Editing Underclass (section)

===Social-psychological characteristics===
Many writers often highlight the social-psychological dimensions of the underclass. The underclass is often framed as holding beliefs, attitudes, opinions, and desires that are inconsistent with those held by society at large. The underclass is frequently described as a "discouraged" group with members who feel "cut off" from mainstream society.<ref name="Underclass"/> Linked to this discussion of the underclass being psychologically deviant, the underclass is also said to have low levels of cognition and literacy.<ref name="Jenks growing" /> Thus, the underclass is often seen as being mentally disconnected from the rest of society. Consider the following:

{{quote|The underclass rejects many of the norms and values of the larger society. Among underclass youth, achievement motivation is low, education is undervalued, and conventional means of success and upward mobility are scorned. There is widespread alienation from society and its institutions, estrangement, social isolation, and hopelessness, the sense that a better life is simply not attainable through legitimate means.<ref>{{cite book|last=Devine|first=Joel|title=The Greatest of Evils: Urban Poverty and the American Underclass|url=https://archive.org/details/greatestofevilsu0000devi|url-access=registration|year=1993|publisher=Aldine De Gruyter|location=Hawthorne, NY|isbn=0-202-30474-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/greatestofevilsu0000devi/page/84 84]|author2=James Wright }}</ref>}}