This paper discusses the issues related to poverty and its multifaceted effects on the lives of the American citizen. It also suggests strategies to remedy the problem.
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Running head: SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY Sociological Study of Poverty Name of the student Name of the university Authors note
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SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY Task 1–Identifying a Cause/Issue In this paper, I am going to discuss the issues related to poverty and its multifaceted effects on the lives of the American citizen. The common perception regarding poverty has made it synonymous to destitution but in this paper, I will refer poverty to the inferior quality of living. The United States of America is one of the developed countries but there is a high rate of poverty in the native population of the country especially in the suburb area. The incidence of poverty is not only high in the native population of the country but they also have is a high level of homeless population (McCarthy, 2018). However it must be noted that poverty is just the result of having low income. It might also result due to inferior health standards or when a person lacks the ability to understand their capability. Thus, I think being in a state of poverty can cripple the human resource of a state which also mean that people in state of poverty are deprived of their basic rights. This is not only important at the state level but on the individual level it becomes equally an important aspect to maintain a proper social and cultural standard of living. Poverty or an inferior quality of life can bring multifarious effect on the lives like remaining under-nutritious, having health-related diseases, illiteracy, violence or engaging in ethical social issues. Thus, I feel the need of proper education is very important because here education can act as a catalyst to enlighten people of their social reality. According to me, the main reason for poverty to exist in society is the lack of initiates taken by the people themselves. Generally, people have the tendency to play the blame-game politics and avoid the burgeoning crisis of the time. Therefore, the fight against poverty remains unending one. Another problem in dealing with the issue of poverty is cultural or social stereotypes, which generalizes on the level of race and sometimes the ethnic origins. As the notion of poverty is mostly presented with the racial undertone, the actual reality
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY remains hidden because the racial identity of a person is made the reason for their condition of poverty. The portrayal of Africans in negative stereotypes and the misperception of blacks as poor, results in making the black responsible for their poverty. Thus, poverty gets generalized and is reduced to the level of the social group that can be very misleading. Therefore, I think we should take some initiatives on the individual level to see what exactly the condition of their living is. The problem of poverty has reduced itself from12.3 percent in 2017 to 15.1 percent. However, it still means that poverty still exceeds the 1.3 percent rate of 2000, which implies that there are still many people who poor in the country. Not only is there the problem of poverty the incidence of homelessness has also risen to a high level where half of the American population is homeless. The rising incidence of the homeless population makes the institution of family dysfunctional. This is where the social fabric of the community is disrupted. There has been also rise in the violence and studies show that those who are involved in these sort of activities belong from the lower-income group. The rise in the crime rate of the adults and the delinquency rate of the minor also represent the ineffective implementation at the level of the state. Therefore, I think a study of poverty can help me to discover the actual status of poverty-stricken people. Task 2 -Plan of Action: Process and Experience What did you observe? To understand how poverty causes deep-seated effects of the lives of the American people I decided to visit a slum and visited the nearby shelter home. I tried to speak to people and also observed their condition. The shelter home mostly includes the Hispanic and the African population. Their condition of living is minimal and they are provided with a low quality of the food. These people are so accustomed to the unhygienic condition of their living that it has become the new normal for them.
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY Did you learn a new skill or clarify an interest? While conversing with them I realized how important it is to have a pragmatic orientation of reality. This kind of orientation helped me to deal with people in a sensitive manner. It also helped me to get data that was not mentioned in the book before. However, people were not always welcoming me sometimes they took no notice of me and often exchanged resentful looks. Even while interviewing I found that people are treating me as outsiders and refuse to open up. Thus, I realized the importance of being a skillful orator. How was your experience different from what you expected? The experience was not much different from the ideas that I had in my mind. However, things have changed a little where people have become more aware of the state-sanctioned subsidies and are carefully orienting themselves to those. Along with the poor housing condition, they also experience material deprivation. Thus, the condition of their living is so vulnerable that most of them suffer from a wide range of health disease. Moreover, the unemployment and the economic issue also have a deep wrenching impact of their lives resulting in the disoriented approach to the future. What are some themselves of the pressing needs/issues in the community? The pressing need for this shelter home is related to the poor condition of their housing. However, the slum-dwellers need immediate attention because apart from their unhygienic condition the slums have become the breeding grounds of the law-breaker. They not only deal with violence but also are actively engaged in the drug peddling business. Therefore, I feel the pressing need of this community is to create an awareness program where they can effectively realize the negative consequences of their activities. What, in your opinion, is the root of the problem?
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SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY Accordingtomyunderstanding,properinitiativesmustbetakentoeducate themselves so that the children of the upcoming generation can feed for themselves. This will make them independent from the state-aided strategies Lack of proper education and lack of economic institutions results in making them unemployed and sometimes misemployed (Arnone, et al., 2016).. Thus, these people being at the receiving end are left with no choice but to deal with illegal activities. Thus, the entire social fabric of the community gets disrupted. What other work is currently happening to address the issue? The church and other NGOs take initiatives but all these efforts are only making them dependent on the state policies. Lack of capacity building programs has made them the liability of the state. Other kinds of work related to their psychological status are also taken where the focus is made on the deprives status of the mind. Lack of problem-solving ability can cause the disorder in the mental level resulting in the unhealthy population of the state (Schilbach, et al., 2016). Task 3 –The Final Reflection Yourincorrectassumptionsandwhyyoumadethem.Youmayalsodiscuss assumptions that turned out to be correct. Initially, I assumed that was the downtrodden or the poverty-stricken section of the population belong to marginalized racial groups. However, when I personally visited the shelter home and the nearby slum region I found that there is a significant number of the white population residing in this area also. According to the historical narratives, the blacks or the Asian were ones who was colonized by the whites and thus were placed inferior to the racial hierarchy of order. So owing to this kind of historical understanding I had assumed that the condition of poverty must be mostly experienced in the Black-American and the Hispanic population. After visiting the actual site, I realized that a good amount of the white
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY population is also poverty-stricken and suffer from certain major health issues. However, the assumptions related to their severity of the condition was proved correct because not only was there a lack of education among the adolescent group but most of them dealing with an illegal transaction of guns and drugs. What is currently being done to address the problem locally or even nationally? The crisis is being addressed both at the national and the local level but in spite of federal funding, the issue of poverty remains a striking reality in American lives. According to the Poverty Reduction Strategies of US proper initiatives like building proper infrastructure for alleviating poverty levels has been initiated, including proper measures of assessing poverty levels. This is because the incidence of poverty cannot be reduced to income level the well- being aspect of the individual level needs to be highlighted. According to Brooklings, there are two strategies for handling poverty one by raising the income levels and two by the effects of having a low income like poor housing, unhygienic sanitation facilities and so on. However both these methods can be more effective only when aggressive redistribution strategies are implemented. What suggestions or strategies can be implemented to remedy the problem. Consider both your own participation and that of society at large. My only suggestion regarding this poverty alleviating program is to make people locally aware. Unless strategies are taken in the micro level things the war against poverty cannot get over. Being a member of the society demands us active participation in relieving the homeless or downtrodden person. From a commercial point of view the situation of being in a state of poverty can be effectively used for setting up a business. The application of the business idea should be in such a way that everybody should be in profit. The reduction of the poverty level should not left alone on the hands of the government because working at an individual level has the benefit of reaching to people in first hand(Borgen, 2018). Thus
SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY reaching out to people for help becomes more effective if initiatives are taken by the group level. After exploring the nuances of poverty and getting to understand their situation in a firsthand experience I have decided to start a voluntary service for women and children. I have seen it is the children and the women whose condition needs more attention. However large scale investments are also needed to encourage labor-intensive industrial planning. Proper allocation of job in the market can lead to the inclusive development of its citizens. Thus the vicious circle of poverty can be vanquished, where the people can remain hopeful about their safety and believe in the social and economic hierarchy. Reference Arnone, M., &Presbitero, A. F. (2016).Debt relief initiatives: Policy design and outcomes. Routledge. Borgen,C.(2018).TopEffectsofPoverty|TheBorgenProject.Retrievedfrom https://borgenproject.org/5-effects-poverty/ McCarthy, N. (2018). Infographic: The U.S. Cities With The Most Homeless People. Retrievedfromhttps://www.statista.com/chart/6949/the-us-cities-with-the-most- homeless-people/ Schilbach, F., Schofield, H., &Mullainathan, S. (2016). The psychological lives of the poor.American Economic Review,106(5), 435-40