title: Root shock revisited: perspectives of early head start mothers on community and policy environments and their effects on child health, development, and school readiness.
abstract: Racial differences in school readiness are a form of health disparity. By examining, from the perspective of low-income minority families participating in an Early Head Start study, community and policy environments as they shape and inform lived experiences, we identified several types of social and economic dislocation that undermine the efforts of parents to ready their children for school. The multiple dislocations of community triggered by housing and welfare reform and "urban renewal" are sources of stress for parents and children and affect the health and development of young children. Our findings suggest that racial differences in school readiness result not from race but from poverty and structural racism in American society.
authors.affiliation: Department of Behavioral and Community Health Sciences, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
authors.forename: Carol L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: McAllister
authors.forename: Tammy L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Patrick C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Beth L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D002657:Child Development; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011050:Policy Making; D011203:Poverty; D044469:Racial Groups; D012934:Social Isolation; D014754:Violence; D055815:Young Adult