The Effects Of Poverty In The Media

The purpose of this essay is to inform the reader of a real problem, media misrepresentation, and to try to have the reader change the way the think, feel, and perceive the poor. She gives examples of encounters she has had that are a result of the damaging depiction and conveys to the reader why those thoughts are wrong by using her own personal experiences. She mentions that before entering college she never thought about social class. However, the comments from both other students and her professors about poverty were alarming to her. Other people viewed the poor as, “shiftless, mindless, lazy, dishonest, and unworthy” indigents. Hook opposes that stereotypical image of the poor, referring back to being taught in a “culture of poverty,” the values to be intelligent, honest, and hard-working. She uses these personal experiences to her advantage by showing she has had an inside look at poverty.

My Reaction Review to One of the Working Questions in Chapter Six of the Theory Toolbox In Chapter Six of the Theory Toolbox, the authors, Jerry Nealon and Susan Searls Giroux write about ideology. Specifically, the authors delve into the multiple definitions and aspects of this topic to help readers better grasp this concept. One working question in this chapter even causes the reader to ponder and reflect on how ideology ties in with the context of life as a collegian. Collegians are one of the audiences reading the text. Therefore, my reaction review will focus on the working question by presenting an intriguing exploration of these concepts within many worldviews and their relation to collegians, such as me, in reflecting on ideologies.

George is addressing the important issue of the perception of poverty in the United States at this time. She brings up many valid points about the perceptions of poverty in the United States and how nonprofit organizations perpetuate this narrow view of what poverty is in order to elicit contributions (676). Moreover, George is able to show how Habitat for Humanity while helping many people in need. Also gives the false idea that people living in poverty merely need some volunteers to build them a home and then they will be able to work their way right out of poverty (678). Given these points, Prof. George explains, the idea that people in the United States living poverty all live in squalor or are homeless does nothing but limit people’s knowledge of what true people in need actually look like (682). By the same token, when it comes to the actual individuals in need, many of them might not even realize or want to admit that they are in need themselves (682-683). One limiting factor of Prof. George’s article is that she narrowly focuses on one nonprofit organization to show how the majority of nonprofit organizations portray people in

Based on the article “Changing the Face of Poverty” the issue that Diana George is responding to is poverty and its representation in the world. George first discusses how the nonprofit organization Habitat for Humanity tries to eliminate poverty by constructing houses for Americans who are suffering because of poverty. However, she states that the images which the nonprofit organization uses are pictures that try to “evoke the desire to give or to act, so that the benefactors don’t turn away” (George 240). These pictures may not completely depict all people who are suffering from poverty.

A homeless person is an individual without a permanent, stable housing situation who either spends his or her nights on the streets or in temporary facilities, such as shelters and abandoned buildings. Throughout history, society has been “holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes” (Zur). Society has been blaming the homeless for being in the position they are in. However, upon closer inspection, it must be noted that “children under the age of 18 accounts for 39% of the homeless population…battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness…[and] 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces” (Who Is Homeless?). It is clear that those who are homeless are not

The motion picture Taylor’s Campaign, demonstrated how the homeless were constantly moving from place to place because they are kicked out of their location. They end up getting tickets for invading side walks or possessing shopping carts. They are unable to afford to pay for those tickets that they end up going to jail. Some are fine with that because at least they are no longer sleeping on the streets. There are more homeless than homeless shelters can home. Those that have no home can be put on a wait list, but in the meanwhile they have to continue to live in the streets. They cannot get a job because they have no address to put on their job application. Since they have no job they have to have some sort of income to survive, but what they do is not enough to keep them off the streets. Since, they look like homeless, they are treated with disrespect. People do not pay attention to them because others do not benefit. They have to make some sort of income to survive, but what they do is not enough to keep them off the streets or to eat. They cannot receive food because the government no longer funds outdoor distributions of meals. They blame it on how it can spread diseases when it is not an extreme issue like starvation. The homeless are treated with disrespect because of what they represent. They are associated with crime, in which crime rate is low. They see themselves as a family and feel they can only rely on each other because they only understand what is going. They seem to have no one else because their marriages have failed, mental health problems, or have abused alcohol or drugs. It makes it difficult to reintegrate society when their personal issues make it an obstacle every time. They are a community that sticks together because of the support they provide for one

Many notable wars have begun and ended without people taking time to truly understand them. It is the case that it is harder to understand something one has not experienced yet, and the war on poverty is not exempt from this. However, poverty has existed all throughout the history of mankind’s most notable societies, from the French revolution in 1789 which bloodied the halls of the Palace of Versailles to the Occupy Wall Street Movement in 2011 which reminded Americans that economic inequality is still prevalent. The Invisible Poverty of Other America by Peter Dreier, 7 Lies About Welfare by Danica Johnson, and Where to Sleep When You’re Homeless by an anonymous ex-homeless person, all give insight to the problems we’ve learned to turn a

As a main point of her argument, she argues that poverty is generally stereotyped into the poverty that would only be seen in Africa, or another third world country. To support this, she establishes a sense of ethos for her readers by citing other individuals that have also noticed the poverty representation gap. Seeing that poverty is a complex issue to begin with, George addresses this complexity by simply suggesting that it should be represented as such in the media. Nonprofit charities may now have to reconsider their

Though I personally have never experience homelessness, I know a few who have had to endure a life on the streets. Also as a Altanta citizen, the homeless population greatly effects me for Altanta houses approxemently 3,572 homeless citizens whom tend to loiter on just about every street corner. Some of the homeless population receive the shelter and resources they need to survive through shelters and tvolunteer workshops. Yet a majority of the population receive little to no real benefits that could assist them in getting off of the streets and into a stable home and job. What the homesless population needs are jobs, health care, and mental health care. Yet the average person and the average shelter assumes that, “if they are feed and they have some clothes on their back they’re fine. Anything else that thy need they will have to get on their own.”

Words provoke preconceived ideas and images in the mind, when it comes to a situation like poverty these preconceived notions can have undesirable and unintended consequences. Diana George examines the semantics and the imagery of the word poverty in her article titled “Changing the Face of Poverty; Nonprofits and the Problem of Representation. While also addressing the issue of the perception poverty and what someone in poverty truly looks like (676). Prof. George is arguing that organizations like Habitat for Humanity, which are created to help people in poverty actually perpetuate the wrong image of what someone in poverty looks like (678). Most organizations created to help those in need, especially those in the US tend to portray poverty as what is seen and thought of as living conditions in Third World countries (683). In reality, poverty is all around each and every one of us in this country on a daily basis, and people might not always recognize it for what it is (681,682). Furthermore, the majority of people living in poverty in the United States do not live like or look like someone living in a Third World country. But in reality they are still living in poverty nonetheless (682,683). Organizations that portray people living in poverty here in the US as totally devastated and completely impoverished are doing a disservice to the people they are attempting to help. Consequently, by doing this they are giving a limiting idea of what someone living in poverty

Homelessness is a serious societal problem affecting our communities. Katel of Housing the Homeless says “about 1.5 million Americans use a shelter in a given year- and advocates for the homeless say that figure badly understates the problem.” Yet, society looks down at these people, not doing anything to help them. They are judged, criticized, and bombarded by false assumptions everywhere they go. I have heard people say “they are like that because they chose to” or “they are lazy and don't want to work.” This is not true in most cases. The reality is life can go wrong at any moment for anyone. For some people there is no one there to help them and their only option is living on the streets or a shelter.

omelessness does not discriminate; it can affect people from all walks of life no matter sex, race, or religion. Last year alone, more than 3.5 million people experienced homelessness. Thirty five % affecting families with children and mental illness contribute to the lowest at twenty% (Students against Hunger). There are many different homeless population in between, such as military veterans, children under the age of 18, and those that have experienced domestic violence just to name a few. Homelessness is a social problem because it depletes federal funding, increases taxes, and can lead to criminal activity. The reaction to homelessness regarding the homeless is a social problem in itself. It seems that Americans view homelessness as a threat to society, an embarrassment, and sometimes one may even try to act as though the problem does not even exist. They turn their heads in shame, disgust, pity, distaste and fear.

As a matter of fact,“[m]ost people are not aware of other realities different [from] their own and think it is a ‘social norm’ to have [basic necessities] and a ‘social abnormality’ to live in the streets” (Source A). These people fail to realize there could be a situation in which the homeless could not avoid the cause. For example, some homeless people are born to a family in poverty. According to research, poverty is the largest contributor to homelessness, and “the World Bank, as of August 2008, [estimates] 1.4 billion people live on $1.25 per day or less, and 2.7 billion people live on less than $2 per day” (Source B). Although poverty is the largest cause of homelessness and is often called ‘the silent killer’, natural disasters, in extreme measures, could cause a person to lose their life along with their home. Homelessness can become a reality also when people become evicted when their bills become high and are not paid on time. The government lacks public assistance for people who are homeless because “[e]ven though the government has provided some shelters for homeless people, overcrowding forces many [people] to live in the streets” (Source

According to suitcaseclinic.org, homelessness is a temporary condition that people fall into when they cannot afford to pay for a place to live, or when their current home has been declared unsafe or even unstable. According to Habitat.org, this issue affects between 1.6 million to close to 3 million people within the United States ("World Habitat”). The issue is growing throughout the world, yet what is the root cause? Numerous people wonder how they can help. Most tend to believe that the solution is as simple as just giving them money to use for daily living. Even though their root cause for their issue isn’t money. It is the fact that they don’t grasp how to use their money properly/ responsibly. The homeless can’t be helped with just cash, they need the proper support systems along with education to become successful.

Usually when a person thinks of the poor and the homeless, they think about those that are living and sleeping on park benches or under bridges. They think of those who are dirty, with ragged clothing, worn out shoes, and those begging or panhandling for food. The truth of the matter is that poverty and homelessness can affect people of any age, race or gender. More Americans are at the risk of poverty and homelessness today. There are many circumstances that can cause a person to live in poverty and become homeless. The lack of affordable housing, low paying jobs or lack of employment, and insufficient federal aid all contribute to poverty and homelessness.