Blaming the Victim

Rating:
Summary: Fix the social arrangments that make weaknesses crippling
Review: Everyone has weaknesses. In the best of circumstances these flaws are inconsequential and invisible. But when we are in distress, they get in the way or cause outright harm.

Institutions and customary social arrangements can ease the causes of distress. If we create institutions that alleviate people's predicaments, their flaws and weaknesses do not surface. As a demonstration on a relatively small scale, consider Milton Mazer, People and Predicaments.

The issue here is not welfare, in the sense of labor-free livelihood. Everyone knows only the most wealthy deserve that. Think public transportation that works. Think medical care. Think intervention into abuse. Think Head Start, an enormous success for very little money. Think paying teachers commensurately to their training and their contribution to society.

Our institutions and customary social arrangements benefit some people more than others. It's an obvious but oddly ignored truth that those benefited most are least aware of it. That's just the way life is for them, so it must be so for everyone. Consequently, it seems to them that another's unsuccess must be due to a failure of intention or even to willful parasitism.

This is what Ryan identifies as blaming the victim.

Does "destructive behavior underpin poverty" or does institutionalized poverty expose and amplify human frailty with destructive consequences? The question is, if you want to change matters, what is effective. Shaking one's finger and instructing people in proper values has never had much effect. To say that failure is due to ineradicable character flaws obviously goes nowhere, unless to euthanasia.

The proposition that the poor are "held back by lack of work ethic and strong family values" is profoundly insulting to the vast majority of working poor who work very hard indeed. (Consider Ehrenreich's experience, reported in Nickel and Dimed.)

The defense of Banfield by the second reviewer, couched as an attack on "Ryan and his ilk", is of only historical relevance to Ryan's book today. I do agree that framing the issues in racial terms is a weakness of the book. The problem reaches farther and deeper than either its ethnic or ethical physiognomy suggests. Consider Z. Harris, The Transformation of Capitalist Society.

Rating:
Summary: A Timeless Classic
Review: The first chapter in this book, alone, makes this a classic for understanding how social problems are dealt with in our individualistic ideological society. His formula for "Blaming the Victim" covers just a couple of pages but is than intellectually expounded upon in this book by analyzing various social problems. Some may consider William Ryan an ideologue; however, I find him to be a practical fellow. He doesn't view the formula for "Blaming the Victim" as inherently evil as some radicals might - he simply finds it as the root cause for not solving social problems in our society. If the root cause of a social problem is the social structure, yet we seek to solve the social problem through, strictly, rehabilitation of the individual, the social problem is left unsolved.

I have taught several classes on poverty, social problems and social welfare and am able to utilize Ryan's book in all of these classes. His presentation is put forward in a common-sense manner, and he provides a rational refutation on commonly held beliefs on problems ranging from poverty to child abuse. This is a book worth getting if for no other reason to reevaluate how we look at problems and more importantly how to go about solving them.

Rating:
Summary: "Blaming the Victim" Theme Has Caused Much Damage
Review: William Ryan is almost certainly a very warm and decent human being. I suspect that he would be a great next door neighbor and loyal friend. Ryan means well and only wishes the best for those mired in permanent underclass poverty. Unfortunately, one's heart might be in the proverbial right place, but this is of little value if the head is not on straight. Dr. Ryan's theme decrying an alleged blaming of the victim did much to inhibit the necessary dialogue needed to resolve these awkward and difficult issues: anyone even suggesting in a logical and thoughtful manner that poverty sometimes results from behavioral deficiencies was perceived as disgusting and possibly evil. William Ryan is the poster child of political correctness. I literally consider this book as one of the most destructive books written in the past century. There is not an ounce of hyperbole in the previous sentence. Ryan's mushy sentimentalism inadvertently caused far more harm than good. I do not recommend this book for any of its supposed virtues, but as a tragic reminder of an attitude and perspective to avoid at all costs in the future. This book is a must read for that reason alone.

The courageous scholar, Edward Banfield, paid a horrific price for his classic and beautiful work published in 1970, "The Unheavenly City: The Nature and Future of our Urban Crisis." Ryan and his ilk made sure to inflict as much suffering as possible upon Banfield. These individuals made the bizarre claim that Banfield's central thesis was per se racist. The irony is that the argument over destructive behavior underpinning poverty in certain circumstances transcends all racial and ethnic classifications. There are many white people, for instance, in the United States who are held back by their lack of possessing a viable work ethic and strong family values. I concede that a person's race can be a hindrance in climbing the social and economic ladder. Only a fool would deny this cold fact of life. Professor Ryan, however, exaggerated this factor to the point of absurdity.

Rating:
Summary: "Blaming the Victim" Theme Has Caused Much Damage
Review: William Ryan is almost certainly a very warm and decent human being. I suspect that he would be a great next door neighbor and loyal friend. Ryan means well and only wishes the best for those mired in permanent underclass poverty. Unfortunately, one's heart might be in the proverbial right place, but this is of little value if the head is not on straight. Dr. Ryan's theme decrying an alleged blaming of the victim did much to inhibit the necessary dialogue needed to resolve these awkward and difficult issues: anyone even suggesting in a logical and thoughtful manner that poverty sometimes results from behavioral deficiencies was perceived as disgusting and possibly evil. William Ryan is the poster child of political correctness. I literally consider this book as one of the most destructive books written in the past century. There is not an ounce of hyperbole in the previous sentence. Ryan's mushy sentimentalism inadvertently caused far more harm than good. I do not recommend this book for any of its supposed virtues, but as a tragic reminder of an attitude and perspective to avoid at all costs in the future. This book is a must read for that reason alone.

The courageous scholar, Edward Banfield, paid a horrific price for his classic and beautiful work published in 1970, "The Unheavenly City: The Nature and Future of our Urban Crisis." Ryan and his ilk made sure to inflict as much suffering as possible upon Banfield. These individuals made the bizarre claim that Banfield's central thesis was per se racist. The irony is that the argument over destructive behavior underpinning poverty in certain circumstances transcends all racial and ethnic classifications. There are many white people, for instance, in the United States who are held back by their lack of possessing a viable work ethic and strong family values. I concede that a person's race can be a hindrance in climbing the social and economic ladder. Only a fool would deny this cold fact of life. Professor Ryan, however, exaggerated this factor to the point of absurdity.