Soci 381 Question -Question 5

Question 1

Individual Explanations:

Answer 1

Attribute primary causes of poverty to perceived deficiencies or behaviors of the poor themselves.
Focus on lack of motivation to work, deviant lifestyles, vulnerability to addiction, and moral turpitude among the poor.
Stigmatize and blame individuals for their poverty, suggesting lifestyle choices as the root cause.
Often associated with a moral judgmental dimension, distinguishing between the “deserving” and “undeserving” poor.
Imply interventions aimed at changing individual behavior:
Moral education programs.
Work requirements for social assistance recipients.
Emphasize personal responsibility and self-reliance.

Question 2

Structural Explanations:

Answer 2

Investigate institutional mechanisms that perpetuate poverty and hinder upward social mobility.
Criticize societal structures of social inequality and stratification.
View persistence of poverty as a form of social injustice.
Highlight systemic factors such as economic systems and labor market dynamics.
Blame flawed societal structures rather than individuals for poverty.
Advocate for systemic reforms and support systems:
Progressive taxation.
Social safety nets (e.g., welfare, unemployment benefits).
Investments in education and healthcare.
Aim to address root causes of poverty and promote social mobility.

Question 3

Cyclical Explanations:

Answer 3

Attribute poverty to environmental and ecological catastrophes.
Commonly found in societies of the Global South.
Highlight natural disasters, famines, and erratic weather events associated with climate change.
Emphasize cyclical patterns of poverty caused by external factors.
Call for disaster relief efforts, climate change mitigation, and economic stabilization measures.
Aim to address immediate impacts of crises and prevent recurrence of cyclical poverty.

Question 4

Public Policy Implications:
Individual Explanations:

Answer 4

Focus on behavior modification and personal responsibility.
Implement moral education programs.
Enforce work requirements for social assistance.

Question 5

Public Policy Implications: Structural

Answer 5

Structural Explanations:
Advocate for systemic reforms and support systems.
Implement progressive taxation.
Strengthen social safety nets.
Invest in education and healthcare.

Question 6

Policy Cyclical Explanations:

Answer 6

Prioritize disaster relief efforts.
Implement climate change mitigation policies.
Stabilize economies affected by cyclical poverty.

Question 7

Raphael Dennis’s Typology of Discourses:

Answer 7

Moral Underclass Discourse (MUD):
Aligns with individual explanations.
Emphasizes personal responsibility and moral deficiencies.
Social Integrationist Discourse (SID):
Reflects structural explanations.
Focuses on societal integration and equal opportunities.
Redistributionist Discourse (RED):
Corresponds with structural explanations.
Advocates for redistributive policies to address economic inequality and promote social justice.

Question 8

MUD (Moral Underclass) Discourse:

Answer 8

Views poverty as reflecting the moral and motivational failings of individuals.
Attributes poverty to cultural factors, such as lacking skills, adopting deviant habits, and having negative attitudes.
Emphasizes personal responsibility and blames individuals for their economic situation.
Often gendered, portraying males as delinquents and criminals, and females as unwed mothers.
Advocates for minimizing welfare benefits to avoid dependency and incentivize workforce participation.
Does not acknowledge the structural causes of poverty.
Views dependency on the state as a problem but does not address personal economic dependency, especially of women and children on men.

Question 9

RED (Redistributionist) Discourse:

Answer 9

RED (Redistributionist) Discourse:

Views poverty as resulting from systematic exclusion from economic and social resources.
Attributes poverty to the failure of society to meet the economic and social needs of its citizens.
Critiques inequality and advocates for reducing it through benefit increases and redistributive policies.
Values unpaid work and recognizes its contribution to society.
Focuses on citizenship rights and entitlement to benefits as fundamental.
Advocates for addressing structural causes of poverty, such as lack of employment opportunities, low wages, and inadequate social safety nets.

Question 10

SID (Social Integrationist) Discourse:

Answer 10

SID (Social Integrationist) Discourse:

Focuses on including people who have been excluded from society due to poverty.
Emphasizes paid work as a means of social integration and reducing exclusion.
Often influenced by European Union concepts promoting workforce engagement.
Prioritizes active involvement in the labor market but may neglect structural barriers to employment.
Advocates for reducing exclusion but tends to focus on market integration rather than broader issues of social and economic citizenship.
May overlook inequalities among paid workers and the gendered nature of labor market participation.