Social Issues and Poverty

990 Words2 Pages

Introduction Social issues are problems in the society today that are described as wrong, widespread and changeable. A category of conditions that people believe need to be changed. Poverty is a serious social issue in the society today. According to Peilin (2012), poverty brings hardships to families and individuals as well as political thereby negatively affecting the social stability and social development and posing a severe threat to human security (p. 243). This paper focuses on poverty as a social issue in today’s society. First, it gives a succinct introduction of the social issue, and then describes how it fits into the field of sociology. It also evaluates the sociological theories and terminology that relate to the social issue. The section that follows evaluates what is known and unknown about the particular social issue. This is followed by a discussion regarding the value of sociological research into the issue determining the available or possible practical implications of the sociological inquiry. The information presented here is strongly supported by the concepts and theories derived from reliable sources. Poverty as a social Issue Poverty is generally defined as a state of deprivation in well-being. The conventional perspective connects well-being basically to control over commodities, so the poor are individuals who do not have sufficient income or consumption to place them above some adequate bare minimum threshold (Lyman et al, 2004). Poverty is also tied to a particular type of consumption, for instance people may be considered health poor, house poor or food poor. The poverty dimensions can often be determined directly. For instance it can be measured by assessing malnutrition or levels of literacy (Alla... ... middle of paper ... ... conditions and it is a severe societal phenomenon that challenges a significant fraction of the world population. A few of the well known facts are that poverty has several causes and faces and that it often increases with the increase in population. However it is not known what can be done to lessen the poverty levels through tourism and which character traits are particular for males and females leading in high poverty levels (Peilin, 2012). Sociological inquiry attempts to address the fundamental elements, issues, processes and meanings assigned to social realities and occurrences. The sociological research helps in describing poverty as a social phenomenon and creates a deeper and richer understanding on poverty as a social reality (Peilin, 2012). The main implication of the sociological inquiry is that it provides a central organizing model for the discipline.

Show More
Related

  • Conventional Common Wisdom

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Janson And Fraser On Poverty

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    When beginning the readings in the module about poverty, I was struck by a sense of shame. Jenson & Fraser (2011) have some pretty hard-hitting statistics and the graphs did a really good job illustrating the prevalence and trends in poverty; I really appreciated graph 2.1, which displays the racial and ethnic disparities that exist for children experiencing poverty, because it demonstrates how the national rate of childhood poverty can be deceptive (26-30).

    Read More

  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

    2218 Words  | 5 Pages

    There are multiple causes of why a family or individual can fall into poverty, which includes but is not limited to, disability, unemployment, age, and recessions, as we have seen through the 2008 recession and the Great Depression. Throughout this paper, I will address poverty as a social problem and its causes. I will also focus on how children and family households headed by single mothers are affected by poverty, and how Temporary Assistance for Needy Families came about to help children and families in poverty. 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.

    Read More

  • The Pathology And Diverty: The Culture Of Poverty

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    The pathology model, known as the culture of poverty, claims that poverty is attributed to the personal failings of the individual, family or community. It is perceived that this failings stem from a combination of dysfunctional behaviors, attitudes, and values that make and keep poor people poor. With the structural economic model, it is believed that proponents of poverty as a structural problem trace its roots to dysfunctional aspects of the economic system. These claims place more responsibility on the failure of the government to address fundamental economic patterns that have forced people into poverty and not provided a means out. They also reflect the idea that what are often considered to be characteristics of a culture of poverty are actually characteristics of poverty itself, having nothing to so with the attitudes, values, and life choices od those forced to live in poverty. (Guest, 422-423)

    Read More

  • Facts That Lead To Poverty: Th

    1907 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poverty occurs in most parts of the world. Nevertheless, the more serious and problematical poverty takes part in the third world and the southern parts of the globe. First of all, we have to clearly define the word “poverty';. In a broad sense, it means that people within this “poverty'; region are poor or have a lower average income per capita than other regions. To a deeper approach, we refer “poverty'; as people have low educational backgrounds, lack of food supplies, or people with lower standard of livings, etc. According to the Webster’s New World Dictionary, the word “poverty'; can be defined as: 1) the condition or quality of being poor 2) deficiency; inadequacy 3) scarcity (Webster’s p.461). Generally in this essay, we will examine the facts that lead to the poverty of these third world and southern countries.

    Read More

  • Poverty in America

    1213 Words  | 3 Pages

    Everyone knows what the word poverty means. It means poor, unable to buy the necessities to survive in today's world. We do not realize how easy it is for a person to fall into poverty: A lost job, a sudden illness, a death in the family or the endless cycle of being born into poverty and not knowing how to overcome it. There are so many children in poverty and a family's structure can effect the outcome. Most of the people who are at the poverty level need some type of help to overcome the obstacles. There are mane issues that deal with poverty and many things that can be done to stop it.

    Read More

  • Poverty : Poverty And Poverty

    1615 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poverty has been a growing problem in America, and it most likely will never stop being one. Someone who is identified as being in poverty lives beneath the poverty line determined by the Federal government. The poverty line in 2015 for a family of four was $24,250. These are the people who are really considered poor. Poverty isn’t just a problem in the United States; in fact, other countries struggle just as much, if not more, than the United States does. Many people struggle to keep themselves above the government’s poverty line, shown by the fact that the percent of poor people in America hasn’t drastically changed over the years. However, it is possible to get out of, and ultimately stay out of, poverty.

    Read More

  • The Horror of Poverty Exposed in There Are No Children Here

    1868 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Culture And Culture: A Culture Of Poverty

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Cause Of Poverty

    2564 Words  | 6 Pages

    Poverty is a global epidemic that contributes to the deaths of millions each year. However, poverty is more prominent in some areas around the world than others. The Oxford dictionary defines poverty as the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support, but it’s so much more. Poverty can be defined as being hungry, lacking shelter, being unable to go to school, being unable to see a doctor, or being powerless and having a lack of freedom. The reason behind the many descriptions of poverty is that poverty has many faces, and its definition changes depending on the place and time, however the effects of poverty on the poor are always the same.

    Read More

  • Absolute Poverty And Relative Poverty

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    Poverty is general scarcity or dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. It is a multifaceted concept, which includes social, economic, and political elements. Poverty seems to be chronic or temporary, and most of the time it is closely related to inequality. As a dynamic concept, poverty is changing and adapting according to consumption patterns, social dynamics and technological change. Absolute poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly includes food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter and health care.

    Read More

  • Poverty And Poverty

    1830 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Sociology: The Sociological Impacts Of Poverty

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sociology focuses on the structure and organization of a society and how this correlates to social problems and individuals. The sociological thoughts on poverty have revolved around the importance of social structures and individual agency when explaining the prevalence of poverty over the years. In many accounts, specifically political ones and academic studies, the emphasis was put on the ‘undeserving poor’, which outlined individual behaviours and apparent moral failings as key causes of poverty. Most recently, there has been arguments on whether welfare system is responsible for encouraging and supporting claimants into welfare dependency. Another idea was brought around troubled families or families who have never worked as key explanations for poverty. Sociologists have used empirical evidence to challenge individual and sociological explanations for poverty (Sociological perspectives on poverty). They emphasize the importance of the broader context and the different opportunities open

    Read More

  • What's Poverty?

    940 Words  | 2 Pages

    There is no universal definition of poverty; as deprivation and destitution are terms founded on varying individual or societal perceptions. Nevertheless, ‘Poverty’ in its most general sense is often categorised as a lack of the necessities which provide survival and allow the upholding of human dignity. This can involve a scarcity of basic food, shelter, health care, and safe living environment (Stevenson, 2014).

    Read More

  • Poverty In the Philippines

    2760 Words  | 6 Pages

    Poverty is an issue dealt with throughout the world, but we are not all aware of its conditions. Poverty is a very serious problem around the world. Poverty is defined as the equality of poorness and impoverishment -- (the state of having little or no money and few or no material possessions). A question to ask ourselves is: “Should poverty be defined strictly in terms of monetary income, as opposed to some qualitative formula which takes into consideration styles of life as well as material possessions?” (Sheppard 13) Because there are so many different ways we can express the term poverty, maybe there should be a certain way we can determine poverty worldwide?

    Read More

More about Social Issues and Poverty

Open Document