xt7c862bc906 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7c862bc906/data/mets.xml Kentucky University of Kentucky. Center for Developmental Change 1968 Other contributors include Gladden, James W. Photocopies. Unit 1, copy 2 is a photocopy issued by the clearinghouse for Federal Scientific and Technical Information. Report of a study by an interdisciplinary team of the University of Kentucky, performed under Contract 693 between the University of Kentucky Research Foundation and the Office of Economic Opportunity, 1965-68. Includes bibliographical references. Part of the Bert T. Combs Appalachian Collection. books  English  Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection.  Community Action Program (U.S.) Economic assistance, Domestic--Kentucky--Knox county. Poor--Kentucky--Knox County Community Action in Appalachia: An Appraisal of the "War on Poverty" in a Rural Setting of Southeastern Kentucky, August 1968; Unit 4: Family Life Styles, Social Participation, and Socio-Cultural Change text Community Action in Appalachia: An Appraisal of the "War on Poverty" in a Rural Setting of Southeastern Kentucky, August 1968; Unit 4: Family Life Styles, Social Participation, and Socio-Cultural Change 1968 2016 true xt7c862bc906 section xt7c862bc906 ¤ z
C O M M U N I T Y A C T I O N I N A P P A L A C H I A
An Appraisal of the "War on Poverty"
in a Rural Setting of Southeastern Kentucky
(Report of a study by an interdisciplinary team of the University
of Kentucky, performed under Contract #693 between the University
of Kentucky Research Foundation and the Office of Economic
/Qpportunity, 1965-1968)
UNIT 4 I
FAMILY LIFE STYLES, SOCIAL PARTICIPATION,
AND SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE
(Profiles of Selected Knox County Families-—Patterns of
, Family Behavior, Belief and Value Systems and Their Re-
_ I lation to Participation in Community Action Programs).
by
b' James W. Gladden

 o!
Contents of Entire Report: l
COMMUNITY ACTION [N APPALACHIA
This is one unit of a report which includes the following units,
||ch separately bound an ia this ono:
Unit 1--Paul Street, Lntgoducgion and Synthesis
Quality of Life In Rural Poverty Areas
Unit 2--Lowndes F. Stephens, Economic Progress in an Aggalechtag
County; The Relationshig Between Economlc
end Social Change
Unit 3--Stephen R. Cain, g Selective Descrigtion of a Knox County
Mountain Neighborhood
Unit 4-·James W. Gladden, [emily Llfe Styles, Social Particigatgog
and 8ocgo—Cultural Change
it Chango and Impacts of Community Action
_? Unit 5--Herbert Hirsch, Poyergy, Particigatlon, and Political
· Socialization: A Study of the Relatiogshig
Qetween Perticigation in the Community éctjog
Program and the Political Socgalizatiog of
thg_Agga1echian Chtlg.
Unit 6--Morris K. Caudill, The Youth Develogment Program
t Unit 7--Lewis Donohew and B. Krishna Singh, Modernization of
Life Styles
Unit 8--Willis A. Sutton, Jr., Leedersn1g_£nd Community Relgttvnl
Unit 9··0tt1S Murphy and Paul Street, The "lmegc" of the Kyo; Cogngy
Community Action Program
· Spec1flC Community Action Programa
Unit IO--Ottls Murphy, [he Kyo; County Economic Oggortunyty Anti-
Poyerty Arts and Crafts Store Project
Unit II··Paul Strétt and Linda Tomes, The Early Childhood Program
Unit 12--Paul StfB¤t. [hg Health Education Program
Unit 13——Thomas P. Field. Wilford Bladen, and Burtis Webb. Recent
Homg Construction in Two APB9Iech1an Qoggttsg
h

 ABSTRACT
FAMHLY LIFE STYLES, SOCIAL PARTICIPATION, AND SOCIO-CULTURAL CHANGE
(PROFILES OF SELECTED KNOX COUNTY FAM LIES--PATTERNS OF
FAM LY BEHAVIOR, BELIEF AND VALUE SYSTEMS AND THEIR
RELATION TO PARTICIPATION IN COM UNITY
ACTION PROGRAMS)
by
James W. Gladden
What are families like that actively participate in an OEO Community
Action Program in a predominantly rural county in Appalachian Kentucky?
Why do some families refuse or fail to take part in a government-
sponsored local com unity effort for rehabilitation? Are those that
support the enterprise and use new social services significantly dif-
ferent from the non-participating families?
These were some of the questions that this portion of the evalua-
tion of Knox County's Community Action Program (KCCAP), by the University of
Kentucky research team, tried to answer. A purposive sample of 131 intact
families was studied to discover features of the family life styles of three.
catagorical types. Nearly three-fourths (95) of the selected families re-
ported a sub-standard income of less than $3,500 for the year 1966-67.
The remaining 36 had self—earned incomes for the same period of more than
$3,000 but less than $6,000. Those with sub-standard incomes were divided
into two sets: Participating Poor (PP) families numbering 39 and Non-
participating Poor (NP) units totaling 56.
The research design was to contrast the two Poor groups and com-
pare them, together and separately, with the 36 relatively autonomous
A families to see which of the Poor types, PP or NP, were more similar

 2
to the Above Poor (AP). The hypothesis was that PP would be more
V like the control group (AP) and would show promise of real improvement
in the early future because of their disposition to co—operate. The
hypothesis was generally supported in that, more frequently than not,
PP proved to be more similar to AP in family ideology, upward mobility,
and future goals.
Two sets of questionnaires each were administered, a year apart,
to the mothers in their homes and to sixth·grade sons in their schools.
Data analysis showed both PP and NP were quite fatalistic because of
their espousal of fundamentalistic and sectarian religious views. Q
Majorities in both types were affiliated with, and regular attenders
of, small churches. Both were also highly familistic in their loyal- _
ties and associational activity. The two types were headed by parents
(only whole families were studied) with very low educational levels
and, on the average, in the 40-44 age group.
PP families had longer histories of financial difficulty. The
participating families differed substantially from NP in their voluntary
association, having much higher records of social interaction with kin-
folks and neighbors and in religious activities. Neither group belonged
to formal organizations to any measurable extent. PP families were
older, larger, and had more unemployed or underemployed members. Their
major objective in supporting KCCAP was economic. Considerably less
l geographically mobile than NP, they desired, for both fathers and sons,
job opportunities in Knox County or nearby. They felt that the OEO
assistance had been providential and were generally enthusiastic about

 3
  changes that had been made in the county in the wake of CAP.
NP were critical of the endeavor and chose to abstain because of
cultural scruples and a narrow version of the American doctrine of
self·help. They were opposed to government intervention, accepting
welfare and only for reasons of physical survival. NP mothers had
higher aspirations and expectations for their sons than did PP; their
boys also aspired highly and seem to be headed toward more frustra-
tion than the PP lads. NP, more stable, believe in status quo; PP, more
vertically mobile, support change.
The study concludes that the Poor in Knox County need jobs,
vocational training (for the boys perhaps as early as the elementary
grades) and a much improved plan for community organization. KCCAP
has helped a minority of families who are very grateful. The great
majority are still resisting chronic dependency. The region needs
most a creative, imaginative provision for economic development which
the national OEO decided, in l965 and again in 1968, not to implement.
D

 PREFACE
In a sense, this study is a continuation of an observation of family
life in Eastern Kentucky started nearly two decades ago. Shortly after
coming to the University of Kentucky in 1949, I conducted research on
families in two small industrial communities in Harlan and Floyd counties
to determine the effects on the family culture of the shift in occupation
of the household head. Very little cultural change was discovered de-
spite the fact that some of the men were second and third generation
miners. The durability of the mountain farm culture was impressive.
I had intended to follow up that study with another ten years
later. To my dismay, the great majority of the families observed in
1950 had migrated out of the state by 1960 and were too dispersed to
contact. But my interest had been whetted in the family patterns of
this relatively isolated mountain region. Consequently, when the
opportunity for an adequately supported investigation of contemporary
families in nearby Knox County was made possible, I was quite ready
to accept.
An equal interest in the religious behavior of the area's
population alerted me to the likelihood of its importance in under-
standing the possibility of cultural and social change in Appalachia.
I urged an inclusion of some kind of examination of religious beliefs in
Knox County. As it turned out, we probably should have stressed this
aspect more than we did. Fortunately, this crucial pattern was not l
completely ignored.
D
iii

 This portion of the inter—disciplinary investigation of the
effectiveness of the Knox County Community Action Program concentrated
on the county's intact families. Initiated in the spring of 1966,
shortly after the program was founded, the research design was de-
veloped to provide a Time I field study that fall. This step sought
to ascertain the characteristics of rural families which were the
target groups of the innovative Federal project. The following
summer, a second set of questionnaires was perfected to probe the social
participation of the families selected for the study. The field work
was completed in the fall and winter of 1967 with another round of
visits to the county. Data analysis and preparation of the report of
our findings were completed by July 15, 1968. It should be noted that
the actual study of family behavior and associational activity covered
only a period of approximately eighteen months of the three-year pro-
gram. It would have been more appropriate to have made the second
investigation, i.e., the study of center participation, late in the
current year in order to secure a completely valid account of the
involvement of the families in the co—operative enterprise. However,
this was impossible in the time allotted for the research.
I am indebted to a number of people for the completion of the
study. Two graduate students in Sociology at the University con-
tributed largely. Lynn Lackey participated in the development of the
first questionnaires and in the administration of the schedules to the
grade school boys. Mrs. Vibba Saiyed has done so much in the two years
in which she has worked with this part of the evaluation that the
’ discussion which ensues is expressed in the plural first person to
iv

 denote her involvement in both the data gathering and the data analysis.
I especially thank Dr. Paul Street for granting me the privilege to deal
with the research problems as I saw fit and for his support throughout.
Gratitude is due to several of my colleagues who have strengthened
my knowledge of the area. In both their writings and in conversation,
Drs. James Brown and Harry Schwarzweller have immeasurably aided me.
‘ I am deeply appreciative of the faith my department chairman, Dr.
Thomas Ford, has had in the worthwhileness of the project and the re-
leased time, over the period, from teaching duties. No one who writes
can ever fully express his thanks to the secretaries who labor long
to help bring research to publication. In this case, my thanks go to
Linda Donaldson and Mrs. Julia Fleming.
I am especially grateful to the various persons in Knox County who
greatly facilitated my work. The OEO personnel, the school administrators,
and the classroom teachers were models of hospitality. To Dr. Ottis
Murphy, our liaison representative at Barbourville, and his secretarial
U staff, I owe much for their innumerable assists. Finally, I wish to
thank in this way, my wife who admirably co—operated from the inception
of the research design to its final fruition.
——J. W. Gladden
August 1968
v

 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE iii
LIST or TABLES viii
LIST OF FIGURES xii
INTRODUCTION 1
Chapter
I. RESEARCH DESIGN ................... 6
Family Types: Description of the Sample
Research Objectives
Sampling Procedures and Sourcescf Data
Treatment of Data
II. DEMOGRAPHIC COMPOSITION AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC
CHARACTERISTICS ................. 19
Ethnic and Racial Origin
Age and Sex Composition
Selected Social Features
Economic Characteristics
III. SOCIAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMS ...... 40
The Progress of Change
Programs Fostering Family Development
Readiness for Change
IV. FAMILY SUB—CULTURES AND PLANNING FOR
SOCIAL CHANGE .................. 58
Family Sub—Cultures of the Poor
Planning for Social Change
V. RELIGIOUS FACTOR AND SOCIAL CHANGE ......... 82
Church Membership in Knox County
Church Membership in the Sample
` Trends in Reactionary Religious Forms
,Church Membership and Community Improvement
VI. FAMILY STRUCTURE AND MOBILITY ........... 99
Structure of the Sample Families
Family Mobility and Participation
Differences in the Sample
vi

 Chapter Page
VII. ASSOCIATIONAL AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITY ...... 116
Personal Mobility of Knox Countians
Associational Patterns of the Selected
Families
Spare Time Activities
Ideational Mobility——Exposure to Mass Media
Typical Trends and Differences
VIII. CONJUGAL ROLES, CONCEPTS OF PARENTHOOD AND ,
CHILD—REARING PRACTICES ............. 130
Conjugal Role Acceptance and Performance
Planned Parenthood
Child·Rearing Concepts and Practices
IX. SOCIALIZATION PROCESS——ASPIRATIONS AND
EXPECTATIONS .................. 160
Boys' Aspirations for Mobility
Mothers' Aspirations for their Boys
Typical Trends and Differences
Sharers in the Socialization Process
X. PROSPECTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE ............ 188
Reasons Why Poor Families Do Not Participate
Reasons Why PP Families Do Participate
Towards A Profile of Participating Families
KCCAP and Participating Families
KCCAP and Grade School Children
The School as a Vehicle for Mobility
Suggestions for Planned Social Change
Prospects for Adoption of Social Change
NOTES ........................... 216
LIST OF WORKS CITED .................... 220
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
vii

 LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1. Number of Families not Included and Reasons
for Exclusion ..................... l4
2. Number of Families in Three Sample Types .. ........ 15
3. Closest Center by Family Types .............. 17
4. Percentage Distribution of the Population, by
Marital Status and by Sex, in Knox County,
its Rural Portion, and in the U. S., 1960. ...... 22
5. Selected Labor Force Characteristics of the
Sample as Compared with Those of the County
in 1960 ........................ 31
6. Selected Economic Characteristics by Family
Types and by Total Sample ............... 33
7. Housing and Residential Mobility
by Family Types .................... 38
8. Contacts with and Participation in the Various ......
Programs of KCCAP by Family Types and by
Total Sample ..................... 49
9. Opinions About Centers and About Improvements
that Have Been Brought About in Knox County
by Family Types and by Total Sample .......... 50
10. Reasons for Never Participating by Family Types
and by Total Non Participating ............. 53
ll. Participation in Selected Formal Organizations
(other than those now promoted by KCCAP)
by Family Types and by Total Sample .......... 54
12. Differences Between Poor and AP Respondents in
Fatalistic Orientation as Revealed by Responses
(in percentages) to the Various Statements
Indicating Fatalism .................. 64
13. Orientation to the Present as Revealed by Poor
Respondents, AP Respondents and Total Respondents . . . 66
viii

 Table Page
14. Joint Decision Making and Sharing of Parental
Roles by Family Types and by Total Sample ....... 70
15. Evidence of Parental Authoritarianism by Family
Types and by Total Sample ............... 71
16. Extent of Practicality (Concreteness) by Family
Types and by Total Sample ............... 76
17. Kinship Network and Familism by Family Types
and by Total Sample .................. 77
18. Shift in Church Affiliations in the Last Two Decades . . . 84
19. Attendance at Religious Services by Family
Types and by Total Sample ............... 85
20. Differences Between AP and Poor Respondents in
their Agreement with Certain Beliefs of
Fundamentalistic Nature ............... 88
21. Intensity of Religious Resolutions by Family Types
and by Total Sample .................. 89
22. Religion in Home Activities by Family Types and
by Total Sample .................... 90
23. Ideas Regarding the Future of Protestant Church
by Family Types and by Total Sample ......... 91
24. Conception Regarding Social Programs in Churches
by Family Types and by Total Samples ......... 92
25. Extent of Baptist Domination by Family Types and
by Total Sample .................... 93
26. Willingness to let a Family Member Become a Missionary ,
to a Foreign Country by Family Types and by
Total Sample ..................... 96
27. Extent of Religiosity in Family and of the Wife by
Family Types and by Total Sample ........... 97
28. Age Composition of Wives and Husbands by Family
Types and by Total Sample ...... . ....... 103
29. Family Size by Family Types and by Total Sample ..... 104
30. Size of Wife's Mother's Family by Present Family Size . . 106
ix

 Table Page
31. Differences Between NP and PP in Inter-
generational Education Mobility ........... 109
32. Occupational Stability and Mobility by
Family Types and by Total Sample .......... 112
33. Mutual Help with Relatives and Neighbors by
Family Types and by Total Sample .......... 121
34. Informal Meeting Places by Family Types
and by Total Sample ..... . .......... 122
35. Participation in Civic Organizations by
Family Types and by Total Sample .......... 123
36. Sparetime Activities by Family Types and
by Total Sample ................... 124
37. Contact with Mass Media by Family Types and
by Total Sample ...... . ............ 125
38. Informal Associational Interaction by Family
Types and by Total Sample .............. 128
39. Intensity of Participation in Formal Association
by Family Types and by Total Sample ......... 128
40. Overall Conjugal Role Index by Family Types
and by Total Sample ................. 137
41. Wife's Deference in Certain Selected Matters
by Family Types and by Total Sample ......... 139
42. Help Received by Wife in Fulfilling her Feminine
Obligation by Family Types and by Total Sample . . . 139
43. Wife°s Sense of Satisfaction with Mother—Wife Role
by Family Types and by Total Sample ......... 140
44. Control of Family Size by Family Type and by
Total Sample ................. . . . 143
45. Reasons for Desiring Children by Family Types
and by Total Sample ................ . 144
46. Parental Permissiveness by Family Types and
by Total Sample ................... 149
47. Consistency Between Spouses in Handling Children
by Family Types and by Total Sample ......... 150
X

 Table Page
48. Boy's Identification with Father by Family
Types and by Total Samples 151
49. Dependency in Children by Family Types and by
Total Sample 154
50. Status Awareness and Aspirations of Boys by
Family Types and by Total Sample 166
51. Potential Occupational Mobility by Family Types
and by Total Sample 167
52. Educational Aspirations of Boys by Family Types
and by Total Sample 169
53. Potential Spatial Mobility by Family Types
and by Total Sample 170
54. Consensus on Son”s Career by Types of Poor
Families 174
55. Desiderata in Choice of Son's Job by Family
Types and by Total Sample 175
56. Behavior Qualities in Child Desired by Mothers
and Sons by Types of Poor Families 176
57. Schooling Desired by Family Types and by Total
Sample 179
58. Importance of Education for Boy”s Later Life by
Family Types and by Total Sample 181
59. Distance Between Home and Closest Community Center
by Family Types and by Total Sample 191
60. Perception of OEO Goals by Boy by Family
Types and Total Sample 202
61. Boys° Opinions on Government Policy for Treatment
of Poor by Family Types and by Total Sample 203
62. Specific Help Received by Boys who have been to
Centers by Family Types and by Total Sample 209
63. Siblings Educational Attainment as Compared to
Possible Level of Schooling for their Age
by Family Types and by Total Sample 211
xi

 LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1. Mixed Tendencies in Progression or Regression
in NP, PP, and AP Families in the Degree of
Husband's Contribution .............. 139
2. Mixed Tendencies in Progression or Regression
in NP, PP, and AP Boys in the Degree of
Aspiration .................... 168
3. Progressive Tendencies From NP to AP Boys on
Items Indicative of Potential Upward
Mobility ..................... 169
xii

 INTRODUCTION
The Knox County Community Action Program (KCCAP) has been in opera-
tion much too short a period to expect significant and measurable changes
in family organization and behavior. The institution of the family is too
tradition~1aden to undergo rapid alteration in a free society. Change
emerges more slowly "in the more basic, more emotionally charged, more
A sacred aspects of a culture." (Berelson and Steiner, 1964)
Still, the family situation is felt to be both a leading cause and
a serious effect of poverty conditions. Some conclusions are desired
concerning the impact of the KCCAP on families and through these social
units on individual members. It is an accepted fact that existing
families, and those yet to be created, must be more self-sustaining if
the war on poverty is to be won. However, there is little consensus
yet among social analysts on what constitutes family improvement or
what the indicators are that justify the assertion that families have
left the ranks of the poverty-stricken. Some say, as did David
Moynihan, "The essential fact about family stability is that as individuals
become more prosperous, in the sense of having greater incomes, their
marriages become more stable." (Myrdal, 1968) Hence, since poverty is
basically defined in monetary terms by the Office of Economic Opportunity,
it would seem that a major goal is being achieved if more families are
found to be receiving annual incomes over the arbitrarily set poverty line.
Others counter, as did the President's Commission on the problem,
that poverty is only partially due to low income. Their report (The
People Left Behind, 1965) cites the paramount needs in Appalachia of a
general lifting of the educational level and "crash" training in market-
1

 2
able skills for youth and unemployed adults, Persons can then be expected
to earn enough to make themselves and their families self~supporting, i,en,
no longer so dependent on government subsidy for their economic welfare,
Can we claim improvement in family and individual well—being has occurred
if more children are in school, and they stay there longer than their parents?
Or if more young males and females are getting job training?
Some social scientists claim that the large number of dependents
is the root of the plight of most poor families. (Ornati, 1965) These
critics would seek confirmation of the salutary effects of KCCAP in the
increasing numbers of women who secure contraceptive guidance to limit
their offspring. High rates of family dissolution are also known to be
M concommitants of poverty. Therefore, fewer couples voluntarily breaking
their marital ties or lower morbidity and mortality rates could serve as
proof of the worth of the new programs, Out·migration is so highly
recommended, by many who see the area as over~populated for its economic
potential, that a general exodus from the county might demonstrate
KCCAP”s effectiveness,
Quite apart from such presumed indications of renewed family
stability·and some of the above have occurred in Knox County in the past
three years — the question remains whether cultural change will be
sufficient to maintain the social changes promoted by the ameliorative
agencies and personnel, Can communities which are invigorated by
governmental intervention become viable enough to continue on their own?
Are present families being prepared to wage their own battles against the
specter of poverty? Have there been enough changes in Knox County to
justify the expenditures of time, energy, and money?

 3
If families continue to cherish beliefs that are not conducive to
social health, to say nothing of progress, if they retain attitudes that
resist or prevent mutual cooperation and, if they cling to values different _
from those said to be in the mainstream of their society, the poverty Q
cycle may persist or resume if and when the help from the larger society
is curtailed or withdrawnl These aspects of the local and regional
I sub~culture, as adaptive as they may have been for previous physical
subsistence and psychic survival, have served to make the people who live
by them appear to a native analyst as the Permanent Pocrq (Caudill, 196Q;
The possible persistence of these cultural elements into the future prevents
an easy reliance on the evidence furnished by social indices such as a rise
in family income (perhaps by greater transfers of wealth), an increase in
` the county school system"s retention power, a drop in proportions of
families disrupted or even a decrease in family size (as important as
all of these seem in the social context of the county). The removal or
withdrawal of people from the county, in the years ahead, may continue to
act so selectively of age and productivity as to make the problem of those
remaining far more insolublen One might add that many migrants from
southeastern Kentucky have joined thousands of others to produce and
aggravate urban poverty elsewhere because of their inability or refusal
to acculturate or become assimilated in the cities to which they movedl
This is not to state that we cannot ever know if the Knox Countv
CAP has "worked" to improve families. It says rather that we shall need
more socio·psychological depth analyses and more extensive longitudinal
study to document the impact KCCAP may have had on families in such
straightened circumstances as those known to exist in this target area,

 4
A "Planning of necessity implies the future and the elements of prognosis
inherent in a program can never be exposed to the ultimate empirical check
before they become history." (Myrdal, 1968) But the difficulties involved _
in evaluating, as well as those encountered in planning, are no excuse for
a disclaimer that programs cannot be rationally formulated and then care- V
fully checked. 4
In light of the foregoing, it seemed more feasible and more
appropriate to examine a sample of Knox County families and their relative
participation in various community activities. The aim would be to make l
some assessment of the poor people's acceptance of the innovative community E
enterprise rather than try to measure the early effects of the programs Q
on families and individual members. It should be a real contribution to ·
planners on all levels of the national society to have information about i
those families, in this predominantly rural county, which were more likely l
than others to accept l) proffered governmental assistance of a non-dole g
nature, 2) a larger opportunity to help one another to enhance their life- i
chances, and 3) guidance and grants for neighborhood and local community j
development toward more effective democratic action. In addition, some "
understanding of the features of resisting families, of those seemingly 5
devoted to exclusiveness or handicapped by isolation, should inform T
future strategies for aiding other disadvantaged sections of the country. I
The purpose of this portion of the Evaluation progect is to offer V
profiles of several types of families, derived from data obtained in a Q
study of the relation of participation, in the various KCOEO—sponsored ·
programs, and selected personal and family characteristics.l Where clues _
were discovered and inferences might be drawn about the achievement of

 5
KCCAP goals they will be suggested, But, until future studies can be made g
to test emerging perceptions, our statements concerning the impact of r
KCCAP, in stimulating basic changes in the area°s sub·culture or in enabling `
families to escape now or avoid later the entrapment of poverty, must V
largely remain speculative and hypotheticalo
2

 CHAPTER I »
THE RESEARCH DESIGN
An hypothesis is advanced in the general research design for v_
evaluating the effectiveness of Knox County CAP that i
"Those who participate in the community centers, d
while generally of the low income groups perhaps, I
are nevertheless distinguishable from the ”hard “,
core" poverty group·~are more qmiddle class° in i
attitudes, aspirations and living standard than ?
those of low income who do not participate." ii
This portion of the research project was largely designed to `é·
operationalize and test this hypothesis. The study is focused on the 1
life styles of a purposive sample of Knox County families to ascertain L?
if there are discernible and significantly discriminating differences lll
that distinguish low income families who are willing to participate in lx;
the various activities sponsored by the KCEOC (Knox County Economic =i
Opportunity Council) from the poor families who refuse or fail to become   ,
involved. jlg
Q,.
It is presumed that a major reason why poverty has persisted in ’—
some sections of the country and may be perpetuated in rural areas, is Q:
the lack of engagement in extra·familial association and community {i"
organization by those who are suffering from limited and insufficient '
income. This non—involvement is thought to result from a kind of adap— ji
lx I
tation by people of lower incomes who tend to rely heavily on their kin- f.
ship system and narrow neighborhood ties for the satisfaction of most i
of their needs. They may eventually be compelled by their marginal i
6 A .
gx
1
?%
{ .
if

 7
economic position to venture out of their seclusion to secure governmental
assistance to survive. The one formal organization in which they par-
ticipate, outside of the family, is likely to be a religious association. A
But this social group, rather than acting to improve the community situation,
has frequently adopted sectarian tactics of an anti-societal nature and has ·
usually promoted individual reform instead. It generally operates only
indirectly to resolve social problems and may serve to create or exacerbate
local divisiveness. Of course, their children attend schools and, for a V
while at least, have contact with the larger society in a systematic way. 3
To attack this alienation said to prevail among the lowest economic i
strata in rural areas, attempts are now being made in numerous places in g
Knox County to conduct variegated activities which will elicit the par- 5
ticipation of heads of families, homemakers, and their children. Such i
group endeavors, some restricted to particular age—levels, aim to help i
persons to work out more effective solutions to particular problems Q
which accompany or result from inadequate income and limited socialization. I
Family Types: Description of the Sample 5
For one reason or another, sometimes freely expressed but often -
carefully guarded, many families do not support the new programs. Re- I
ports on general participation (elsewhere in this Evaluation) indicate i
a majority of the county's target population have attended very in- I
frequently or not at all. To determine some of the factors that shape this 3
rejecting disposition, as well as those accounting for the positive atti— A
tude of the minority that has become involved, we undertook to examine L
the life styles of the two groupings. Assuming that decisions concerning l

 participation are family-made and related to the belief systems of the A
homes, we selected representative families, divided them on the basis of E,
participation, and studied their behavior, their perceptions, and their y `
goals and aspirations. d `
Also found in our research sample (chosen with this purpose in mind) ·:
is a third kind of family. The first two types represent those groups Ii,
announced to be the target of the national war on poverty--those whose E E`
. total annual incomes were less than $3,000* or, if more, received a Yi—
portion of their income, in l966, in some form of governmental welfare cj
subsidy. Our third group of families are headed by a father who is ‘g;%
presently employed in an occupation usually taken to indicate sub- J:
stantial membership