Final Proposal assignment

Impacts of Poverty on Children 2

Social, Physical, and Mental Impacts of Poverty on Children

Specific Aims of the Project

Poverty may be defined as prolonged lack of basic needs such as clothing, food, and shelter. Children are the most affected by poverty as they are still in their developmental stages and are more vulnerable than adults. A child from a poor background is more likely to engage in criminal behavior than a child from a well-to-do background (Gyamfi, 2014). Other than getting involved in illegal and antisocial behaviors, disadvantaged children experience mental, physical, and social impacts that are correlated to poverty. Due to their vulnerability, exposure to poverty especially at an early age, say 5 or 6 years, may lleads to the said impacts, which as will be looked into through data collection and analysis. In essence, the research project aims at collecting data and making conclusions regarding the impact of poverty on a child’s emotional, mental, and social aspects. Comment by Anna Muraco: ok - would be better to put in the form of a research question

Literature Review

Manny Gonzalez (2005) asserted that urban children from poor homes were at more risk of suffering from a mental health? problem. He adds that children of color were more likely to develop the mental health problems when compared to their counterparts. The author introduces this an important impact of poverty that makes children even more vulnerable. They tend to develop mental problems slowly hence other family members and relatives may not realize when the children have a mild form of a mental problem. Children placed in homecare in Hong Kong from disadvantaged families suffered from mental illnesses and drug addiction (Wong, Ma, & Chang, 2017). This indicated a common pattern where children who are raised in poverty from poor homes are more vulnerable to developing mental illnesses especially when their parents or guardians fail to offer them emotional support.

A study undertaken in 2016 showed that 18% of sampled children from poor regions suffered delayed mental development (De los Reyes-Aragon, Amar, De Castor Correa, Harb, Madariaga, & Abello-Llanos, 2016). More so, the study also found out that such children tend to have low self-esteem and emotional problems and hence do not experience a normal childhood. Such children are poor at socializing and hence tend to withdraw from social spaces, which exposes them to further mental and emotional issues especially if they do not access professional help (De los Reyes-Aragon et al., 2016). Suffering from anxieties and stress is common in children being brought up in poverty. If parents or guardians are not taking good care of them the children are highly likely to develop severe mental problems.

A study conducted in a poor region in Southern Ethiopia indicated that children from poor homes were twice as likely to be diagnosed with Anemia (Loha, Deressa, Solomon, Atsbeha, Hailu & Lindtjørn, 2017). The study exemplifies a common occurrence among children that come from poor neighborhoods. Due to lack of balanced and healthy diets, children are at risk of developing serious deficiency diseases that contribute to other conditions such as delayed mental development.

Disadvantaged children are also at risk of suffering from emotional problems. To start with, parents or guardians are mainly not able to offer them physical and emotional support. A 2014 study indicated that poverty has extreme effects on children as well as their family as a whole (Amin, Lipscombe, Shah, Biermann, Wu & Feig, 2014). The authors went ahead and stated that parents in poor neighborhoods experience life challenges beyond developing stress, depression, and aggravation. Not being able to support their children and provide them with necessities become a constant sources of stress which means they may not be able to support their children emotionally.

Lack of emotional support from family and relatives contributes to other antisocial behavior such as illicit sex at an early age. Children yearn for emotional support and when not getting it from their family members they tend to look for it elsewhere. When out of their homes, they establish strong bonds with strangers and other fellow children in the streets and perceive themselves as family (Berzin & Allison, 2010). This makes them drift away from normal social groups which contributes to their behavior of developing antisocial behaviors.

Social impacts are also experienced by children from poor neighborhoods. Actually, children who grew in poverty and did not experience a normal childhood are twice as likely to fail at establishing stable relationships and keeping a job (Machell et al., 2016). Due to these developments, such children ,especially when they are teenagers, they develop antisocial behaviors and get involved in juvenile crimes. As they continue to spend more time in the streets, they develop more solid behaviors and get completely dissociated from normal social groups. This is what makes them change and adopt new antisocial behaviors and even do not want to be reintegrated in their families (Gyamfi, 2004). The streets offer them a false sense of comfort and emotional support which plays a key role in the adopted antisocial behaviors. Further, due to emotional detachment from their families, the children become integrated into new social rules and roles which define how they carry themselves around (Ristikari, Paananen, Merikukka & Gissler, 2013). In essence, poverty makes the children develop antisocial behaviors making them indulge in activities that put their overall social well-being in danger.

The government and stakeholders need to put in place efforts that ensures children from poor homes are not vulnerable. Notably, before the children walk out of their homes, they try to hard work hard but due to constant hardships they tend to give up (Healey, 2014). This means that if the can be accorded some help they would be willing to fight their way out of poverty. Stakeholders should assume a unique role that prevents children from making a decision to leave their homes which puts them into much danger (Community Practitioner, 2004). Additionally, the stakeholders should also try to bring about equality in some aspects such as how the learners from poor neighborhoods access education. In poor neighborhoods, educational outcomes are low when compared to well-to-do neighborhoods due to differences in resources available (Ristikari et al., 2013). Families and especially parents should be exposed to public education that should sensitize them on the need for providing their children with emotional support and closely monitor them for change of behaviors. Parents and guardians are the best placed when it comes to addressing the problem.

Plan for Data Collection and Analysis

The research study targets employing interviews as a tool for data collection. From the above sections, it can be evidenced that the research will be aiming at collection of data that is personal, meaning that participants will be willing to share information when engaged personally such as through a one-on-one interaction. In order to determine the effects poverty has on children, the data collected needs to focus on the three main aspects (social, physical, and mental) as well as additional aspects that might have an influence on the conclusion made by the researcher. This can best be done through personal interactions with the participants.

Interviews are important in gaining insight and context into a topic. When engaging a participant, it is possible for the interviewer to learn about aspects the interviewee was privy to. It is different from other methodologies such as use of questionnaires as the participant will only respond to questions posed in the material (Creswell, 2013). Additionally, a researcher is able to establish a connection with a participant hence the latter can be willing to give more information that could not have if there was no such a personal connection. Further, this means that a participant is more likely to give more honest responses when compared to other methods.

Additionally, due to the fact that the researcher will be looking for data with a high level of validity and reliability, interviews offers a chance for learning about the reliability of responses offered by the respondents. For instance, engaging them on a one-on-one basis enables a researcher to learn about their verbal and non-verbal cues such as body movements which indicate whether they are being honest with their responses (Creswell, 2013). More so, it is possible for the interviewer to learn whether there are questions that are bringing about discomfort to the respondent and encourages them not to respond to such questions.

Moreover, as the interviewer, it is highly important for one to control the whole interview process in order to ensure that data collected is in line with the overall goals and objectives of the research process. The respondent may be distracted from the actual cause of the interview and offer responses that do not fully fit within the limits of the study. In this regard, the interviewer directs and guides the respondent in giving the information needed (Kothari, 2009). On the other hand, the interviewer can also guide the respondent in a manner that will allow them to offer more pertinent information that will have a positive impact on the overall outcomes.

The above reasons indicate why using the interview method is being proposedwas done. They give the researcher the autonomy during the data collection process and also allow him to gain more insights into the subject matter which promotes data validity. For this project, the researcher targets parents or guardians of children that are or have been exposed to poverty. They will play a role as respondents and are expected to give information that is pertinent, valid, and reliable. Interviews will help the researcher establish a rapport and create a connection that will make them offer honest responses regarding effects poverty has had on their children. Comment by Anna Muraco: so a purposive sample

Steps for data collection

1. The first step entails identifying the sample population that will be involved as respondents. In this case, the researcher will access data from relevant institutions in a bid to learn about poorest neighborhoods in the region. The region will be identified and targeted for sampling between 500 and 600 respondents. Comment by Anna Muraco: how will these people be recruited?

2. Informed consent from one’s institution and the department of human health services will be acquired. The institutions will be informed about the true intention of the research which is academic. Comment by Anna Muraco: Informed consent comes from the participants in order to ensure that participation is voluntary

3. After identifying the region and gaining informed consent, institutions that deal with child services will be identified and requested to provide information about the parents and/or guardians of children who are considered at risk due to poverty.

4. The parents will be reached out to for either through contacts (Phone numbers, emails, or physical addresses) and will be requested to take part in the research process. They will be informed about confidentiality of data collected.

5. The researcher and the sampled respondents will draft the convenient time for engaging them in interviews where their responses will be electronically recorded for analysis.

6. Interview questions will be designed in a manner that meets the goals of the overall research. There will be open-ended and close-ended questions.

7. Demographic data of the participants will be taken so as to create a profile that will help draw patterns.

8. Using the contacts already obtained, the participants will be contacted and reminded of the scheduled interviews as a way of avoiding unavailability.

9. During the actual interviews, the participants will once again be informed about the purpose of the study and the confidentiality. They will be encouraged to give honest responses. Further, they will be encouraged not to respond to questions they are not comfortable with. Comment by Anna Muraco: will need to sign informed consent forms

10. Confidentiality will be attained through avoidance of collecting any information that is personal such as last names. Comment by Anna Muraco: Assuring participant that researcher will not connect information they are given to the participant.

11. The interviews will last for 15-20 minutes where each response will be recorded. Comment by Anna Muraco: Will need to transcribe interviews

12. Similar questions will be asked, and data will be compiled based on general themes making it analyzable.

13. Data analysis software (SPSS) will be applied in analyzing the collected data Comment by Anna Muraco: SPSS is for quantitative data. Use coding processes. Some of our course material addressed these processes

Conclusion

Children from poverty-stricken homes and neighborhoods suffer socially, emotionally, and mentally due to their vulnerability. Socially, they develop antisocial behaviors after they leave their homes for the streets and become withdrawn. Emotionally, they lack emotional support from their families and parents leading to emotional distress that may contribute to development of disorders. Mentally, the children are at risk of developing mental problems such as anxiety and stress disorders especially due to the fact that they are unlikely to access mental health services in a timely manner. Further, their physical health may be affected due to lack of balanced and healthy foods hence being exposed to deficiency diseases such as anemia. To address the problem, stakeholders including parents/guardians, the government, and non-governmental organizations should work together in ensuring that children get enough emotional and material supports and are prevented from leaving their homes for the streets.

References

Amin, L., Lipscombe S. R., Biermann, G. L., Wu, C. F., & Feig, D. S., (2014). Diabetic Medicine, November 2014, 31(11), 1410-1417.

Berzin, S. C., & De Marco A. C., (2010). Youth & Society. Sex and Education 42(2), 278-300.

Creswell, J. (2013). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Physical behavioral and emotional health (2004), Community Practitioner, 77(5), 191-193.

De los Reyes-Aragon, C., Amar, J., De Castro Correa, A., Lewis Harb, S., Madariaga, C., & Abello-Llanos, R. (2016). The Care and Development of Children Living in Contexts of Poverty. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25(12), 3637-3643.

González, M. J. (2005). Access to mental health services: The struggle of poverty affected urban children of color. Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal 22(3), 245–256.

Gyamfi, P. (2004). How Family Affects Children. Children and Youth Services Review, 26 (12), 1129-1139.

Healey, J. (2014). Children living in poverty. Thirroul, NSW: Spinney Press.

Kothari, C. (2009). Research Methodology. New Delhi: New Age International Pvt Ltd Publishers.

Loha, E., Deressa, W., Solomon, T., Atsbeha, H., Hailu, A., & Lindtjørn, B. (2017). Anemia among children in a drought affected community in south-central Ethiopia. PLoS One, 12(3), 63-79.

Machell, K., Disabato, D., & Kashdan, T. (2016). How Children are being affected by poverty. Social Indicators Research 26(2), 845-861.

Ristikari, T., Paananen, R., Merikukka, M., & Gissler, M. (2013). Social Ills in Low income Regions. European Journal of Public Health, 23(1), 113-133.

Wong, M., Ma, J. C., & Chan. L. (2017). The impact of poverty on children in out-of-home care services in a Chinese context and the application of multiple family group therapy to enrich their family lives. Children and Youth Services Review, 13-21.