SOCW 6210 Wk4 Post repsonses

· Critique your colleague's explanation of how poverty impacts individuals in young and middle adulthood.

· State whether you agree or disagree with your colleague's position on whether poverty is the result of cultural or individual characteristics. Provide support for your position.

· Reply to a colleague who selected a theory of poverty that differs from the one you selected by critiquing his or her evaluation of the theory.

Be sure to support your posts with specific references to the resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.

· At least one reference and citation is required in each post.

MB’s post states the following:Top of Form

•An explanation of how poverty impacts the experience of individuals in young and middle adulthood.

Many young adults make decisions while they are young that effects them on while they are in young and middle adulthood. Decisions that can affect them economically. These decisions could be whether or not they want to have a family, if they want to stay single, if they want to go to college or what type of job they work. Many young and middle-aged adults are living in poverty some by choice and some do to crisis or discrimination. Poverty does not mean someone is poor with no money, poverty is the lack of money and resources to survive daily (Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. ,2016).   Poverty in young and middle adulthood can bring on so much stress. In young and middle adulthood, you are trying to establish yourself and may feel there are so many expectations and responsibilities as an adult. Poverty in young and middle adulthood means high susceptibility to things such as alcoholism, emotional disturbances, short life expectancy as well as criminal acts (Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. ,2016).   Poverty often offers fewer opportunities for jobs. People living in poverty often lack stability, decent housing, good healthcare, transportation and often carry poverty over from one generation to the next. 

•A statement as to whether you think poverty is the result of cultural or individual. characteristics; provide support for your position

I think poverty is cultural .The attitudes, norms and expectations of the poor limit opportunities daily (Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. ,2016).  People get stuck in their current situation and poverty gets carried from generation to generation if no one steps up or does something different.  People of minority cultures often are isolated and not afforded the same opportunities, so they remain in poverty not by choice sometimes but culturally that is the norm. 

•An answer to the following questions about the theory of poverty you selected: •What aspects of this theory would be most suitable for your practice? Why?

Interactionist Theory to poverty believes that people who live in poverty are often stigmatized and begin to act in accordance to those expectations of the poor (Zastrow, C. H., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. ,2016).  This theory believes that to fix the problem the stigma related to poverty needs to be eliminated. This theory believes that positive changes can help convince someone living in poverty that they don’t have to stay there and that they do have options. This theory would be suitable for my social work practice and would go hand in hand with strength-based practice. It would empower those living in poverty and help them realize that they are not trapped and that they can rise out of poverty.

•What aspects of this theory do you find problematic in terms of your knowledge of social work practice? Explain.

I think an aspect of this theory that would be problematic is that a client would become dependent on certain resources and assistance to the point where they don’t think they can come out of poverty and cannot let go of the attitude and norms that comes with cultural poverty. They may feel so oppressed to the point feeling as though even if they tried to make a better living to stop living in poverty it would be too hard. I think this would become problematic in social work practice and would make it hard for the client to see progress or want to work towards something. I would also be hard for the social worker to get through to the client that their situation is not permanent.

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RW’s Post states the following

Poverty as always been an ongoing issue in society. "Poverty will always be with us" (Iceland, 2013). The United States has had its ups and downs with economic growth and it seems as though as if the United States cannot keep a steady economic flow without there being a recessions causing "high inflation and unemployment" (Iceland, 2013). Poverty can be defined as "people who have an income below a certain level" are categorized as living in poverty (Iceland, 2013). Young and middle-aged adults are more likely encountering poverty due to our societies lack of jobs that pay wages at a standard to keep many people from making an amount that is below the poverty line (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman 2016). Many jobs are "outsourced to areas where extremely poor people are willing to accept work at almost any wage" (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman 2016). When families who are poor and unable to afford to care for their basic needs can affect their children because for a child to not get their nutrition met, it can affect their brain development (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). The child's brain is then not growing at the rate that it should and it then cause damage that can be irreversible. There are certain factors that can increase the likelihood of young or middle-aged person to have a higher chance of being poor that is based on whether they do not have a higher level of education, location, unemployment, environmental factors, generational life circumstances, and individual characteristics (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016).

I believe that poverty could be the result of both cultural and individual characteristics. When an individual "who grows up in this cultural has a strong feeling of fatalism, helplessness, dependence, and inferiority" (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). These individuals tend to struggle just to get out of ths particular culture but they are unable to because of social isolation (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). Without having any type of contact from groups that outside of their culture, they struggle to get out of the cycle of poverty (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). As an example, children who are in the foster care system due to dysfunction in their family are more likely to fall into the same cycle. Society also has an influence on the effect on young and middle-aged adults living in poverty. According to Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman poverty is partly due to the dysfunctions of our economy. "Our country has the resources to eliminate poverty-but not the will"(Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). It's ironic that the United States can fund the cost of wars but yet we cannot seem to find the means or to fund the improvement of individual, family, group, and community living conditions in order to keep them from falling into poverty (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). 

The struggle for those who are unable to free themselves from poverty in our society is easily noticeable. Society has created a world in which there are stigmas against individuals who are poor and are unable to meet their basic needs. There are certain welfare programs that are aimed and intended to provide assistance to individuals who are not able to be self-sufficient on their own but eventually will be lead to the right programs, resources, and services (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). Individuals who are poor need to realize they are very much so capable and as a society as a society we have to support this particular population even more. We must marginalize these individuals because we tend to view them as being less important, we must also realize that they are just as important and that they may need more assistance that can help them to "move up the socioeconomic ladder and programs that encourage the poor to determine their social environment" (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). 

The fact that many of the middle and upper class individuals may not support this theory and those individuals are in legislation who may noy put the proper effort into ridding the issue of poverty can be problematic. Certain welfare programs have helped many individuals and families who have has crisis, but yet we are not seeing a decrease in the poverty rate (Zastow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). United States society been struggling with poverty for many many years. Social work practice values the individual. As social workers not only are we for social justice, but we are for  economic justice as well because it has an impact on the many individuals that we work with. 

CG’s post states the following:

An explanation of how poverty impacts the experience of individuals in young and middle adulthood

Poverty impacts the experience of individuals in young and middle adulthood through the disparities of the poverty of their family. "Children raised in poor families are themselves apt to live in poverty in their adult years" (Zastroq & Kirst-Ashman,2016). Due to the struggles of their childhood, this makes it difficult for young and middle adults to fight to live above the poverty line. When living in poor situation, children are exposed to unhealthy conditions and a lot of unequal opportunities. These same conditions may cross over into their adulthood, causing them to receive in some occasions less employment opportunities. 

A statement as to whether you think poverty is the result of cultural or individual characteristics.

An individuals social environment definitely may impact their cultural and individual characteristics. The environment of those living in poverty are subject to unfortunate opportunities, where they receive low quality opportunities and resources. "Poverty also often leads to despair, low selfesteem, and stunting physical, social, emotional and intellectual growth" (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). Due to these characteristics, it made it hard to escape poverty. The work that needed to be done to reach better opportunities were much more grueling for those living in poverty than those of a richer population.

What aspects of this theory would be most suitable for your practice? Why?

What aspects of this theory do you find problematic in terms of your knowledge of social work practice? Explain.

The culture-of-poverty theory explain why poverty is passed from one generation to another. Eleanor Leacock argued that the poor emphasized on instant gratification (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). She explained individuals spending money as soon as their receive it in order to immediate fulfillment. These individuals hardly ever used the extra financial wages to put themselves in better financial position. On the other hand, William Ryan blamed the poor for their own circumstances. He stated that "the poor are not poor because of their culture, but because they do not have enough money (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2016). Ryan simply believe that an individuals social environment does not impact their future financial status, which I disagree.d The opportunities disparities a child may experience, may be the same dilemma they experience as an adult.