Poverty in American Society Essay - 1737 Words

There is a diversity of faces and voices that define people that are currently living in poverty. If you seen them on the street would you know them? Who are these unfortunate people? Do you think you could point them out? Where do they come from? While some impoverished people are apparent -many are hidden and walk amongst us everyday, fighting to survive, playing the societal game, and hoping to rise up and leave behind a life of poverty and despair. The impoverished is made up of people from all aspects of life with differences in age, race, color, and ethnicity. This group also includes fallen power elitists; impoverished by greed or over consumption of addiction. The issues of poverty and homelessness go hand and hand. The†¦show more content†¦Census Bureau, 1999). However, what truly defines poverty? Is it a lack of money, or lack of food or even lack of proper hygiene? Although these characteristics alone or combined can often define people living in poverty, the truth is that these are only perceptions. To live in poverty means that your income falls below the official poverty line for a given family size. In a broader sense, the living conditions of the poor are difficult to measure, both because annual cash income is only one factor related to living conditions, and because the poor are quite heterogeneous (Federman, Garner Short, 1997). The perceptions or myths that the population has about poverty are distinguished by a high degree of constancy across generations and by an equally pronounced capacity for evolution, adapting to changes in knowledge and social circumstance (Blumenburg, 1995 pp.34). Society buying into these myths and some impoverished adhering to the myths feed the fuel for societys beliefs and perceptions. So why is there a need to change societys view of those living in poverty? The truth is that these perceptions and myths arent just generalizations about the mass of impoverished because most of them fit the mold. While the belief is that the impoverished are homeless, the fact is that 48% own their own homes, compared to 78% of those not living in poverty. Typically, these home are three-bedroom houses with one-and-one-half baths. The average valuesShow MoreRelatedPoverty Epidemic Within American Society1524 Words   |  7 Pagesundeniable fact there exists a growing poverty epidemic within American society that needs to be addressed. According to a 2012 report by the Cato Institute the United States government spends nearly one-trillion dollars every year to combat severe financial need through a total of 126 separate welfare programs. While this value by itself seems significantly large, perhaps to an even excessive extent, in reality it had little effect on the American po verty level, never al allowing it to drop belowRead MoreThe Economics of Poverty in American Society Essay examples659 Words   |  3 PagesLiving in the United States, many of us do not think about poverty too much. Most people in the United States are above poverty level. They do not think about the less fortunate of America. Economics is the main factor of poverty in American Society, and more specifically, macroeconomics since it deals with the aggregate economy. To understand poverty and the poverty level, we need to see how the United States determines the poverty level each year. The United States Department of Agriculture inRead MoreCriminal Activity and Justice in the American Society Associated With the Social Problems of Race, Poverty, and Punishment2797 Words   |  11 Pagesï » ¿Title: The Social Problem of Race, Poverty, Punishment Abstract Even more than 100 years back, the terrific African American scholar W. E. B. Du Bois stated, The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line (Du Bois, 1999) Racism and racial discrimination, he said, were the main troubles dealing with contemporary society. Similar can be stated about criminal activity and justice in American society today. Virtually every problem associated with criminal justice problemsRead MoreEssay on Poverty and Sociology1344 Words   |  6 Pages2 million people were considered poor. The nation’s poverty rate rose to 15.1 percent, whereas in 2009, 14.3 percent of people in America were living in poverty (Censky, 2011). That is an increase of 2.6 million people in 2010. In the United States, the federal poverty line – an absolute measure of annual income – is frequently used to determine who is categorized as poor (Ferris Stein, 2008, 2010). Currently the government defines the poverty line as an income of $11,139 for an individual and $22Read MoreHow Poverty Causes The Greatest Suffering On Humans1144 Words   |  5 PagesOrganization described that poverty causes the greatest suffering on humans. Poverty leads to people living in a state of financial instability that causes both physical and emotional stress. The problem of poverty has continued to be a problem to both the developing and the developed countries all over the world. The main focus in this paper is on poverty in America and how it affects the American economy. The paper will also find ways to reduce poverty, the new faces of poverty and how it affects theRead MoreWhy Does Poverty Still Exist Among Black Americans? Essay1359 Words   |  6 Pages Why does poverty still exist among Black Americans? 2016 FA.Soc.220.02 Social Problems Kesha Hicks â€Æ' â€Å"The United States has the highest poverty rate of any advance industrial nation† (Elizabetha, 2013). For many years, black people have considered to be the poorest race in the United states. There have been many government programs put in place to help poverty among black Americans. Such as welfare, unemployment, and Medicaid just to name a few. The question is, with so many government programsRead MoreAfrican Americans The Face Of Poverty1461 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"African Americans are more likely to be arrested, if arrested more likely to be charged, if charged more likely to be sentenced, and if sentenced more likely to suffer more intense punishment than the rich or the white.† says a writer of the â€Å"why are African Americans the face of poverty in the United States (Why Are Black Americans the Face of Poverty in the United States? Is This View Supported by Evidence?).It s a serious question to ask. African Americans are usually represented as the lowerRead MoreThe Structural Theory Of Poverty1031 Words   |  5 Pagespowerhouse. However, poverty is still a prevalent and pervasive social problem (Arneson, 2007). This paper will discuss the sociological concepts and theories surrounding this pertinent issue. In addition, it will point out the value of sociological research into this social ill. Lastly, it will present evidence to support the hypothesis that poverty is a structural failure. In contrast to the school of thought supported by a number of sociologists that claims that poverty is a personal failureRead MoreLiberal Individualism And The American Welfare System1324 Words   |  6 PagesLiberal individualism generally functioned as the essential model focusing on the American welfare. Davies’ book called â€Å"From Opportunity to Entitlement† monitors the shifting from opportunity liberalism to entitlement liberalism during President Johnson’s war on poverty. Davies gives careful consideration to the political and authoritative battles of the 1960’s, particularly in the course of seeing the American welfare system differently. There were several important historical events and circumstancesRead MoreSociology : A Social Science850 Words   |  4 Pagesbasis relaying back to the relationship between individuals and society. â€Å"As a social science, sociology offers an objective and systematic approach to understanding the causes o f social problems.† (Leon-Guerrero, 2014, p 5) When we look at determining which social problems are significant or not, we rely on social constructionism. Social constructionism defines problems, only if they are personally observed as a problem. As a society, we recognize problems through objective and subjective realties