human Development Index and the Human Poverty Index, whenever available Looks at potential causes of poverty, ranging from discrimination to climate factors such as drought and famine, as well as the potential effects of poverty including vulnerability, insecurity, powerlessness, social exclusion and disqualification, and stigmatization Acknowledges the importance of various associations combating poverty such as Civil Society Organizations, Secular Charities, Religious Charities, and Non-Governmental Organizations The Encyclopedia of World Poverty is an authoritative and rigorous source on poverty and related issues, making it a must-have reference for all academic libraries.
This special edition of Neurodevelopment and Intelligence contains both Volumes One and Two. The set provides an understanding neurodevelopmental risks during fetal and early life, and of the things that can go awry that limit or hinder healthy brain development, leading to a loss of intellectual abilities or causing disabilities such as autism spectrum disorder. It should be of interest to anyone interested in brain health, preventive medicine, pediatrics, public health policy, present and prospective parents, and those planning on pregnancy and parturition. Herein, Dr. Lewis explains: How people got smarter for more than a century and and why the alternative title of the book is Swimming in a Poisoned Pond —The Looming Demise of Cognitive and Mental Health in America How any healthy child can be a genius with advanced planning All the nasty things in your home that cause brain damage The disgusting things in your water that harm the brain The prenatal vitamins that prevent autism How ADHD is a lifestyle disease The eight pillars of health and their effects on the brain What men can do to sire smarter children The environmental toxins that cause violent crime and suicide How to make your home safe for your child’s brain The role of gut bacteria on the brain How to make pregnancy safer for the fetal brain Foods that improve brain function Maternal life style factors that affect IQ The seven pillars of health and their effects on the brain What men can do to sire smarter children How to make your home safe for your child’s brain The role of gut bacteria on the brain The disruptive effects of sleep deprivation and sleep disordered breathing on brain development, and sleep hygiene for children The effects of stress on the brain and its functioning The harmful effects of poverty on the brain How noise and noise pollution harm brain development. How good public policy can give us a brighter future Foods that improve brain function and make us happy and engaged The effects of Exercise and Environmental Enrichment Kiss your genetic legacy goodbye! Why you will likely never be a grandparent if you don’t already have children How stress makes us stupid Why people are getting dumber even though we have better medical care and more access to education. Are we already too dumb to save ourselves from our mistakes? How psychopathic corporations, stupidity, and structural racism raid America’s wealth The book is a serious scientific exploration of neurodevelopment on which policy and personal behavior changes can be based to improve health, happiness, and intellectual curiosity. Section I section lays out an description of the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) and why it can used as a proxy for neurodevelopment. It explains IQ tests and other developmental scales scoring, and some of their limitations. The high metabolic cost of a large brain and the survival advantage provided by epigenetic adaptation to downsize the brain to the current environmental conditions is described, explaining why a less costly and less intelligent brain are adaptive to leaner times. An estimate is made for the average human IQ in full health and nutrition, (about two standard deviations above the current average, or an IQ of 130). A primer on inflammation is given. Section 2: discusses the impact of anemia and iron on brain development. Topics include: Hookworm, malaria, and infections. Most of this section discusses iron deficiency, iron supplementation in pregnancy and infancy, and the role other minerals and vitamins required for blood formation Section 3: Covers the role of iodine and thyroid hormone on neurodevelopment. The following chapters discuss thyroid hormone disruptors including fluoride and bromide, organohalogens, thyroid disrupting organic pollutants, organophosphates and other biocides, and foods and food additives that impact thyroid function Section 4 covers neurotoxic metals in the environment. The neurotoxic metals that most commonly impact brain health are discussed, including arsenic, lead, mercury, manganese. The impacts of cadmium and aluminum on fetal and infant health are reviewed. Toxic metal exposure during development most commonly occurs from water contamination, and Chapter 18 covers water filtration for removal of these toxins. Section 5 discusses the role of toxic metals, dietary factors, and the role of the intestinal microbiome on the causation and exacerbation of autism spectrum disorder. Evidence on the role of special diets for ASD is reviewed.The timing of the development of ASD is discussed; as it is essential to understanding which exposures are relevant and amenable to treatment. Section 6 discussed the generation of air pollution from combustion of fuels and the adverse impacts of it on brain health. Effects of Particulate matter (PM) on health, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease are reviewed, along with its effects on the premature birth of infants, neurodevelopment, IQ, and autism. Mitigation of risk is discussed. Section 7 outlines maternal factors that impact neurodevelopment and intelligence. The causes and effects of preterm birth and small for gestational age are explored, with a particular focus on environmental influences. Section 8 covers the effect of general health on neurodevelopment, including the impact of diet on the intestinal microbiome, exercise, sleep deprivation, sleep-disordered breathing, and explains the roll of lifestyle in ADHD. Section 9 discusses the effects of psychosocial stress on neurodevelopment and intellectual performance, and discusses the epigenetic effects of stress on brain development and behavior. The role of having a supportive social environment, a stimulating environment, and education on brain development, IQ an health are discussed. The effects of prenatal stress on the brain are reviewed. Other topics include the effect of stress and telomere length, the effects of poverty or domestic violence on IQ score, and the effects of stress on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and on the gut. The effects of noise on hearing, academic performance, and sleep are reviewed. The need to confront endemic stress as a societal norm is discussed.
The study of human intelligence features many points of consensus, but there are also many different perspectives. In this unique book Robert J. Sternberg invites the nineteen most highly cited psychological scientists in the leading textbooks on human intelligence to share their research programs and findings. Each chapter answers a standardized set of questions on the measurement, investigation, and development of intelligence - and the outcome represents a wide range of substantive and methodological emphases including psychometric, cognitive, expertise-based, developmental, neuropsychological, genetic, cultural, systems, and group-difference approaches. This is an exciting and valuable course book for upper-level students to learn from the originators of the key contemporary ideas in intelligence research about how they think about their work and about the field.
Evolutionary psychology is an important and rapidly expanding area in the life, social, and behavioral sciences, and this Handbook represents the most comprehensive and up-to-date reference text in the field today. Over three volumes, the Handbook provides a rich overview of the most important theoretical and empirical work in the field. Chapters cover a broad range of topics, including theoretical foundations, the integration of evolutionary psychology with other life, social, and behavioral sciences, as well as with the arts and the humanities, and the increasing power of evolutionary psychology to inform applied fields, including medicine, psychiatry, law, and education. Each of the volumes has been carefully curated to have a strong thematic focus, covering: - The foundations of evolutionary psychology; - The integration of evolutionary psychology with other disciplines, and; - The applications of evolutionary psychology. The SAGE Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology is an essential resource for researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduate students in all areas of psychology, and in related disciplines across the life, social, and behavioral sciences.
This book presents the results of the most complete and updated assessment of cognitive resources of students in Latin America: the Study of Latin American Intelligence (SLATINT). During four years, top researchers of the region used a standardized set of cognitive measures to assess 4,000 students aged between 14 and 15 years from six countries: Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru. The data collected and now analyzed in this volume is a first step to understand the human cognitive capital of the region, a crucial resource for any country today. Intelligence research has shown that the cognitive skills of a population are strongly associated with the school performance of its students and the development of a nation. This makes Intelligence Measurement and School Performance in Latin America a valuable tool both for Latin American researchers and authorities engaged in the improvement of each country’s human resources and for psychologists, educators and other social scientists dedicated to the study of the impact of intelligence in the development of nations.
A "powerful and indispensable" look at the devastating consequences of environmental racism (Gerald Markowitz) -- and what we can do to remedy its toxic effects on marginalized communities. Did you know... Middle-class African American households with incomes between $50,000 and $60,000 live in neighborhoods that are more polluted than those of very poor white households with incomes below $10,000. When swallowed, a lead-paint chip no larger than a fingernail can send a toddler into a coma -- one-tenth of that amount will lower his IQ. Nearly two of every five African American homes in Baltimore are plagued by lead-based paint. Almost all of the 37,500 Baltimore children who suffered lead poisoning between 2003 and 2015 were African American. From injuries caused by lead poisoning to the devastating effects of atmospheric pollution, infectious disease, and industrial waste, Americans of color are harmed by environmental hazards in staggeringly disproportionate numbers. This systemic onslaught of toxic exposure and institutional negligence causes irreparable physical harm to millions of people across the country-cutting lives tragically short and needlessly burdening our health care system. But these deadly environments create another insidious and often overlooked consequence: robbing communities of color, and America as a whole, of intellectual power. The 1994 publication of The Bell Curve and its controversial thesis catapulted the topic of genetic racial differences in IQ to the forefront of a renewed and heated debate. Now, in A Terrible Thing to Waste, award-winning science writer Harriet A. Washington adds her incisive analysis to the fray, arguing that IQ is a biased and flawed metric, but that it is useful for tracking cognitive damage. She takes apart the spurious notion of intelligence as an inherited trait, using copious data that instead point to a different cause of the reported African American-white IQ gap: environmental racism - a confluence of racism and other institutional factors that relegate marginalized communities to living and working near sites of toxic waste, pollution, and insufficient sanitation services. She investigates heavy metals, neurotoxins, deficient prenatal care, bad nutrition, and even pathogens as chief agents influencing intelligence to explain why communities of color are disproportionately affected -- and what can be done to remedy this devastating problem. Featuring extensive scientific research and Washington's sharp, lively reporting, A Terrible Thing to Waste is sure to outrage, transform the conversation, and inspire debate.
There is a feeling that Asia is at a crossroad, and is facing a new crisis. The earlier crisis of 1997/98 showed that effective systems were missing. Afterwards governments, foreign investors and foreign managers initiated more holistic infrastructures, but corruption, poorly connecting systems, and a lack of transparent management have ensured that these are under performing. In this book well-informed authors offer insights on Asia's political, educational and physical infrastructures, and indicate the routes leading to better integrated futures.
