Poverty: Causes and Effects

What would you do if you saw your family malnourished, struggling to stay afloat? Studies show that people living in poverty are more likely to commit crimes if the outcome of the crime will provide

It can be looked at from either side, firstly poverty causes many to sell drugs or somehow raise funds through illegal means. On the other hand, a life of drugs, violence and lack of education can prevent any group/race of people to stay economically disadvantaged, with no pathway available to lead them to a more economically stable lifestyle. It is common knowledge that crime is more recurrent in poor areas than in nice middle class suburbs; however it’s not as simple as how rich the area is the less frequent crimes happen, there’s far more involved. Firstly if areas are considered to be rough, there will be more policing in that specific area.

Poverty is a major issue that has worried America for years. America has worked extremely hard to end poverty,it still widely exists. There are some solutions to this world problem though such as food stamps, shelters, and obama care. It is important that while the challenges facing poverty are large, the solutions are feasible and can happen.

In this article, as the title suggests, it explains the use of social class differences to explain racial differences in crime. Among earlier arguments are the subculture of violence and subculture of poverty theories, which argue that African Americans tend to have pro-crime norms and values. The article's author, Robert D. Crutchfield, goes in depth with recent and more advanced theories to explain the link between poverty, crime, and race, while criticizing the subcultural theories. These new theories tell a different view from that of the subcultural theories with evidence showing that economic disadvantage and the way how society is structured accounts for the link between poverty, crime, and race. From these evidence, ethnographers conclude

Poverty is a vicious cycle that inevitably affects future generations. By breaking the cycle of poverty with education, better government

So far, both theories are able to explain the crime inequality observed insides neighbourhoods; however, when it comes to explaining the difference in crime rates between neighbourhoods with similarly low levels of poverty, social disorganization theory is not able to fully explain why such difference may occur, as it places a greater focus on the internal dynamics of the neighbourhoods than on the external contingencies (Peterson & Krivo, 2010, p. 92). Based on Table 4.5 of Divergent Social Worlds: Neighborhood Crime and the Racial-Spatial DivideI, minority low-poverty areas have roughly two and a half times more violence than their white counterparts (Peterson & Krivo, 2010, p. 88). Social disorganization theory insists that residential instability (percent of those who owns and percent of those who rent) , population heterogeneity (internal differences, including ethno-racial differences), poverty (percent of those who live in poverty), income, deteriorating neighbourhood, and population loss (percent of those who leave due to deterioration) are mechanisms that leads to the absence of informal social control and increases social disorganization, causing the loss of control over youths who then hang out at spontaneous playgrounds and form gangs with delinquent traditions that get passed down through cultural transmission. If such was the case, then one would expect neighbourhoods with similar and comparable local conditions to have similar average rates of crimes. However,

Individuals who are unsuccessful can become alienated from mainstream society and become involved in criminal activity. Inequality is also theorized to have a negative effect on social controls which can be a mechanism for crime control. Inequality has been shown to have a significant effect on property crime (Chiu & Madden, 1998). Previous research has identified inequality by the population in a region earning less than half of the median income (Ehrlich, 1973). Even when holding effects such as family composition, poverty, and race constant, violent crime is still greatly impacted by inequality (Kelly, M., 2000). These individuals that face social inequality face greater incentives and pressure to commit crime especially property

According to Mantsios, the media portray the poor in the following ways: “the poor do not exist”; “the poor are faceless”; “the poor are undeserving”; “the poor are an eyesore”; “the poor have only themselves to blame”; and “the poor are down on their luck” (Mantsios 511-513). More so, the “…media strive to develop a strong sense of ‘we-ness’ in their audience…that is both affluent and like-minded” (Mantsios 514). With this comes the idea of “the other” which is, “…the faceless, amoral, undeserving, and inferior ‘underclass’” (Mantsios 514). A New Yorker journalist, Ken Alcutta, created the concept of the “underclass” identifying that, “not only are the poor different from the mainstream in their ability to take advantage of what society has to offer…they are increasingly deviant and dangerous to the rest of us” (Conley 382). Once these ideologies are put forth by the media they are hard to

Poverty in the United States has been a very big issue throughout its history. Poverty is both an economic condition and a social concept. Poverty in the United States first took place in the 19th century and till this day. Poverty was caused by people being selfish and not allowing everyone to have a chance on being successful. Poverty took a big hit from the Great Depression to the Great Recession that led millions of people down. Since then the poverty rate has been going up and down, never keeping a steady pace. “In the late 1950s, about 22 percent of Americans nearly 40 million people were on poverty” ("Poverty"). This means that poverty is a big issue and everyone needs to contribute to fixing this problem. Since this is a big issue

Poverty is “the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor” (Dictionary.com, 2017). Based off this definition poverty is a condition that can cause a cascade of cause and effect actions that is detrimental to families and individuals both physically and mentally. Haan, Kaplan, & Camacho (2017) completed a study on the correlation between social and economic status and health in adults in Oakland, CA. They found that the lower the socioeconomic class the higher incidents of diseases and deaths related to chronic diseases (p.1161-1162). Just being without money or little money was not the only indication of health indication, a person living in an area with higher poverty issues

The relationship between Crime and less fortunate people cannot underestimated; it may just be the way the media has conditioned us to characterize what a criminal looks like and how they live their lives. There are many low income cities and crime rates widespread across America. One may say that people with low income have nothing to lose when they commit crime or depressed or desperate to the point that they will commit crimes for the profit of money. Even though crime is committed at all walks of life, one can still pose a question to know if crime is more likely to be committed by people with low income that those with high income.

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

“Many people living in poverty do not want to be living in poverty. In order to obtain a higher level of socioeconomic status, crime is seen as the only option.” (Wilson, 1987).

Poverty is a major issue in America, and those affected appear to be predominantly children. Jarjoura, Triplett, and Brinker (2002) noted that 21% of the children in America are born into families that are living in poverty, which is higher than in many other countries. Some important characteristics of impoverished neighborhoods are high levels of delinquent and criminal behaviors, lack of parental supervision, low levels of

Poverty and the relationship it has to crime is a long standing sociological, humanists and historical phenomenon. From the plight of the third world to the violence soaked inner city streets of the 1980’s, the relationship of crime and poverty has been the source of a great deal of social commentary. In societies throughout the world and throughout history there has always been a traditional measure of deviance through relative income gaps. Both poverty and crime as well as their connections are heavily weighed topics of political and social discourse. Opinions in these areas contain a great deal of variance. The prejudices of the old guard from the professional police era still utilize association with poverty as a measuring stick for social deviance. Meanwhile, intelligent social science continues to give insight to factors such as social disorganization, socialization into violence, as well as, the far reaching impact political, economic and justice based policies have on those in poverty.