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Critical explanation of poverty
Three sociological perspectives on poverty
Three sociological perspectives on poverty
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Many theories today analyze poverty by looking at the average income, which may neglect certain aspects of poverty. By conceptualizing the aspect of poverty, Chambers broadens the view of poverty using his example of the “Deprivation Trap” where he explains five clusters of disadvantages and how they correlate with one another. Chambers uses the household as an example for poverty by using the following clusters: Poverty, isolation, physical weakness, vulnerability, and powerlessness (Chambers, 1983, pp. 108-110).
First, low income and production can lead to poverty in the household. Isolation may occur when a household is isolated from the community living in a rural area in the aspects of physical space and access from information. Next, physical weaknesses are described as the members of a household being affected by sickness, disability, poor living conditions, and are dependent on others. Moreover, another cluster is the Vulnerability of a household, which refers i.e. to changes in weather conditions and shocks, such as natural disasters and wars. Finally, powerlessness relates to the households’ lack of access to political influential power, information, and their own say in legal matters (Chambers, 1983, pp. 108-110).
The five clusters act as a net where they interlock causing poverty. Chambers mentions 20 possible correlations that can describe the reasoning behind poverty in a household using the five clusters interlinked with one another (Chambers, 1983, pp. 111-112). Poverty and physical weakness are strongly interlinked. For example, lack of assets affecting the livelihood causes low productivity of labor, since the ability to cultivate large areas is non existing as well as the low ability to work long hours, d...
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...s to evaluate and integrate knowledge of a society and use it to increase opportunities for them to build their capital assets. They should support peoples’ opinions and choices rather than assuming a particular livelihood strategy. For example, a sustainable livelihood in one country may be dramatically different than what would be a sustainable livelihood for another. Therefore it is essential for the approach to be analytical. The sustainable livelihood approach positively contributes to the self-empowerment of a state by allowing them the opportunity to build their assets according to their own needs. However vulnerabilities such as trends, shocks, and culture may hinder the process of sustainable living. In order for a society to maintain a sustainable life, they must be able to withstand stress and shocks from factors outside their control (Carney pp. 9-10).
David K. Shipler in his essay At the Edge of Poverty talks about the forgotten America. He tries to make the readers feel how hard is to live at the edge of poverty in America. Shipler states “Poverty, then, does not lend itself to easy definition” (252). He lays emphasis on the fact that there is no single universal definition of poverty. In fact poverty is a widespread concept with different dimensions; every person, country or culture has its own definition for poverty and its own definition of a comfortable life.
The connection between poor living conditions, low income families, and inequality of varying groups go hand in hand when dealing with poverty as discussed in Evicted by Matthew Desmond. These issues are often swept under the rug for those not immersed in the situation and can even be unknown. There is gender inequality which can affect every aspect of life, including dwelling. There is also racial inequality which also renders the quality of life. Both themes have a deeper meaning and are connected at the source of poor education and job discrimination.
Although poverty has minimized, it is still significant poverty which is characterized by a numerous amount of things. There are two types of poverty case and insular. “Case poverty is the farm family with the junk-filled yard and the dirty children playing in the bare dirt” (Galbraith 236)Case poverty is not irretraceable and usually caused if someone in the household experiences “ mental deficiency, bad health, inability to adapt to the discipline of industrial life, uncontrollable procreation, alcohol, some educational handicap unrelated to community shortcomings” (Galbraith 236).Case poverty is often blamed on the people for their shortcomings but on some levels can be to pinpoint one person's shortcomings that caused this poverty. Most modern poverty is insular and is caused by things people in this community cannot control. “The most important characteristic of insular poverty is forces, common to all members of the community, that restrain or prevent participation in economic life and increase rates of return.
Before we can explain the causes of poverty, one must first define what poverty is. If you were to ask someone for their definition of poverty, you would get several different definitions. There has been much conflict in the United States over defining poverty, but according to Diana DiNitto (2007), poverty can be defined in six different ways. Poverty as deprivation, inequality, lack of human capital, culture, exploitation, and structure are the six different ways. When a family or individual does not have the adequate amount of income to meet all of their basic needs, they are described as being deprived. Poverty as deprivation explains that a family or individual is deprived when they are living below the standard of...
Adam Smith an 18th century economist and philosopher once remarked, “ The real tragedy of the poor is the poverty of their aspirations”. Over 1.3 billion people today live on a dollar a day or less, yet due to its interconnectedness, multidimensionality, and wide ranging relativity, the condition of poverty remains nearly indefinable (Birdsall & Londoño,1997, p. 32). For the sake of this paper, poverty will defined as: A situation in which the level of living of an individual, family, or group is below the standard of the community (PAHO 2014). Often times, because of its complexity, individuals examine poverty through its influences known as the Social Determinants of Health (SDH): “The complex, integrated, and overlapping social structures
Yapa, Lakshman. "What causes Poverty? A post-modern view." Annals of the Association of American Geographers Dec. 1996.
Living in poverty as a lower class individual can be very stressful, anxious, and very little to no resources in order to survive for their own needs, as a person and also the needs of their family on a daily basis. Most, individuals who may live in poverty in the U.S. are single mothers who have children to raise on their own. In addition, to all single mothers, who can relate to the needs of working multiple jobs, and occasionally are going to school and getting a higher education; is not an easy job. Single mothers their first priority is to provide the needs of their living conditions and provide all of the needs of their own children. The following article “Angela Whitiker’s Climb” (2005), by Isabel Wilkerson was a case study
Poverty itself is a controversial and widely debated issue with a variety of opposing viewpoints. Despite differences in opinions on how poverty should be treated, the vast majority agrees that poverty is a problem plagues the nation on both economic and social levels. Economically, poverty affects everyone. As taxes are paid by the entire nation, poverty influences where our money goes and how it is spent. Socially, poverty affects families and individuals on an emotional level. Impoverishment affects happiness and health, the decisions people make, and most importantly the development of children. To best understand poverty, one must look at the issue economically and socially, and contextualize the numbers surrounding poverty as well as
When one thinks of poverty often the mental picture that comes to mind is of single parent welfare, dependent, women and unemployed, drug-addicted, alcoholic lackadaisical men. The children are often forgotten. The impact of poverty, the destruction of crime and stigmatization of the violence on the children is more devastating and irreversible than the miseducation and illiteracy that most often companies poverty. The implication is not the poverty can not be overcome but that the cycles of teenage pregnancy, welfare dependency, and dropping out of high school continues and are hard to break. The badges of poverty are just as addictive and capitiving as any disease such as alcohol or drugs.
By examining ways to bridge the gap between poverty and society, one identifies that the solution is not easy. There are a plethora of structural issues including economics and identity that play a part in the culture. Generation after generation seem to fall prey to a culture of poverty and thus, the onlooker must determine how to help these people out of an abyss. In addition, the assumptions that onlookers place on poverty deface the culture’s sense of
Poverty can be defined as the state of being extremely poor. This means that a person has very little to no financial resources or provisions necessary for survival. It proves to be a serious issue that many families in the United States have to face on a daily basis. Poverty is a serious issue because it influences employment rates, which in turn hurts economic growth when the rate is low, and it also contributes to the number of Americans whom are actually homeless today. From a sociological point of view, poverty can be looked at using several perspectives such as the functional perspective, which shows how poverty exists to keep society up and running; the symbolic interactionism perspective, in which stereotypes come into play, showing
Poverty is an ever-growing problem throughout our modern world, with millions living in its extremes. There are many consequences of poverty and the way they affect children and family life is absolutely detrimental. Poverty can be simply defined as “the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions” (Encyclopedia Britannica 2014). There are two distinct variations of poverty – absolute poverty and relative poverty, which will be further discussed throughout this essay. The total number of people worldwide who live on less than $2.50 (the bare minimum of the poverty line) is 3 billion (Global Issues, The Human Development Report, 2012). According to many, there are a varied number of consequences for those who live in poverty, especially children and families. The effects of poverty have proven to have detrimental effects on child development and the nature of family life. Saunders (2005) reiterates these factors of poverty in his book “The Consequences of Poverty”. This essay will state the many aspects of poverty and the detrimental effects its holds within child development, family life and the health of indiviudals.
Poverty, also known as the silent killer, exists in every corner of the world. In fact, almost half of the world’s population lives in poverty. According to the United States Census Bureau, there were 46.7 million people living in poverty the year of 2014 (1). Unfortunately, thousands of people die each year due to this world-wide problem. Some people view poverty as individuals or families not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. However, this is not the true definition of poverty. According to the author of The Position of Poverty, John Kenneth Galbraith, “people are poverty-stricken when their income, even if adequate for survival, falls radically behind that of the community”, which means people
What is poverty? Poverty can be defined in many different ways but according to the encyclopedia, poverty is the lack of many things like basic human needs, for example clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. The inability to afford them is what causes poverty. The cause and effect of poverty placed in many different places. Some may say that poverty can be the result from lack of money but the truth lies deeper than that. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the major causes and sub causes, as well as effects of poverty. Some are education, hunger, health insurance, homelessness, crimes and some of the sub causes as depression, obesity, substandard housing and stress.
"Causes and Effects of Poverty." Cliffs Notes. Cliffs Notes, n.d. Web. 27 Nov 2013. .