Poverty Can Shape a Social

¶ … Poverty Can Shape a Social Worker's Practice

Different Conceptions of Poverty

As society evolves and develops, the problem of poverty becomes more serious than ever. While there are many extremely wealthy individuals, there are even more extremely poor ones. In the United States for instance, 12% of the entire population is currently living below the poverty line (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008). But there are also those individuals who strive to bring equality and fight for the rights of the many. They are the social workers and much of their activity is centered on helping the poor. Their actions are influenced by a multitude of factors, such as personal capabilities, the features of the encountered problems or the available resources to resolving the encountered problem. Still, there are other less punctuated issues which could affect the activity of a social worker, and a most relevant such issue is the way he or she perceives poverty. In other words, the different definitions of poverty influence the practice of a social worker. The following lines will try to point out how.

Different Definitions of Poverty

Poverty as deprivation

Poverty means that the individuals have insufficient money to afford education, a comfortable house, the healthcare costs or even food. This deprivation of the basic elements is known to bitter the person. As a result, the social worker might find it difficult to properly perform his tasks. In a first instance, he might be discouraged and feel saddened by the deprivation suffered by the poor and he might feel incapable to solve their problems. On the other hand, he could feel even more motivated to help the people overcome the current misery and his actions would even further increase in intensity. The ultimate reaction depends on the character and personal features of the social worker.

Poverty as culture

The culture of poverty has been debated for numerous years and its existence is yet under dispute. Sociologists explain it as the tendency for the poor to remain poor as they have already become accustomed to it, its problems and its limitations (Goode and Eames, 1996). In other words, they have resigned to their status and do not show any interest or real desire to change it. This situation could easily become the most difficult challenge for the social worker as his efforts would continually meet closed doors. Just like in the previous scenario, the state employee could renounce, or he could intensify his efforts.

Poverty as structure