Work

Denying Pathology While Implying It? Avoiding Person-Centered Pathology Traps in Counter-Deficit Research

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Pathological thinking surrounding disenfranchised and marginalized communities remains a problem in education policy, popular discourse, and research on marginalized communities. Scholars employ a host of frameworks to challenge such pathological thinking, often through the language of deficits. We argue that in an effort to refute pathological thinking about marginalized communities, counter-deficit frameworks potentially rely on a different logic of pathology through an overreliance on person-centered rationales for educational success and educational inequity. Specifically, this essay demonstrates how scholars, if they are not careful, can fall into two different pathology traps: (a) the “high achievers trap” and (b) the “blaming teachers trap.” We offer guidance of how to avoid such traps through careful attention to structural forces of oppression.

Source: Educational Researcher

DOI: 10.3102/0013189x251316273

Authors: Antar A. Tichavakunda, Suneal Kolluri

Institutions: University of California, Santa Barbara, University of California, Riverside

Language: English

Topic: Critical Race Theory in Education

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,500