Poverty And Poverty

Research have show that poor people have the same attitudes toward welfare, work, education, and marriage as the middle class. This research suggests that teen pregnancy and the live for the moment attitude is actually a result of the poor mentality instead of a cause.

What would you do if you saw your family malnourished, struggling to stay afloat? Studies show that people living in poverty are more likely to commit crimes if the outcome of the crime will provide

With all of the media 's hatred of poor people, it must affect their self-confidence and how they view the American Dream. Through her experience, Jennifer Mayer has noticed that very problem. While working in the soup kitchen, she noticed that most of the people who came in lived in "survival mode" and only lived "day-to-day" with no real goals. They had no dreams of success because they believed it to be impossible (Mayer). One reason for this self-esteem issue is their lack of education. Since poor people rarely have a college education, they feel like they have no future. This can often cause them to give up on their dreams and resort to crime (Reef 225-226). Also, because poor people are below America 's social and economic system, they will often give up on their dreams.

When discussing deviance and what most people classify as deviant, many won’t admit that they find people who are poor, and people who are ethically different as deviant. But when observing people’s actions, it is obvious that they do. We are all guilty of purposely avoiding walking near a homeless person, or avoiding eye contact with them at a stop light. These action and behaviors prove that we see these people as deviant. I agree with Goode, that poverty can take individuals and make them deviant or make them more deviant than they already were. “Shame is what the poverty-stricken individuals feel,” (Goode 85), which makes these individuals more likely to partake in illegal activities. They will partake in these activities as a sort of income, for example the using and selling drugs, or they will partake in these activities because they know they are already stigmatized, and there is no point in trying to prove otherwise. Which further proves that being poor may be deviant on its own but it also causes deviance. If middle and upper class Americans were more open and accepting to the poor, then I think they would be less likely to commit deviant acts. Poverty is a self-fulfilling prophecy because it is harder for these individuals to better themselves when they are already labeled as deviant.

To many Americans, poverty is merely a synonym for ‘not rich’. Even those who understand the definition may struggle with the concept that poverty is not a distant, foreign, concern; poverty can occur in any country, region, neighborhood, and household. In a study performed by Carroll et al, 60% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “poor people are poor because of laziness and lack of will power (2011, p. 116). In the same questionnaire, 77% of respondents felt most poor people have the ability to escape poverty without government assistance (Carroll et al, 2011, p. 117). As above facts show, despite the widespread nature of this issue those not living in poverty often have

Charles Murray (1990) had developed a theory called the ‘underclass’, this theory categorises those living in poverty and defines them as non-working, inadequate and dangerous to society. Such writings have been an influence on the right realists and have a need to reinforce personal responsibility for an individual’s behaviour. Murray goes on to discuss two different types of underclass, firstly, the poor. These are people that only have low income but maintain their morals and standards and secondly, there are those with low income and their morals and standards match that. Those households with low standards are stereotyped as untidy and contain drunken and disorderly behaviour. He claims the men cannot keep jobs and the children are ill-educated resulting in antisocial behaviour and juvenile delinquency. This theory talks about a ‘fear of crime’ that would be instilled into communities by the underclass because the underclass is a classic example of the habitual criminal.

There may be some blacks or minorities who remain poor because of their personal characteristics, but the majority of poor blacks are not different from others in motivations and aspirations. In fact, many poor people work incredibly hard at low paying jobs in order to barely get by. The most important causes of poverty lie in the power relations of society, and not the cultural characteristics of the poor individuals. The experiences of poverty have an impact on an individual's disposition and psychological state. Poverty could cause an individual to behave in particular ways, but the main difference between the poor and the rest of society is the opportunities and circumstances the individual’s encounter. It is not their personalities, attributes or values. Blacks continue to be discriminated against in employment and housing, which only contributes to poverty. The majority of African Americans are not poor because they choose not to work, but are poor because of the continuous discrimination from the dominant white race. Poor black Americans should face the same political, economic, and housing conditions as poor white Americans, but this is not the case. Because of continuing discrimination, poor black families do not live in integrated neighborhoods with comparable white families. In addition,

(Riddix, 2011). Measures that would alleviate the growing poverty rate in the U.S. are creating jobs, expanding education, and raising minimum wage. Poverty forces people to do something they normally would not do if they were wealthy. As Ehrenreich stated, “if poverty tends to criminalize people, it is also true that criminalization inexorably impoverishes them”. She described her interview with Scott Lovell, who is a homeless man and he participated in an armed robbery when he was only 15 (VanderMey, 2015).

Poverty affects how you make decisions and contributes to counterproductive behavior. The poor are more likely to do things that will worsen their financial situation. They tend to be tardier, less productive, less attentive, and use less preventive health care. According to Anandi Mani, “The poor are less capable not because of inherent traits, but because the very context of poverty imposes load and impedes cognitive capacity” (980). People have a certain amount of mental capability and when their brain is overloaded with financial issues, it can become impossible to execute typical assignments. Vance and Mamaw puzzled over his financial aid forms for hours before determining the amount of debt he would incur in college. They spent hours looking at the forms without even starting them. Vance explains, “that would require another herculean effort on another day” (155). J.D. and Mamaw

are poor are poor because of their unwillingness to work or their inability to want to do better.

After completing the cross tabulation on the impact of poverty on deviant behavior as a collective group, we discovered numerous of thing that contribute to this research topic. Many people that live in poverty do not have the proper resources and support to be successful in today’s society. Without the proper education and the great qualities of jobs in many neighborhoods has hindered those from taking care of their families. Many also feel that the government makes it hard for people to excel in life by having a minimum wage which affects many city’s economic poverty. The government should also implement more programs to help low-income families. Nevertheless, many of the people believe that there should be a better education system that

“On the Phychology of poverty,” an article written by Johannes Hanshofer and Ernst Fehr, they form ideas based off their collaborated hypothesis. Poverty has psychological consequences that can hold someone in poverty due to economic behaviors and environment (Hanshofer & Fehr 862). These environmental situations are the leading factor of re-inforced poverty (Hanshofer & Fehr 862). The authors have also found studies that suggest poor people often have short-sided views when it comes to income prosperity and are careful when it comes to risk taking behaviors (Hanshofer & Fehr 862). Unlike the article “Some consequences of Having Too Little,” Hansofer and Fehr believe that poor people choose safe options when taking risks in their finances , as opposed to already being in financial debt and choosing to take more risks (862; Shah, Mullainathan and Shafir 684). Hanshofer and Fehr came to understand in their words, “poorer households

This review is formulated with scholarly sources and references based off of poverty in America. This disclosure is approached with a value free sociological approach, and it will give insight on the social causes of poverty and the effects it has on America. Poverty is a very controversial topic. Many will assume that people living in poverty are lazy, made bad life decisions, or that they are solely the reason for their predicament however, people living in poverty would argue that their are deeper issues for it. Poverty will be deeply explained and researched from both perspectives

There is evidence everywhere to suggest that poverty is a cause of crime, anti-social behaviour, and drug abuse. However, this can be counter-argued, as these can be a symptom of poverty – for example, an individual spending all their money on drugs and alcohol can lead to having no money to pay for sanitation, food, water, and shelter.

“Many people living in poverty do not want to be living in poverty. In order to obtain a higher level of socioeconomic status, crime is seen as the only option.” (Wilson, 1987).