Those Who Work, Those Who Don't: Poverty, Morality, and Family in Rural America

254 Pages·2009·1.39 MB·English

by  Jennifer Sherman

Those Who Work, Those Who Don’t
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Those Who Work, Those Who Don’t
Poverty, Morality, and
Family in Rural America
Jennifer Sherman
University of Minnesota Press
Minneapolis
London
Part of chapter 2 was previously published as “Coping with Rural Poverty:
Economic Survival and Moral Capital in Rural America,” Social Forces85,
no. 2 (December 2006): 891–9 13. Copyright 2006 by the University of North
Carolina Press. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Copyright 2009 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401- 2520
http: // www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sherman, Jennifer.
Those who work, those who don’t : poverty, morality, and family in rural
America / Jennifer Sherman.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8166-5904-3 (hc : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8166-5905-0
(pb : alk. paper)
1. Rural poor—United States. 2. United States—Rural conditions.
I. Title.
HC110.P6S473 2009
362.50973'091734—dc22 2009018656
Printed in the United States of America on acid - free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal - opportunity educator and employer.
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Preface: Preserving Anonymity vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Poverty, Morality, and Family in Rural America 1
1. The Place I Found: An Introduction to Golden Valley 25
2. Workers and Welfare: Poverty, Coping Strategies, and
Substance Abuse 55
3. Family Life: Tradition and Safety 101
4. Remaking Masculinity: Losing Male Breadwinners 138
Conclusion: Understanding Poverty in Rural America 180
Appendix: General Interview Protocol for Male Respondents 199
Notes 203
Bibliography 215
Index 231
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Preface
Preserving Anonymity
Those Who Work, Those Who Don’t tells the story of the people and
community of Golden Valley, California. Golden Valley is not its real
name, and all of the names mentioned in this book are pseudonyms, in-
cluding the names of all people, places, and businesses. With qualita-
tive and ethnographic research, it is not uncommon to use pseudonyms
to protect the anonymity of subjects. Because they are often sharing
personal or controversial information, it is necessary to offer subjects
some protection from either embarrassment or the negative reactions
of those who might disagree with their perspectives. Respecting and
maintaining the subjects’ privacy is vital to the completion of a project
of this nature. In the case of Golden Valley, I have taken this practice
as far as I can. The stories presented here are personal ones, and for many
people they were difficult tales to tell. All interview subjects signed con-
sent forms that acknowledged their willingness to participate in inter-
views and be quoted from them. The forms explained that recordings
and transcripts of their interviews would be identified by numbers rather
than names and would be kept locked and available only to me. Consent
forms also pledged that subjects would remain anonymous and that all
identifying details would be changed in any writing about this research
to ensure their anonymity. Thus, not only are names changed, but in
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viii Preface
several cases small details have also been altered to make it more difficult
for Golden Valley residents to recognize one another in the pages of
this book. These details were generally minor, such as people’s specific
injuries, places of work (also pseudonyms), or the number of children
in their families. I hope that such small deviations from their truths
will help to keep their identities concealed.
To further protect the privacy of Golden Valley residents, the sources
of information have been omitted in some sections of the book. Much
of the background information about the community presented here
comes from local sources or those that mention the community or county
by name. This includes newspaper articles, county statistical reports,
and information from the Web sites of local organizations. When such
sources are used, no citation is given so as to ensure that Golden Valley
remain anonymous even to those whose curiosity might compel them
to take the extra step of tracking down an original source and through
it discover the community’s identity. Particularly, much of the informa-
tion in chapter 1 bears no citation. I hope that the reader will trust in
the accuracy of the data and understand that keeping my promise to
the people of Golden Valley to prioritize their privacy must take prece-
dence over full disclosure of all data sources.
Acknowledgments
Many people thought I was crazy to move to such a remote, isolated
place as Golden Valley. I often agreed with them through the long,
dark days of winter, the rainstorms that flooded the creek banks, the
snowstorms that stranded me miles from town, and the frequent black-
outs that deprived me of both electricity and running water. But those
who visited in the spring and summer were able to see the other side:
the amazing views of mountains and the evening alpine glow, the
wildlife of all kinds, the apples in the orchard and the asparagus in the
garden. Golden Valley was a place of extremes, with a climate that v aried
from hot, sunny, parched summers to oppressive, damp, cold winters that
caused widespread seasonal depression for many of its residents, includ-
ing me. It was not an easy place to live in, nor was it an easy place to
conduct research in. I have many people to thank for my survival there
and the completion of this project.
First, I express my deepest gratitude to the people of Golden Valley.
They exhibited incredible strength and beauty in the face of overwhelm-
ing struggle and hardship and were amazingly generous with both their
time and their limited resources. I could not have managed there with-
out their selfless gifts, from fixing broken cars to helping stack wood, to
lending their pets, to keeping me company at strange hours and simply
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