Culture And Culture: A Culture Of Poverty

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A Culture of Poverty
Why are poor people poor? Why do poor people seem to stay poor? Some scholars blame the preceding postulations on the the attitudes and behaviors of the culture. Others blame a culture of poverty on the specific individuals that form the culture. Hence, the controversy surrounding the culture of poverty is generated from assumptions that are placed upon the examined community. Assumptions that are placed on the culture lead to an unyielding cycle amongst the inhabitants of the culture. Under the unyielding cycle, the beliefs and actions of the culture are constructed not only on how the people value themselves, but also in part by how onlookers perceive and categorize these inhabitants. In essence, the culture of …show more content…

However, I believe that giving resources to an underperforming community, replaces a culture of poverty with a culture of dependency. Ultimately, a culture of dependency is worse than a culture of poverty because it strips the community of its identity. By changing the rules within the culture, dependency creates a limited mindset where people strive to only do the minimum. Therefore, the notion of bridging the gap between a culture of poverty and society becomes hazy, since there has to be a way to treat those that are apart of poverty and those that are apart of the larger society as equals. The preceding sparks the question of does the onlooker have to behave in some ways to change the culture’s people; that is – should the onlooker seek to improve the inhabitants’ work ethic, optimism, and the ability to follow the rules.
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

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