Poverty in America the Causes

Poverty in America

The causes of poverty in America

Introduction common definition of poverty is as follows; "Poverty in its most general sense is the lack of necessities. Basic food, shelter, medical care, and safety are generally thought necessary based on shared values of human dignity" (Bradshaw, 2006). However, as Bradshaw and many others point out, the definition and understanding of poverty is never simple and that the term poverty is relative to the differential needs of various societies and individuals. "... what is a necessity to one person is not uniformly a necessity to others. Needs may be relative to what is possible and are based on social definition and past experience..." (Bradshaw, 2006).

This view of poverty is aligned with an understanding social and cultural needs, aspirations and values.

The above perception of the term poverty is also instructive in relation to the important question of causation. Poverty is an aspect that appears to a greater or lesser extent in all modern societies. However, the causative features of this phenomenon are variable and there are often very different views about what creates the blight of poverty in any one society.

In contemporary sociology, there is a tendency to view poverty as a result of the dynamics, structure and stratification systems in solidity and culture. This view is countered by the assertion that poverty is an individual and not a social concern and that its cause lies in a personal lack of the work ethic and effort on the part of individual.

Both these opposing views will be discussed in this study. The study will focus on the causative aspects and element that functions within American society that can be ascribed to the phenomenon of poverty. The importance of this topic is emphasized by the disparity between rich and poor in developed and industrialized countries like the United States, where, according to many pundits, poverty should not exist to the extent that it does.

Background and statement to the problem

Poverty is one of most endemic and discussed problems in the modern world. As Rank, Yoon & Hirschl (2003) state, there are few causes that have succeeded in generating so much discussion as human poverty in society. (Rank, Yoon & Hirschl, 2003 p. 3) the Catholic Charities 2006 Policy Paper, Poverty in America a Threat to the Common Good emphasizes the extent of this problem in the Unites States, with the fact that 37 million people - about 12.6% of the population - live below the official federal poverty level. (Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good. 2006) the problem of poverty is also emphasized by the view that the current measurements of poverty are severally misrepresented, because of the inadequate methodology used to measure poverty. (Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good. 2006) at the center of this debate is the issue of causality of poverty and the poor.

Furthermore, the issue of poverty and its relationships to the emerging 'Third World' is one that is at the forefront of modern sociological and political discourse. This has also related in many interpretations of the causes of poverty. From one perspective, poverty is seen as a result of social forces, cultural and class categories and the larger economic imperative in capitalistic society. On the other hand the causes of poverty are ascribed by some to individual efforts and the work ethic, or rather the lack of these aspects.

The situation with regard to poverty and the assessment of poverty is particularly problematic in the United States. While the United States is believed to be the wealthiest country in the world with citizens who enjoy comparatively high prosperity, yet the degree of poverty in the country is extremely high. (Midgley, 2004, p. 215).

However, many experts state that this image of general prosperity does not concur with reality. Statistical data also shows that while people in the United States have a high standard of living, they also show that there are decided and marked inequalities in income and wealth, with an increasing problem among minorities. (Midgley, 2004, p. 215)

The problem is seen from one perspective as having an individual rather than a social cause. This reasoning is founded on various ideologies of individual freedom. For example, Robert Lampman, a key economic adviser to President Lyndon Johnson in 1971, predicted that poverty in America would be eradicated by 1980. (Iceland, 2003, p. 1) Contemporary theorists and commentators see predictions such as these as naive. As Iceland, (2003) remarks it was evident as early as the 1970s when recession and the oil crisis affected the economy, that optimistic views of poverty eradication would not prove to be true. (p.1)

This leads to various problem and questions that concern the central thesis of this study; such as, why does poverty remain so pervasive?; is poverty unavoidable?; are people from particular racial and ethnic backgrounds or family types inevitably more likely to be poor?; and what are the future predictions for poverty in the country? (Iceland, 2003, p. 1) the central overarching aspect that relates to all of these issues is the understanding of the causative facets of poverty in the United States.

3. Research questions for paper: (1-2 sentences)

The fist research question that acts as the fulcrum around which thus study will develop is the search for the reason or reasons for poverty. The answer to this question will include the perception of the problem from various vantage points and theoretical trajectories. Secondly, to what extent is poverty a result of social structure and to what extent can it be ascribed to individual factors? Rather than being a result of economic forces within in the capitalistic system, poverty is, as some contend, the result of a lack individual and personal effort. This is a central aspect that will be focused on in the analysis and understanding of this problem in the United States.

4. Rationale

The rationale of this study is based on the fact that poverty is seen in many different lights and from various, and often contradictory, perspectives. However, at the same time the fact of poverty and poverty increase in America and in many other areas of the world is a reality that cannot be denied and which has social as well as political implications. It is suggested that the causes of poverty are strongly linked to various social and economic facets of society and that they are strongly linked to politics and governmental policies.

The consensus among many sociologists and scholars in other disciplines is that it is simplistic and even erroneous to assume that poverty is the result only of individual failings. Therefore, the theories pertaining to the social and economic construction of poverty and wealth should be taken into account.

Consequently, the negative results of poverty highlight the necessity of understanding the full dynamics and dimensionality of the causes of poverty. Therefore, the focus of this study will be on ascertaining and analyzing the causes of poverty though a comprehsive and integrated assessment of the literature available, and also taking into account various theoretical stances and assertions about this phenomenon.

3. Theoretical and conceptual framework

Both individualist and structuralist, as well as deconstructive, theories of the causes of poverty will be explores in this study. While the relevant classical and formal view of sociological theory will be taken into account, there will also be a focus on more appropriate and contemporary theoretical perspectives on the subject.

The theories and trajectories of various Marxist perspectives on poverty will form an important part of the theoretical concepts of this study. This will also include theoretical aspects such as base and superstructure and ideology and alienation as the pertain to the study of the causative factors of poverty.

Other theoretical stances that will be explored will include urban ecological theory, which was a popular theoretical school of thought in the 1900s. Urban ecological theories also investigate the effect of social disorganization and poor neighborhoods. (Curley, 2005) However this school of thought has been criticized for ignoring aspect such an economic market forces. (Curley, 2005)

Theories such as the "culture of poverty," which examine the norms and behavior patters of the poor and identifies this group as a subculture of the larger society, will also examined. This viewpoint also refers to the manifestation of low aspirations among the poor in the society. (Curley, 2005) However, this theory has also been criticized from not taking into account the structural aspects that are related to poverty causation.

Other theoretical stances that will be examined in relation to poverty include social capital theory. This strand point views poverty from the perspective of social and cultural aspects of human behavior. (Staveren, 2003)

It also includes the economic dimensions and implications of poverty. These theories will be examined in relation to the information that they shed on the causes of poverty.

4. Literature review

The literature on this topic is extensive and covers a wide ranger of issues, as well as theoretical concerns and perspectives. The literature search and selection was essentially based on the central questions noted above. The selection of causality was a central theme in this search; and this term was also related to concomitant aspects of the subject; such as the perception of poverty, methodological consideration in the measurement of poverty rates, important social and cultural factors etc. An effort way also made to include theoretical as well as more practical studies, reports and assessments of the problem. However, the literature search also attempted to provide for alternative views and theories that might shed light on the central thesis of the study; so that the literature reviews and citations in this study would be as discursive and extensive as possible.

4.1. General views and overviews general study that provides some useful background to the issue of poverty in an historical context is a History of Sociology in Britain: Science, Literature, and Society Book by a.H. Halsey (2004). In this comprehensive overview the author provides useful insights into the sociological understanding of the development of poverty with regard to its origins in the industrial revolution in Britain. This study therefore stresses the fact that the roots of contemporary poverty lie in the eventful changes in society and in social structures that emerged as a result of the industrial revolution.

Another general overview of the issue surrounding poverty seen in its sociological context is the comprehensive, Poverty in America: A Handbook by John Iceland (2003). This comprehensive and very useful source book provides a cogent overview of the changes in theoretical stances and perceptions of poverty in the American context. The study notes, for example, the naivety of the original American "dream" of eradicating poverty. The study also provides an in-depth and extensive exploration of the trends and patterns of poverty in the United States; as well as an examination of the impact and effect of poverty over time.

Importantly, the study is of the view that the persistence of poverty in the United States is a reflection of much more than just accumulation of the fallings of individuals. The study stresses that various structural issues including the way that poverty is interpreted and understood, determine responses and policy in relation to poverty. (Iceland, 2003, p. 2) This also includes an exposition of the part that the economic system plays and factors such as other social inequality. (Iceland, 2003, p. 2) This important point will be expanded on in this thesis.

This work also refers to various other aspects that are influential in understanding patterns and causation on poverty in America. For instance, Iceland notes that shifts in family structure have not been considered an important causative factor for poverty and in poverty rates in recent research; however, they were considered to be important in demeaning poverty trends in the 1970s and 1980s" (Iceland, 2003, p. 2).

These aspects and theoretical shifts are also contrasted with older and more established views about the causes of poverty in the country and the author brings to bear more contemporary views and issues that relate to this topic. Importantly, Iceland also discuses the myths that abound about poverty and how this term is often subject to forms of stereotyping and is erroneously associated with ethic groups and various cultural areas. The author states, for example, the common misperception is most of the poor in the country are African-American residents of inner cities. (Iceland, 2003, p. 3) Another stereotypical misconception that is noted is the view that the poor do not work. These issues are important in a consideration of the real causes of poverty, which need to be distinguished for the mythical, stereotypical and biased views of this phenomenon.

One of the central questions that underlie the issue of the cause of poverty in America is the actual extent of this phenomenon in a wealthy and developed country. Garth L. Mangum, Stephen L. Mangum and Andrew M. Sum address this issue in the Persistence of Poverty in the United States (2003). The study provides some useful insights into the actual situation relating to poverty in America - in contradistinction to the media image and the stereotypical resonation of poverty. As a review of the book by Midgley, (2004), states, while there is seemingly a plethora of statistical data that supports the view that Americans enjoy a very high standard of living, research also reveals that there are intense and marked inequalities and disparities in income and wealth. This is coupled with the fact of the persistence of poverty in the population as well as marked signs of the growth of this problem in the middle class of the country. (Midgley, 2004. p. 215).

A very useful introduction to the problem of poverty in the country is the extensive data contained in the Catholic Charities 2006 Policy Paper, Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good. This paper provides some extremely useful data and statistics. For example, it states that 37 million people - about 12.6% of the population - live below the official federal poverty level; and between 2000 and 2004, the number of people living in poverty increased by 5.3 million. (Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good) Even more telling is the fact that poverty rates did not decline, even though the economy as a whole was in the process of recovery. (Poverty in America: A Threat to the Common Good) These important statistics underlines the importance of a study of this nature.

4.2. Alternative views and theories work that explores the concept of poverty from another angle and is also very useful in terms of the central thesis of this study is, Poverty and the Third Way, by Colin C. Williams (2003). This study refers to the view of the "old left' which sees the poor as a construct of society and is in favor of the redistribution of wealth as an answer to the problem. The views of the New Right are also expanded on in this study. This relates to the stance which sees the poor as an underclass with low morals, work ethic etc. These two views roughly correspond to the two different ideological trajectories in theory that have been referred to above.

The third perspective is the view of "new labor' which refers to the identification and understanding of the poor as simply the 'unemployed" and to employment of the poor as the way out of poverty. Williams suggest another alternative view of poverty that focuses on "capabilities theory." (Williams & Windebank, 2003, p. 1) study which is central to the main thesis under discussion, especially in terms of the sociological context of poverty is American Poverty as a Structural Failing: Evidence and Arguments, by Mark R. Rank, Hong-Sik Yoon and Thomas a. Hirschl (2003). This study notes that in the main, most of the empirical research on poverty in America has been focused on individual characteristics to explain the prevalent patterns of poverty. The authors of this study state that this emphasis is "misplaced" and that as a result of concentrating on individual attributes and failings as the cause of poverty, sociologists and other experts have been blind to the real causes and the "underlying dynamic" of American impoverishment." (Rank, Yoon & Hirschl, 2003) This "underlying dynamic: in their view refers to the fact that the economic systems and constraints in fact create poverty. This view would therefore be in concert with theories that see the system itself as a cause of poverty. (Rank, Yoon & Hirschl, 2003).

The above study goes on to show that the causes of poverty are the result of structural failings in the system itself at many levels, including the economic, political, and social levels. This perspective also takes note of the older research findings that have tended to focus on individual characteristics as important factors in the reality of poverty; while at the same time addressing the structural nature of American poverty (Rank, Yoon & Hirschl, 2003). Importantly the study by Rank, Yoon and Hirschl raises an issue that is central to the main thesis of this study. This refers to the fact, or rather the question of why the United States has such high levels of poverty in comparison to other Western Countries. (Rank, Yoon & Hirschl, 2003. p. 3) This refers to the fact, according to the authors, that America has too many low-wage jobs and that the governmental polices in terms of social poverty have been too restrictive and have not done enough in terms of supporting families. The authors also refer to the importance of increasing labor market opportunities and social support to ordinary Americans. (Rank, Yoon & Hirschl, 2003. p. 3)

An intriguing and enlightening study of the actual measurement poverty in the United States is the Sequential Costs of Poverty: What Traditional Measures Overlook (2006) by Elizabeth a. Segal, Laura R. Peck. The research in this study suggests an addition to the poverty measurement debate. In essence, the study notes that there is dissatisfaction with the official poverty measure. It proposes instead the use of sequential costs of poverty to enhance and expand on the poverty measure to represent the life-experiences of low-income families. (Segal & Peck, 2006, p.227) the study also explores the conceptual framework that surrounds the notion of sequential costs and concludes that these sequential costs should be illustrative examples from health, employment, housing, and income maintenance" (Segal & Peck, 2006, p.227) This view has important consequences for the understanding as well as the combating of poverty in the country.

The literature on this subject also takes into account research of previously ignored groups and on the gender specifics of poverty. One useful article in this regard is Gender Poverty Disparity in U.S. Cities: Evidence Exonerating Female-Headed Families, (2005), by Sara Lichtenwalter, published in the Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare. This study utilizes data from the 2000 Census and examines the impact of family composition, education, and labor force factors on the difference between female and male poverty rates in the 70 largest U.S. cities. (Lichtenwalter, 2005)

The conclusions to this study indicate some significant and telling findings. Among these is that the increased role and participation women in the workforce has a significant and positive effect on female earnings. (Lichtenwalter, 2005. p. 75) This has also reduced the gender wage gap. Importantly, the study also finds that although these factors have affected gender disparity in a positive sense, they have not had a significantly positive and direct impact on the gender poverty gap. (Lichtenwalter, 2005. p. 75) study that focuses on race and class as factors in the debate on poverty is, the Culture of Race, Class, and Poverty: The Emergence of a Cultural Discourse in Early Cold War Social Work (1946-1963), by Laura Curran (2003). This study presents an historical analysis of the issues at stake and focuses on the cultural discourse on poverty in the early Cold War years. It also concentrates on the evolution of the issue of poverty from the point-of-view of social work perceptions and assessments, taking into account changing race relations and increasing welfare caseloads.

This view of social poverty from the point-of-view of the social worker in a historical context also provides an invaluable source of background information to the central question of poverty causation. Importantly, the author states that there has been a conflict of perceptions of poverty over the years. This cultural framework has also wrestled with internal contradictions. (Curran, 2003) These ambiguous perceptions of poverty described in the study characterize the problematics of twentieth century multiculturalism as well as neo-conservative thought. (Curran, 2003)

Government policy is also an element that is crucial to the understanding and assessment of poverty in the United States. A commentary that is useful as a starting point in this regard is the Bush Administration's Misguided Poverty Cure., by Sharon Lerner (2004). This article questions the association with formal marriage that has become an underpinning of certain governmental policy on poverty. This policy is opposed to divorce and single parenthood, also known as the "healthy marriage initiative." These links to certain religious and moral assessments of the cause of poverty are contradicted by various factors and statistics mentioned in this study.