2.3 Explaining Poverty
- The Functionalist View. As discussed in Chapter 1 “Understanding Social Problems”, functionalist theory assumes that society’s structures and processes exist because they serve important functions for society’s stability and continuity.
- The Conflict View. ...
- Symbolic Interactionism. ...
- Specific Explanations of Poverty. ...
What would a functionalist say about poverty?
The Functionalist belief on poverty is based on the premise that poverty serves a positive function for society since functionalism is interested in large scale structural explanations of social life. Therefore, poverty is regarded on a macro level on the basis of the benefits it provides for society
How does functionalism help explain poverty?
Learning Objectives
- Describe the assumptions of the functionalist and conflict views of stratification and of poverty.
- Explain the focus of symbolic interactionist work on poverty.
- Understand the difference between the individualist and structural explanations of poverty.
What are the three sociological perspectives on poverty?
Poverty: Three Perspectives. Aug 12, 2008 297 Words. Cite. Poverty is a controversial social issue. A structural functionalist would view poverty as a positive aspect of society for a few reasons. One reason is that without impoverished people, there would be no wealthy people in place in society. Everyone either works hard, little, or not at ...
What is the functionalist view on homelessness?
What is the functionalist perspective on homelessness? Regarding its functions, homeless has a number of positive functions for the whole society. Overall, functionalism suggests that homelessness is a social problem, but not necessarily reflecting the faults in the structure of the society.
Why does poverty exist according to the functionalist perspective quizlet?
Poverty helps preserve social boundaries. The poor help to preserve a low-wage labor pool. who do the "dirty work" that no one else wants to do. Functionalists argue that the social welfare system is dysfunctional.
What are the three perspective of poverty?
Most explanations of poverty can be productively categorized into three broader families of theories: behavioral, structural, and political.
What is the functionalist perspective example?
For (an avowedly simplistic) example, a functionalist theory might characterize pain as a state that tends to be caused by bodily injury, to produce the belief that something is wrong with the body and the desire to be out of that state, to produce anxiety, and, in the absence of any stronger, conflicting desires, to ...
What are the perspectives of poverty?
Poverty is inseparably linked to lack of control over resources, including land, skills, knowledge, capital and social connections. It imprisons individuals and, in a wider context, poses one of the gravest threats to society, undermining political stability, social cohesion and the environmental health of the plant.
What is poverty sociological perspective?
Sociologists see it as a social condition of societies with an unequal and inequitable distribution of income and wealth, of the de-industrialization of Western societies, and the exploitative effects of global capitalism. Poverty is not an equal opportunity social condition.
How does structural functionalism explain poverty quizlet?
Structural Functionalist perspective on poverty and economic inequality. Says that social stratification serves several positive functions. Believes it helps to ensure the person who performs a particular role is the most qualified. Accepts poverty as unavoidable. Conflict perspective on poverty and economic inequality.
How does the functionalist perspective explain inequality?
Functionalist theorists believe that inequality is inevitable and desirable and plays an important function in society. Important positions in society require more training and thus should receive more rewards. Social inequality and social stratification, according to this view, lead to a meritocracy based on ability.
How do functionalists view family?
Functionalists see the family as a particularly important institution as they see it as the 'basic building block' of society which performs the crucial functions of socialising the young and meeting the emotional needs of its members. Stable families underpin social order and economic stability.
What is functionalism based on?
Functionalism is a theory of society that focuses on the structures that create the society and on how the society is able to remain stable.
How do conflict theorists view poverty?
Conflict theory and poverty: Unlike functionalism's viewpoint of class stratification and poverty being necessary to society, conflict theory argues the opposite. Stating instead that social stratification does not benefit society as a whole but instead only a small section- the bourgeoise.
What is the Functionalist belief in poverty?
The Functionalist Belief On Poverty Sociology Essay. When enough people in a society agree that a condition exists that threatens the quality of their lives and their most cherished values, and they also agree that something should be done to remedy it, sociologists say that society has defined that condition as a social problem.
Who developed functionalist analysis?
Functionalist analysis was prominent in the work of Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer, two of the founding fathers of the discipline and was further developed and refined by Emile Durkheim and more recently by Parsons. Durkheim is the most important sociological forerunner of modern day functionalism.
What is poverty in Marxism?
Marxism attributes poverty to the existence of class divisions in society. Poverty helps to maintain the domination of the bourgeoisie. In the 19th century the standard explanation of poverty came from Malthus’s Essay on Population (1798). Malthus believed that population grows faster than production.
How many people live below the poverty line in Europe?
Social protection systems in Europe are among the most-highly-developed in the world but still, 16% of Europe’s population amounting to 79 million people live below the poverty line (set at 60% of their country’s median income) with one European in ten living in a household where nobody works.
What is the role of each part of society in society functioning?
According to the functionalist perspective, each part of society is interdependent and contributes to society functioning as a whole. If all goes well, the diverse parts of society produce order, stability, and productivity.
What was the role of the poor before welfare?
For generations before the establishment of a welfare state, most poor people who did not earn a living somehow managed to cope. Relying on neighbours and, if necessary, on private, local charities, they cobbled together the resources to keep a roof over their heads and prevent starvation.
What are the two approaches to social problems?
The primary sociological approaches to the study of social problems are the functionalist, and conflict, perspectives .
Functionalism & Poverty
Defining functionalism: Functionalists view society as if it were a machine, that singular aspect of society (ie. social structure) performs a function that is indispensable to the smooth running of said society. Hence, any ‘dysfunction’ of any aspect of society is a deviation from the norm and hence will need to be fixed.
Conflict Theory & Poverty
Defining conflict theory: Proposed by Marx and Engels, conflict theory is the sociological theory that looks at society in terms of a power struggle between groups within society over limited resources, under a post-industrialised capitalist society these resources are the modes of production (Hayes, 2021).
Comparing the theories
Similarly to how conflict theory is able to address the faults of the functionalist perspective on poverty, the same occurs inversely. It is conflict theories’ emphasis on change through struggle that results in neglecting to consider the importance of societal stability. According to American sociologist Herbert J.
What is the function of poverty?
Another function that poverty creates is the process of giving out a factor of enjoyment, happiness and probably that feeling we’ve always wanted. [Some people lose, while some people gain.]
What do functionalists see as having a function?
Functionalists see everything in society as having a function or probably a purpose. Just like parts of your body, hands function to touch or hold things, feet function to walk or run around, or ears function to hear everyday sounds. Poverty is no exemption, if it is a component of the society, it must have a probable function, but the question is, ...
What are the causes of poverty in the Philippines?
Lack of education, poor health, and discrimination play a key role in causing poverty. Those causes can have an immense impact on countries, continents, and moreover the Philippines itself.
Who was the founder of Functionalist theory?
The Functionalist view or Functionalism was established by Emile Durkheim, a great French Sociologist in the 18th-19th century and was expounded by great American sociologist, Talcott Parsons in the same century.
Is poverty a complex issue in the Philippines?
Poverty is markedly all-encompassing, and is an extremely complex issue in the Philippines. Look around you, look around the Philippines; beggars among streets, among stairs, among roads, among garbages, among filths and the like, well this is how we define poverty.
What is the functionalist view of poverty?
This particular functionalist view provocatively argues that poverty exists because it serves certain positive functions for our society.
Why do functionalists believe that society is stratified?
In line with this view, functionalist theorists in sociology assume that stratification exists because it also serves important functions for society. This explanation was developed more than sixty years ago by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore (Davis & Moore, 1945) in the form of several logical assumptions that imply stratification is both necessary and inevitable. When applied to American society, their assumptions would be as follows:
What are the specific explanations of poverty?
Specific Explanations of Poverty. The functionalist and conflict views focus broadly on social stratification but only indirectly on poverty. When poverty finally attracted national attention during the 1960s, scholars began to try specifically to understand why poor people become poor and remain poor.
What is the culture of poverty theory?
According to this theory, the poor generally have beliefs and values that differ from those of the nonpoor and that doom them to continued poverty.
How does conflict theory affect poverty?
In general, conflict theory attributes stratification and thus poverty to lack of opportunity from discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color.
What is stratification in sociology?
Stratification results from lack of opportunity and from discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color. It is neither necessary nor inevitable. Symbolic interactionism. Stratification affects people’s beliefs, lifestyles, daily interaction, and conceptions of themselves.
How does social class affect everyday life?
According to symbolic interactionism, social class affects how people interact in everyday life and how they view certain aspects of the social world. The individualistic view attributes poverty to individual failings of poor people themselves, while the structural view attributes poverty to problems in the larger society.
