Sociological Perspectives on Poverty in America: A Detailed Study

This essay provides a sociological study of poverty in America, examining its multifaceted effects on citizens, particularly in suburban areas. It moves beyond a simple definition of poverty as destitution, considering it as an inferior quality of living influenced by factors beyond low income, such ...Read More

Running head: SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY
Sociological Study of Poverty
Name of the student
Name of the university
Authors note

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?

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF POVERTY
According to my understanding, proper initiatives must be taken to educate
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
Your incorrect assumptions and why you made them. You may also discuss
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). Top Effects of Poverty | TheBorgen Project. Retrieved from
https://borgenproject.org/5-effects-poverty/
McCarthy, N. (2018). Infographic: The U.S. Cities With The Most Homeless People.
Retrieved from https://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