"seek to strengthen the ability of one-parent families to offer their children a sound family life, for as long as they hold that status. And we need policies which neither discourage marriage or remarriage, nor put on economic pressure to enter new unions which have an obvious risk of failure, given the increasing level of second divorces involving children." (Murray, 1990: 48).
Another such critic is Professor of Social Policy, Alan Walker, who argues that Murray's thesis in respect of the contamination of neighbourhoods by young single mothers "is quite simply ridiculous" (Murray, 1990: 54), and that the real problem facing society is poverty, the polarisation of society into the very rich and the very poor. Walker argues, however, that even those in extreme deprivation, "whose behaviour is predictably influenced by their abject poverty... still do not represent an underclass in any sociological sense" (ibid.: 55). For Walker, Murray's thesis is: "at best, misleading and, at worst, a dangerous diversion from the major problems of poverty and deprivation facing Britain." (ibid.: 50).
Although a wide body of literature, both British and American, has been reviewed in the current author's recurrent interest in the underclass debate, the remainder of this review will consider Murray's three defining elements of the underclass (i.e. violent crime, illegitimate births and unemployed youth) by focusing on the work of three eminent American scholars who are critical of the right-wing discourse which lays the blame for their own poverty, and many of society's ills, at the door of the poor.
Criminologist ELLIOTT CURRIE, argues that: "It isn't lack of money that breeds violence; if that were the case, then graduate students would be very dangerous people indeed." (1998: 134-5). Rather, for Currie, it is ongoing, structural poverty, a life of continuous social exclusion, that eventually erodes "the psychological and communal conditions that sustain healthy human development" (1998: 135). That is to say that it is not actual, but relative deprivation, the notion of unjust exclusion from the means to achieve the goals associated with, for example, the ‘American dream', that produce anti-social and sometimes violent responses from those so excluded (see Lea and Young, 1993; Merton, 1938; Runciman, 1966; Young, 1999). Anti-social, violent or deviant behaviour are thus located within the social structure inhabited by the actor and seen as a response to that particular social milieu, rather than represented as definitive of the actor's social class.
In an effort to tackle the exceptionally high level of violent crime in America, Currie argues that: "we must build a society that is less unequal, less depriving, less insecure, less disruptive of family and community ties, less corrosive of cooperative values." (1985: 225). For Currie it is the responsibility of government to act to alleviate the social problems it has created through its fiscal policies and the promotion of free market economics. He argues that: "Far from being a passive bystander whose social role is purely reactive, confined to the operation of the criminal-justice system, government now invokes that system with its right hand to respond after-the-fact to conditions which it helps to create with its left." (ibid.: 226)
Sociologist, HERBERT J GANS, notes his concern over the continued stereotyping of young, single parents within the right-wing discourse, despite considerable efforts to correct such stereotypical images of immaturity, irresponsibility, immorality and welfare dependency. According to Gans:
"... almost all of these teenagers are actually eighteen or nineteen when they become mothers, which is already young adulthood in the chronological world of the poor. ...As long as some people want to believe that the country is full of poor 'babies having babies', the comparative handful of fifteen-, fourteen-, and even twelve-year-olds needed to satisfy true believers in the stereotype can be produced." (Gans, 1995: 3)
In addition, he argues, out-of-wedlock motherhood is not a choice for the majority of these young people, but a response to what he calls "poverty-related pressures" (Gans, 1995: 4) which deny young people "access to decent and secure jobs and affordable housing so that they can marry" (ibid.). Single parenthood is not seen by Gans as a product of behaviour outside of mainstream morality, or, as argued by Murray, an "attitude on the part of one or both parents that getting married is not an essential part of siring or giving birth to a child" (Murray, 1990: 5, emphasis added), but rather it is the result of pressures that "sharply restrict the choices of the poor ...[and which] may not be comprehensible to more fortunate people, [yet] they are very real" (Gans, 1995: 4-5). Gans does not deny that there are undeserving people amongst the poor, as there are in all strata of society. But, as he nicely points out:
"As one moves up the socioeconomic ladder, however, the bad apples and their questionable behaviour become less visible. ...Moreover, the morally dubious acts of the better-off frequently turn out to be perfectly legal, in accord with the 'golden rule': the people who own the gold make the rules." (Gans, 1995: 4)
WILLIAM JULIUS WILSON, described by Ian Taylor as "the pioneering black scholar in America working on such issues" (1997: 283), "squarely confronts the data on the disproportionate involvement of the black population of America in violent crime, and also recognizes the extraordinary increase in illegitimate births and in female-headed households" (Taylor, 1997: 283). Whilst engaging with the underclass theory, however, Wilson locates its genesis within the social structure, with particular reference to the African-American population who, through continued racial discrimination, have borne the brunt of social problems associated with extreme poverty (Wilson, 1987: 71). Wilson argues that "Any attempt to explain the social and cultural factors behind the rise of out-of-wedlock teenage fertility must begin with the fact that most teenage pregnancies are reportedly unwanted." (ibid.: 73). This would appear to mitigate against the assumption of choices made by single young women in order to secure welfare benefits (Murray, 1990: 29).
Much of Wilson's analysis is confined to the black, or ghetto underclass of inner-city America, particularly Chicago. He refers to a social transformation which has resulted in the concentration of the most deprived people in neighbourhoods where they are effectively cut off from access to employment, "the availability of marriageable partners, and exposure to conventional role models" (Wilson, 1987: 144). For Wilson, the exodus of the black working- and middle-classes from such neighbourhoods produced conditions of social disorganisation, whereby social institutions necessary for the maintenance of community identity, such as "churches, stores, schools, recreational facilities etc." (ibid.) were rendered inviable "in the face of prolonged joblessness" (ibid.). Thus, Wilson offers sociological explanations for inner-city conditions, based on empirical research, in contrast to the behaviourist approach favoured by Murray (see MacGregor, 1999: 73).
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
From the foregoing review of the literature it can be seen that Murray's thesis represents a positivistic approach, focusing on the attitudes and behaviours of individual actors and ignoring the meaning they attach to their actions, to the exclusion of the wider social structure. This is a one-sided focus on the role of informal social control within the family, ignoring the influences of injustices within the other social institutions, such as the polity and the economy, and the key role played by the formal agencies of control, the police and the criminal justice system. Such a one-sided focus is seen as inadequate in addressing the issue of youth crime in a research report produced for the UK Home Office by Graham and Bowling, who note:
"... it is known that interventions which focus exclusively on one particular arena (eg the home) or one actor (the child or the parent) do not appear to be effective in the long term (...), it would seem that an effective criminality prevention strategy must also extend into areas outside the family." (Graham and Bowling, 1995: 88; see also Young, 1999).
The theoretical framework of the proposed research is that of left realism (Young, 1997), which does not view the individual or the family as autonomous of the wider society (Currie, 1985), and perceives the social institutions referred to above as being inter-dependent and inter-related (Rosenfeld and Messner, 1995).
RESEARCH DESIGN
Methodology
In line with Murray's challenge to go out and ask parents, it is proposed to conduct this research project using qualitative methods which, according to Marshall and Rossman, "have become increasingly important modes of inquiry for the social sciences" (1995: 1). Data will be collected via semi-structured interviews since, as noted by Nigel Fielding: "Whenever we are getting our bearings, whether it is as a researcher or a new arrival in a foreign land, the quickest, most instinctive method is to ask a question." (1993: 135). Since the researcher is not a parent herself, she may aptly be described as a "new arrival in a foreign land".
A qualitative design is chosen over a quantitative procedure despite the fact that a questionnaire could be devised for a survey to measure parenting practices along the lines identified by Murray, that is the extent of supervision, set bed and meal times and parental involvement in education. Such a procedure, however, would fail to gain an understanding of what such practices mean to the respondents, what they involve, and arguably what factors may mitigate against enforcement of such practices in the real world of the parents themselves or, to put it another way, the process of parenting. The purpose of the qualitative approach is, as noted by Lofland: "... to find out what kinds of things are happening rather than to determine the frequency of predetermined kinds of things that the researcher already believes can happen." (Lofland, 1971: 76, cited in Fielding, N, 1993: 137, emphasis added).
The interviews will be semi-standardised as opposed to non-standardised in order to ensure that the issues (referred to above) raised by Murray are covered in each interview. However, it is anticipated that a wide variety of issues related to parenting practices may be revealed by the respondents themselves in the course of the study and the semi-standardised approach offers the opportunity "to elicit rich, detailed materials that can be used in qualitative analysis" (Lofland, 1971: 76, cited in Fielding, N, 1993: 137).
Wherever possible, interviews will be tape-recorded, in accordance with the advice of Nigel Fielding (1993), and because, as noted by Williams: "taking handwritten notes during a conversation warps discussion and inhibits the flow of words" (1990). Notes will, however, be taken as a safety measure "in the event that the recording equipment fails" (Creswell, 1994: 152). Transcription will take place as early as possible after each interview in order to identify emerging themes that may be beneficial to future interviews. Whilst, as noted by Nigel Fielding, "verbatim transcription is ...laborious and time-consuming [it] offers the advantage that all possible analytic uses are allowed for" (1993: 146). Although transcription of tape-recorded interviews can be a costly exercise, the researcher is a professional shorthand/typist and can undertake this task herself, offering the benefit of listening through the interview again, which will enhance the possibility of identifying emerging themes.
Data Collection
Whilst it is implied in the challenge that the research should be directed only to married parents, and indeed to parents, this would seriously skew the data in favour of Murray's thesis, since at the present time there has been a media-led moral panic about teenage parenthood and welfare dependency, fuelled no doubt by Murray's own work. Instead, it is proposed to select a sample of both married parents living together and single mothers living alone, and interview them about their child-rearing practices. A housing estate in a poor area North London has been identified as being composed of a mixture of married couples with children and single mothers. This was identified through contacts living on the estate who are actively involved in the local community, running a youth club and mother and toddler group. It is intended that as many people as possible will be interviewed, and it is hoped that a sample of thirty will be identified, equally divided between single mothers raising children alone, and married couples sharing parental responsibilities. In this regard it must be noted that the presence of both biological parents in the home does not imply that they are equally or actively involved in parenting their children (see for example Connell, 1987; Friedan, 1963; Segal, 1997). In addition, of course, single parents may be receiving considerable support in their parenting task from parents, relatives and friends, and even from absent biological fathers and their families.
Respondents will be interviewed, face-to-face, by the researcher in their own homes or in the community centre office, to which the researcher has secured access for the purpose, depending on their preference. They will be assured of complete confidentiality and anonymity and the purpose of the research will be explained to them. The researcher will offer the respondents a copy of Murray's (2000) article in The Sunday Times to explain the context of the research and to elicit their views on its content. A time limit is not being placed on the interviews, since it is felt that respondents should be allowed to talk and share their experiences at their own pace. They will be questioned in an informal, non-judgemental manner, about the issues identified by Murray, for example whether their children have regular meal and bed times, what arrangements are made for supervision when the parent(s) are out at night, whether children are allowed to play in the street. In addition other indicators based on a review of the literature on parental involvement and juvenile delinquency (mentioned above), such as assistance with homework, attendance at school for parent evenings, and the amount of television children are allowed to watch. But, for example, whereas the question "Who minds the children when you go out at night?" may be interpreted as judgemental, an alternative approach would be to ask "Do you get out much in the evenings?", and then, based on the response, probe the issue of babysitting arrangements. Questions relating to the employment status of the parent(s) will also be included to establish any potential parenting problems, in the perception of the respondents, associated with full-, part-time, or un-employment.
In return for the introductions and access afforded to her by contacts on the estate, the researcher has offered her assistance in running the mother and toddler group for two mornings and the youth club for one evening, giving her an opportunity to observe children's behaviour first hand. In addition she has agreed to word process one issue of the quarterly community centre newsletter.
Data Analysis
If the maximum of thirty respondents is achieved, a considerable volume of interview transcripts is anticipated. This will be subjected to manual analysis, in the first instance, in order to identify emerging themes and relate these to issues identified in the literature, in the process of developing a 'grounded theory' (Strauss and Corbin, 1990, cited in Creswell, 1994). The data will then be coded for entry into an SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) system file, following the coding process outlined by Jane Fielding (1993: 218-238).
Ethical Issues
Issues identified as potentially problematic from an ethical point of view centre around engaging with Murray's underclass theory at all. Gans (1990), for example, warns of the dangers of the very term underclass, with its racial undertones (especially in America), and its notion of undeservingness. Gans is concerned that social policy makers, and planners, will begin to produce policies and plans around an alleged underclass, resulting in increased marginalisation, maybe even withdrawing services from people so defined. If the results of the research findings were taken as proof that there are in fact differences in parenting practices, which favour the traditional normative standard family model (Connell, 1987: 121) over single parents, then it might result in policies, like those that exist in some States in the US, where benefits are withdrawn from single mothers on the birth of their second child, forcing women to abort, for example; or zoning policies like those implied by Murray that:
". ..make it as easy as possible for people who share values to live together. If people in one neighbourhood think marriage is an outmoded institution, fine; let them run their neighbourhood as they see fit. But make it easy for the couple who thinks otherwise to move into a neighbourhood where two-parent families are valued." (Murray, 1990: 34).
However, by taking a socio-structural approach to analysing the data such as that taken by William Julius Wilson (1987, noted above), rather than an individualistic, behavioural approach, it is anticipated that this problem will be overcome when writing up the research report.
LIMITATIONS
This research project is limited by both time constraints and lack of resources, in that it must be conducted over a six-month tirneframe by a single researcher, acting alone. These limitations severely restrict the size of the sample population and confine the project to a single social housing estate in North London. In view of this, the findings of the research are unlikely to be representative of the entire UK population. The researcher is confident, however, that such limitations will in no way diminish the importance of the project, which has the potential to provide a blueprint for future nationwide research into issues of parenting practices and poverty, in light of Murray's continued presence on our national stage.
AFTERWORD
Charles Murray's recent appearance at The Sunday Times Forum in London, where he shared a platform with Home Secretary, Jack Straw, caused considerable controversy and attracted an anti-fascist demonstration outside the venue (Wavell, 2000: 9). Those who experienced a sense of outrage over this event may, however, take some comfort from the fact that Mr Straw: "condemned Murray for being out of touch and for the 'revolting nostrum' in his book The Bell Curve that low intelligence was concentrated amongst black people and other ethnic minority groups" (ibid.). In addition, and of particular relevance to this research proposal, Mr Straw also stated that he did "not accept, and never have accepted, the simplistic link that Mr Murray purports to show between illegitimacy and lone-parent families on the one hand and the rise of a violent, so-called 'underclass', on the other." (Straw, 2000, cited in Wavell, 2000: 9).
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