Sociology: The Role Of Poverty And Society

1189 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Poverty effect on society essay

Poverty in Society The existence of poverty can be supported from three different theoretical perspectives. These theoretical approaches reveal the interconnection between poverty and society. For instance, the first theoretical perspective is functional analysis, which focuses on how certain parts of society depend on one another for their function. On the other hand, conflict theory addresses how inequality and power push people in society to compete. Lastly, symbolic interactionism demonstrates the importance use symbols that create a meaning in society. Based on many works of Sociology, poverty can relate to all of these perspectives. After all, just like some structures help in society, there are others that create chaos and inequality …show more content…

The perspective from the functional analysis describes poverty to being essential for the structure of society. Because poverty has always been important for the rich, it’s hard to predict how society would function if these structures changed. Overall, for functional analysis poverty is crucial in order to maintain the balance of power. As it was mentioned before, poverty helps in performing jobs that others can’t. Besides, the poor can even help the rich by their demand for jobs. However, even though poverty may be looked upon to being positive from a functional analysis perspective, the situations of the poor can be viewed to being unfair from the conflict theory perspective. Because the poor tend to have fewer advantages in society, they struggle to access resources that the rich have. Poor people are usually limited to moving up because of their environment or education. Because the rich will always have that power, it’s almost impossible for the poor to move up. Ultimately, the perspective from the symbolic interactionism shows that poverty has its stigma. For most rich people, the poor are always seen as a whole. Therefore, if a poor lady works as a stripper, then those out of poverty will assume that everyone who’s poor works at “low” jobs. That’s the image the higher class receives, and this makes them form a meaning about poverty. In conclusion, poverty is a topic that can be defined from the perspective of functional analysis, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. All of these sociological perspectives shows poverty as an essential social part for the structure of society. Though, it’s also a group that struggles for equality, which makes the rich to develop generalization based on their

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

  • Poverty: A Critical Analysis Of Homeless And Lars Eighner

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    Poverty has been looked at from two different prospective. You can be in poverty based on either a lack of ambition, or certain circumstances that may have taken place in your life. Anna Quindlen author of Homeless and Lars Eighner author of On Dumpster Diving are both located on the circumstance side of the spectrum. To be on the circumstance side of the spectrum you may have encountered a tragic event in your lifetime, for example the loss of a job. To be placed on the lack of ambition side of the spectrum, you have all the tools to be successful; however, you may be procrastinating or you just don’t care enough. I believe that the people who are in poverty are there because of certain circumstances. Poverty affects many people on a daily basis and Anna Quindlen and lars Eighner bring to light some of poverties harsh

    Read More

  • Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

    2218 Words  | 5 Pages

    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...

    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

  • The Positive Functions Of Poverty: Critical Analysis

    1110 Words  | 3 Pages

    Poverty is more functional to the affluent members of society because they are the ones who benefit greatly from others living in poverty. In my opinion, there are a great number of people who are a part of the affluent society that lack compassion for others. This in turn results in them having more financial gains and people on the other end of the spectrum falling deeper and deeper below the poverty line. Members of the affluent society has also been known to utilize the impoverished to do the “dirty work,” which are strenuous low paying jobs that sometimes require an excessive amount of hours. Working these types of jobs, are not very beneficial to those living in poverty because of the downfalls they may cause on their households. Due to the amounts of hours that may be required, the impoverished often faces risks of losing their subsidies.

    Read More

  • Poverty and Classism

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    According to Schwartz-Nobel, America will lose as much as 130 billion in future productive capacity for every year that 14.5 American children continue to live in poverty (Koppelman and Goodhart, 2007). Sadly the seriousness of poverty is still often clouded by myths and misunderstandings by society at large. This essay studies the issue of poverty and classism in today's society.

    Read More

  • Poverty And Poverty

    976 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • The Sociological Imagination, And The Uses Of Poverty: The Poor Pay All?

    1943 Words  | 4 Pages

    Gans’ essay, “The Uses of Poverty: The Poor Pay All”, is extremely important in the analysis of the frontline documentary. Gans has a bit of a different approach on poverty and the poor. For example, he says, “Today, poverty is more maligned than the political machine ever was; yet it, too, is a persistent social phenomenon.” Basically, he argues that the poor are a very important part in society. He goes on to explain different functions of poverty. First, he states that the existence of poverty ensures that society’s dirty work will be done. Society in some ways forces the poor to do these jobs because they almost always don’t have the choice, and they make them do these at low wages. This was one of the hard things that the two families were facing. They both had to be satisfied with low wage dirty work jobs to get by. No matter how hard they tried to find better jobs, they just couldn’t push through. Another benefit that the poor have to offer the world is that poverty creates jobs for a number of occupations that protect the rest of society from them. Without the poor, the police force would be minuscule. Also, the poor buy goods others do not want. This helps the economy immensely because these products would eventually just be thrown out if the poor didn’t purchase them. The poor are also culturally recognized in history. For example, most Americans listen to the blues, which originated from the southern poor. And on top of that, they

    Read More

  • Poverty Sociology Essay

    1163 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today 's society, there is 1 in 7 people living in poverty which is costing Canadian citizens’ money as they are paying for taxes. There are many standpoints in which people examine the ways poverty affect society such as Marx’s conflict theory. Marx’s conflict theory goes over how social stratification being inevitable and how there is a class consciousness within people in the working class. Another way that poverty is scrutinized is by feminization. Feminization is the theory that will be explored throughout this essay. Poverty will be analyzed in this essay to determine the significance of poverty on the society and the implications that are produced.

    Read More

  • Essay On Poverty And Poverty

    1208 Words  | 3 Pages

    To relate this to Durkheim’s theory, in a sense, it’s a norm that we have poverty in America because then we have people who can and will work the jobs that no one wants to, such as garbage collectors, janitors, and more. We need people to work these jobs so that society continues to function. However, one of the weakness of Durkheim’s functional theory is how do we define which job, talent, or function is more important and why. This is related to poverty because we have jobs that are low-paying jobs, but because we know with such bad social conditions, people are willing to contribute to the functional society by taking the less skilled jobs, also the least appreciated jobs as well. Relating this back to Marx’s theory on wages being lowered and proletariats accepting it because they need to mean their need of subsistence. However, in a sense, it can be argued that according to Durkheim, that there is a need for people in poverty because then no one would willingly take the low-paying

    Read More

  • Social Issues and Poverty

    990 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Position Of Poverty

    2322 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    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

  • The Causes and Effects of Poverty

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, sometimes actions take place that changes a person’s outlook on life and as you can see poverty is one that can have a huge effect on not only one person, but also the people around him/ her.

    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

More about Sociology: The Role Of Poverty And Society

Open Document