At times, during the interviews, there were incidents in certain homes that caught me off guard when they happened, reminding me that, despite the fact that I was readily able to gain entry to the homes of the participants, I was still an outsider unfamiliar with some of the norms in this community. For instance, while I was interviewing a participant in the middle of the day, her partner arrived home and offered me a cold drink. He opened the refrigerator first and then the cupboard and announced, "I have rum, gin and a little vodka left. What would you like?" Then, without missing a beat, he added, "Or would you like a cold beer instead?" Such an offer seems to point to an acceptance of alcoholic substances as part of the normal fare since there was no offer of a soft drink, juice, glass of water or a hot beverage such as tea or coffee. However, it is also possible that this might be a form of courtesy for guests in the home, or a perception that this is what is expected in such instances. On another occasion, while I was videotaping a participant preparing a dessert in her kitchen with her children, her boyfriend arrived and pulled a switchblade out of his pocket. Holding the video camera, I stood frozen in my spot while my heart skipped a beat until I realized he was just being helpful in opening the mail.

Resources to Support Educational Pursuits

Educational resources present within these low-income homes for helping their children are often limited. The reality of those living in poverty is that they do not have the same access to resources or life opportunities as the more affluent middle and upper classes. An inventory was taken to assess which types of household resources were readily available to the children to promote literacy pursuits. The results are presented in Table 6 on the next page. Briefly, all families have pens, pencils, children's books, a dictionary and purchased paper for writing, printing or drawing. Other materials, such as scrap paper, magazines, bible, or newspapers are in half or fewer of the low-income homes in the study. I discuss these results in greater detail in the subsections that follow under the categories of resources for writing and artwork; resources for reading; computers and education-oriented resources; and affordable transportation.