Monday, November 21, 2011

Low-Income Families and the 3 Theories

My social problem consists of the effects that being in a low income family has on children. Between the three perspectives we can see the different views and reasons this may be a problem. This is a problem in society because it not only limits a child’s education opportunities and health care but it will also damage our society as a whole.

Starting with Conflict Theory, the theory suggesting that the root of problems stems from the idea of which group is gaining and which group is loosing, we could assume that rich versus poor is the root of our problem with low income families. The way that we distribute our resources is quite dysfunctional. For example, there are some profits that are distributed at the very highest class/corporation but that money will not continue to trickle down to the lower classes. This alleviates and benefits the richest, but not the poor. The minimum wage is also an issue. For example, the payment from one or even two jobs from both parents does not equal what the cost of living is in a given community.

Next we have Symbolic Interaction Theory that suggests interpretations, symbols, and meanings behind actions play a large role in social problems. For example, a perception that a teacher has (in a classroom setting for a child) of a low-income student could affect how she treats him/her. Say Betty Jo has a very well-off family, but Clara has a low-income family. Mrs. Frederickson may pay more attention and provide more help to Betty Jo because she believes that children who are from low-income families have poorer behavior and parents who don’t care, therefore, Clara has no chance to succeed. This will negatively affect outcomes because if you treat Clara as a trouble make, she will become one.

Lastly there is the Functionalist Theory, a theory that suggests if one part of society does not function correctly, the rest of society will suffer as well. Because the low-income section of society is so large in our current economy, and the employment rate is so low, it is obvious that there will be more health problems, creating a need for more health care, however health care is very limited to many people due to lack of insurance or other financial circumstances. Other issues that low income families may face are not being able to provide their child with the best education available, including the issue of teachers’ perceptions and the at home stress in the family life.

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