The Role of Mentors in the Struggle against Poverty: Critical Social Navigation as a Tool for Postsecondary Preparation

Abstract

Families disadvantaged by poverty face higher risk factors for poor health, incarceration, and abuse of all kinds. Their children are the most likely to perform poorly in formal school settings and to leave the system early. In the United States, poverty is most frequently found at the intersections of race, class, and gender. Thus, poverty is both a source of great inequality and deeply embedded in our social structure. How then, do we interrupt this cycle of oppression? One answer to this complex question has been higher education. Yet, successfully attaining a college degree is both an immense challenge and, on its own, insufficient for youth disadvantaged by poverty. In order to break the cycle of poverty, these youth need to first understand, and secondly work around or resist, the inequitable circumstances that inevitably shape their lives. Only then will benchmarks like employment or college enrollment become meaningful tools to youth disadvantaged by poverty. As applied anthropologists, we can help interrupt the cycle of oppression by shedding light on the essential nuances of race, class, and gender within the context of poverty. Non-profit programming and government policies created to aid youth and families in poverty will benefit greatly from incorporating anthropological insights into the foundations of their planning and practice.