Gans - the Functions of 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.

In 1879 Henry George wrote an article titled “Progress and Poverty”. In this article he discussed the ongoing industry and he stated that “the wealthy class is becoming more wealthy; but the poorer class is becoming more dependent.

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.

In the article, “What’s So Bad about Being Poor” by Charles Murray, Murray states that “One of the great barriers to a discussion of poverty and social policy in the 1980s is that so few people who talk about poverty have ever been poor”. He discusses how, contrary to present day, in America up until the 1950s those in positions of influence and power included a sizable amount of people who had been raised “dirt-poor”. Murray states that, because of this, many Americans with their lack of exposure to such people, they develop a skewed perspective of what poverty is. On account of this, Murray challenges the reader with several thought experiments which he uses to help the reader come to certain conclusions that convey his message.

Poverty has been a big issue over the past century or so and continues to be a problem to this day in the United States. Due to the Civil War, rural areas and industrial areas were affected by poverty. The poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877 was different from the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939. Even though both situations were dealing with a form of poverty, both were two completely different situations. There were several major events that happened that caused poverty of rural sharecroppers in 1877. Although there were various events leading up to the poverty of unemployed industrial workers in 1939, poverty in the year of 1877 was just as bad, if not worse, as in the year of 1939.

Political machines and the reformers who rallied against them had incredible influence in urban politics in the 19th and early 20th century. Each, however, has been labeled as corrupt monopolies and are seen as selfish towards their own goals. While there are tactics that worked to help cities grow stronger, the value of equal voting for all citizens was compromised in each regime’s quest for power.

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.

It's hard to believe in a country as wealthy as the United States, that we have the problem of poverty. Poverty has not become a recent problem of our

As Peter Edelman writes in “The State of Poverty in America,” in the United States, 20.5 million individuals of the population are in poverty, including 6 million with no income (1). Numerous poor individuals are in desperate need of essential opportunities. In contrast, the rich in the United States are moving up and becoming successful in their livelihood. The differences in the opportunities given to the rich and taken from the poor are ongoing. Opportunities include difficulties in achieving proper education, medicine, and/or jobs.

to usually show poor people being lazy, dirty and homeless, having no morals or goals

Throughout the United States, homelessness and poverty have become an overwhelming issue. From people losing their jobs to others having to give up their homes, nearly 14.5 percent of Americans experience some type of poverty. This could look like a small percentage to some but in reality, it's more than 45 million people. While this number may be decreasing, the stereotype of those who are in poverty still remains. It is often thought that those in poverty are non-educated addicts and are generally criminal people. This, however, fails to be proven true. In my personal experiences, it was believed that the homeless and impoverished were of a lower social level and it was easy to assume the poor were in their walk of life for more reasons than simply not having money. Drugs, crime, and poverty all seemed to have the same definition.

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

The logic of poor peoples purchases as they attempt to meet a wealth image they cannot obtain is obscene. It is impossible to provide for their families and live a rich lifestyle under little earnings. Stated by Isabel Sawhill, “None of this means that providing lower-income families with more money is necessarily a bad thing” (Sawhill). The political system works in a matter to benefit poor families with money they do not earn. Poor individuals complain about being poor while it is quite simple to overcome poverty and rely on a career. Pursuing a career and presenting a humble attitude can help with overcoming poverty and presenting a better reputation. Poor individuals need to visualize more than spending money on unnecessary items, work to flip their money without relying on the government, and be themselves not a false image.

is a cause of deviant behavior such as crime, and also causes the poor to be marginalized from

This deludes the less powerful into conforming to a social order that works against their best interests, and results in the poor being driven to commit crime and thus be defined as deviant and criminal (O’Connor, 2006).