...Poverty and Social Classes Societal Problems There are three major sociological paradigms that directs the way society thinks. These paradigms are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction. The first, functionalism, is a theory that suggests that each aspect of society serves its own purpose in order to make the society run. An example of functionalism would be that you have a government that imposes taxes on its citizens. Those citizens work in order to pay the taxes. The taxes are used to pay for a police force in order to protect the citizens. Each piece works for the other in order to make the society work. The next paradigm is conflict theory. Unlike the functional theory where everything has its purpose, this theory suggests people are essentially fighting over resources. An example of conflict theory would be how women have for years been fighting for equal pay for equal work. The third paradigm is symbolic interaction. This theory differs from the other two because it deals with individual people rather than a group of people. It teaches that people interact with one another through gestures and symbols and this sets the tone for relationships. These gestures and symbols also define the way people think and react in certain situations. An example would be two people from the United States meeting for the first time would be more likely to shake hands whereas two people from Japan may...
Words: 1219 - Pages: 5
...Samantha Mellin Poverty in Society D. Murkajee In the article “Work and Marriage: The way to End Poverty and Welfare†by By: Isabel V. Sawhill[->0] and Ron Haskins[->1]. This article discusses four differences between the poor and non-poor families. For example the article claims that people in poverty do not work or work too few hours to be able to pull out of poverty. Next, the article talks about marriage and how that is a factor into being able to get out of poverty. Then the article mentions the differences between poor and non-poor regarding education levels that will show to reflect the poverty because of high school dropouts. Lastly, how the poor families are having more children where as the non-poor are having fewer children. Within this article it mentions four different simulations to determine which factors most influence the poverty rate among families by changing behaviors. The first simulations is to assume the family head is working at least full time receiving an hourly wage based on their education and characteristics as the article states “This test shows that full-time work would reduce the poverty rate more than 5 percentage points from 13 to 7.5 percent (figure 1). Thus, full-time work eliminates almost half of the poverty experienced by families with children.†(Sawhill, Haskins.) The Second Simulation is taking single mothers and unmarried men who are similar in age, education, and race once they become married their incomes then would...
Words: 356 - Pages: 2
...Poverty as a problem A. Describe the social problem. Poverty is a state in which income is insufficient to provide basic needs. Lack of control over resources, lack of education and poor health. There is a multidimensional component which may cause one to lack the ability to care for the basic needs for themselves as well as their families. Poverty can cause alienation and be very distressing. On a very concerning level are the indirect effects of poverty on the development and ones continued wellbeing in regards to emotional, behavioral and psychiatric problems. Measurement of poverty is based on income and consumption levels. People are considered poor if their consumption or income levels fall below the poverty line. The poverty line is the minimum level necessary to meet basic needs (Townsend, 1979). B. Analyze the social problem. According to article (Poverty, social inequality and mental health, 2004, para2). Poverty and social inequality have direct and indirect effects on the social, mental, and physical wellbeing of an individual or group of people. Income inequality produces psychological and psychosocial stress. This stress will trickle down and may cause increased health problems and an influx in mortality rates over time in these lower socioeconomic classes. This is caused by a lack in community investment in the social and physical infrastructure (Wilkinson, 1996). The effects of income inequality also trickle down into society. This trickle...
Words: 1330 - Pages: 6
...American Intercontinental University Unit 1 Individual Project SSCI210-1302A-03: Sociology May 5, 2013 Abstract This paper will attempt to explore the sociological imagination of how being unemployed can and foes often have an impact on more that just the person in question. Several groups are affected as well as the individual person. Introduction Sociology is the study of human behavior using conceptual tool and scientific methodology to discover the impact of society on individuals and the causes and consequences of social change. (Editorial B 2012). When we take a look at how the subject of unemployment affects us as individuals we tend to take it personal, as we should. However if this effect us within a group and we are participates in that group then the impact may not be as damaging. Unemployment counts 7.5 % according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in April of 2013 Unemployment Being unemployed and the impact of unemployment as a broad issue, this is a subject that is always up for discussion. No one really likes to take accountability for this matter, we tend to point fingers and push blame on other. Unemployment has to be look at on an individual basis, and then it expands to community, city, state and then national. Where does it start? People need to be able to translate their personal problems into the societal issues of the public at large according to C Wright Mills (Editorial B 2012). When people are unemployed...
Words: 827 - Pages: 4
...With Reference To A Country You Have Studied, Discuss How Different Groups within Society Experience Poverty in Different Ways Botswana is a nation that has experience high rates of economic growth since 1966 when it gained independence. It’s a middle income country with a GDP $5,360, although over 45% of people who live there are below the absolute poverty line. This particular type of poverty is seen in rural areas and female headed households where there is significant differences income. Due to this, and many other reasons there are big differences in equality throughout Botswana, giving a large Gini coefficient of 0.54. Other reasons include developing wealth in Botswana, especially through the diamond trade. The country struggles to include the poor, remote communities into the mainstream economy. One example of this is that the poorest 20% of the population get 4% of the national income, whereas the richest get 60%. Botswana has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS prevalence in the world with 350,000 people affected and 39% of 15-49 year olds infected. HIV/AIDS rates are so extremely high due to the migration to South Africa for work and internal migration between rural and urban areas. Life expectancy rates have fallen from over 60 years in 1996 to just 35 in 2007. Many people are dying young and so the size of the work force is declining. It also means the number of widows and orphans is increasing. There are 69,000 AIDS orphans in Botswana. There are many government...
Words: 657 - Pages: 3
...Culture and Poverty I, Introduction As every countries is developing their economics and societies, their people are enjoying the growth of the economics and modern society; however, still most people are left behind depend on what society they are live in. Those left behind are categories as poverty. Developing countries seem to have more poverty populations than those of developed countries. There are many definitions and explanations to define poverty. Many factors such as, income, non-materialist, feminist are examples of the poverty defined factors, with their own unique way of explanation. However, there is much scholar has ever discussed about culture as one factor of poverty. In other word, cultural factor seems to be the last thing people talk about poverty. In this paper, we shall discuss how culture influence to poverty progress. The paper will briefly discuss about some theories of poverty such as absolute poverty, relative poverty, and UN definition of poverty. The analysis will lead to the answer to the following question: 1, Should definition of poverty include culture as one factor? 2, Can culture contribute to the reducing in poverty? 3, How should definition of poverty be best defined? II, Body Absolute poverty is defines that, “a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to...
Words: 1111 - Pages: 5
...Poverty Questions 1A) – The number of children living in poverty before housing costs is significantly (about 1.2 million) lower than after housing cost. This is a trend that is kept constant over the decade as the number of children living in poverty before housing costs in 2006 is about 2.8 million and the number after housing costs is 3.8 million, showing that throughout 1996 to 2006 the number of children living in poverty is higher after housing costs. The number of children living in poverty is reduced by 2006, both before and after housing costs as in 1996 the number of children living in poverty before housing costs is 3 million and is reduced to 2.8 million by 2006, whereas the number after housing costs is 4.2 million in 1996 and reduced over the decade. 1B) – Absolute poverty is when an individual or household lives below the poverty line, usually when their income is insufficient for them to afford basic shelter, food, clothing and other necessary commodities needed to live. Relative poverty is when people are poor in comparison to others or compared to the national average. However, relative poverty can vary depending on what it is being compared to, whereas absolute poverty would be the same regardless of the position of others in that society. Absolute poverty shows that individuals may not be able to access basic commodities to suffice their basic needs. Due to various benefit systems being available in the UK, absolute poverty is fairly rare and the data...
Words: 931 - Pages: 4
...Who are the poor? The answer is what poverty is. WHAT IS POVERTY? In the most extreme definition, poverty manifests itself in the form of outright starvation and destitution because individuals or households do not possess the resources which give access to the basics for survival or which enable them to enjoy some minimum standard of living. (Christine Barrow; 2001) From a theoretical Perspective of Poverty. Culture of Poverty The underlying idea is that the lifestyle of the poor differs in many respects to that of the non poor in society. Similarities have been found in this poverty lifestyle even across different societies. This leads to the development of a sub culture, with its own norms and values, which can now be transmitted from one generation to the next. Technically, the culture of poverty is a subculture of poor people in ghettos, poor regions or social contexts where they develop a shared set of beliefs, values and norms for behaviour that are separate from but embedded in the culture of the main society. Once the culture of poverty has come into existence it tends to perpetuate itself. By the time slum children are six or seven they usually absorbed the basic attitudes and values of their subculture. Thereafter they are psychologically unready to take full advantage of changing conditions or improving opportunities that may develop in their lifetime. Oscar Lewis. Marxist Perspectives Conflict theorists posit that poverty results from the failure of the state...
Words: 1598 - Pages: 7
...communicable diseases like pneumonia. Today, millions die each day from poverty. How can poverty be defined? And what is the difference between absolute and relative poverty? In the paper I will address these issues along with sociological views of poverty. Poverty is a social issue that affects the world. Poverty causes many to be malnourished and die at a young age, it is a cause of deviant behavior such as crime, and also causes the poor to be marginalized from society and have little voice in public and political debate causing individuals to remain in poverty. Poverty is a condition of people who lack adequate income and wealth. Whereas absolute poverty is individuals live without adequate food, clothing, water or shelter. In other words the little money they make is not enough to provide these necessary materials of life. The United Nations defines absolute poverty as living on less than $1 a day, which equates to over one billion people, or about one–fifth of the world's population, falling in that category. The poorest part of the world is now in Sub–Saharan Africa. According to Thomas Malthus the amount of land, food, and water was fixed; there could be no more of these natural resources than what was available. As the population increased in size, it would eventually outstrip the environment's ability to sustain them (Malthus, 1798). This would result in poverty, misery, and famine for the peoples of the world. His premise has become...
Words: 2757 - Pages: 12
...Introduction Since ages poverty has been a major problem across globe, and with every passing day this issue is spreading and engulfing different classes of society. Poverty is one critical reason for many socio-economic problems including population explosion, unemployment, rampant rise in child labour and rising graph of crimes. Poverty can’t be ignored as an issue of a specific class, or any specific nation. In the present scenario when every class, society or for that matter every nation is interlinked with each other, this issue of poverty cannot be overlooked. Important to note is that poverty today is not just a problem of third world countries like India, or Africa but developed nations like Canada, America and one major part of Europe are also pondering on this serious issue. Based on Salvation Army Report, 2011 “Canadians ranked poverty as the third most important issue facing the country today, after the economy and health care.” (S. Army, 1-8) Thus it underlines the fact that how poverty remains a cause of concern for developed countries like Canada. For a country like Canada where more than 1 in 10 Canadians between 18 to 65 live in poverty this fact highlights that how poverty is impacting people across different age groups. Poverty today is not about problem of one specific individual it is every body`s problem, if one part of society experiences success then the other part experiences poverty. Poverty eradication should be taken up as a matter of fundamental...
Words: 1376 - Pages: 6
...Poverty Student’s names Professor’s name Course Title Poverty Poverty is a state of not accessing basic needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. Poverty is primarily caused by hunger, illness, and thirst and affects the entire society by generating many problems and making people to live substandard lives. It is normally classified in absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty refers to a state of not being able to obtain basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing that are very important in sustaining life. Relative poverty, on the other hand, is a state of not being able to obtain resources in relation to a certain mean resource and normally applies to people who are not able to meet societal social needs. According to Townsend (1979), a family is considered to be in relative poverty if it is not able to afford the required diet, get involved in societal activities, and use basic health and educational facilities. Problems connected to poverty bring political, economic, and social disorder in the society. There are two theories that apply to poverty; conflict theory and structural theory. Conflict theory explains that poverty leads to class conflict in a society (Giddens & Simon, 2006). This comes as a result of the oppression of the poor by the rich. It says that conflict must remain in order to create a positive change in the society and that the wide gap between the rich and the poor is very significant. Structural function...
Words: 1064 - Pages: 5
...before you. This assignment would not have been possible without you. I thank you all. INTRODUCTION This Internal Assessment (I.A) will examine major factors that impinge on the issue of poverty, the analysis of which relates to problems of social integration of all members of society in the Caribbean. In its preparation, use has been made not only of the most recent data, but also of data relevant to periods, such as to detect trends of social development in terms of poverty and the direction of the process of social integration. This I.A. investigates the causes and effects, and solutions to, Poverty. Poverty is the state or condition of having little or no money, goods or means of support. The point of this I.A. is to find out the causes and effects of Poverty. This I.A. will outline the statement of the problem/aims, reasons why I chose Poverty, method of investigation, instrument of data collection/questionnaire, procedure for data collection, presentation of data, interpreting/analysis of data, findings/conclusions and recommendations. Numerous studies have been undertaken for the purpose of assessing poverty and developing strategic plans for its reduction. However, few have been undertaken for the purpose of determining which groups are not really integrated into society’s development and the reasons why this occurs. Therefore, policies need to be put in place to foster social...
Words: 2812 - Pages: 12
...If we diminish poverty, then we will receive less delinquency. Poverty and crime has been major issues in our society over the past few years. Do you think these two issues correlate to each other? I think society today does see poverty as a factor in crime rates and the correlation between each is valid. The cause and effect theory is: because of poverty, crime rates are high. If this is true, one way to solve crime is to solve poverty. The sociological perspective on this topic involves looking at the bigger picture. The structural functionalism for poverty is lack of education, unemployed, preferring to “live for the moment”, and resigning themselves to a culture of poverty (which nothing can be done to change their economic outcomes). We can solve poverty by; (1) understanding the factors that play into poverty and crimes, (2) advancing our education levels, and (3) lowering our unemployment rates. With these three solutions we can diminish poverty and receive less delinquency. (Macionis, 2010, p.59). According to census, in 2014 there were more than 45 million Americans living below the poverty line. A family of three making less than $19,790 year is considered living below the poverty level. $19,790 averages out to about 10$ per hour. (Gongoff, 2014, para. 2). A single mom working at minimum wages with two kids lives in poverty. A third of all poverty households are single mothers. Single mothers are more likely to become a victim of a crime. I found...
Words: 726 - Pages: 3
...Running Head: Poverty Examination of a Concept: Poverty Shelton Land Virginia Commonwealth University Poverty 2 EXAMINATION OF A CONCEPT: POVERTY Introduction Poverty has existed persistently since it was uncovered. The results of a family or individual living in poverty range from infectious diseases to drug abuse. “As the economy has shifted from the industrial sector to services and computer based technology, the impact has hit hardest for working class and poor families, with limited education, job skills and employment opportunities” (Walsh, 2003, pp.17). Despite the effects of poverty, different individuals have different perceptions about the persisting problem. Some assert that poverty is a natural condition of man; while others view it as self-imposed, imposed, or a debilitating economic situation. This paper will examine the many concepts of poverty and discuss how it is related to at least two theoretical perspectives on human behavior, how it has changed over time, current issues related to poverty and how these issues are similar and different for two countries. Definition Many scholars and researchers define poverty as an insufficiency of the material necessities of life. The disparities between the rich and poor have increased so solemnly since the industrial revolution that it formed a poverty line. A poverty line which is used in defining what percentage of the population is poor based on the economy. Poverty 3 The US Census Bureau (2009) cites...
Words: 2461 - Pages: 10
...Poverty in America; Created or Inherited According to an article written by Barbara Ehrenreich “How I Discovered the Truth about Poverty”, society defines poverty by its ethnicity, culture and economic status. Ehrenreich accredited this discovery to Michael Harrington. Government assisted programs were design to be a temporary remedy for poverty, instead it is a crutch for others. The implication that poverty was not caused by “low wages or lack of jobs, but bad attitudes and faulty lifestyles” projects images of laziness (608). Society defines poverty by an individual capability to earn wages without the assistance and dependency on the government. Ehrenreich describes the history timeline of poverty, referencing Harrington’s book “The Other America”. Poverty was not acknowledged as a problem until, Harrington discovered that one quarter of the population who is “the inner-city black, Appalachian white, farm worker and the elderly” lives in poverty (609). Based on his analogy these categories of individual...
Words: 642 - Pages: 3
