how true the cycle of deprivation and why people are poor.docx

7/28/2019 How true the Cycle of Deprivation and why people are poor.docx

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Question: How true the Cycle of Deprivation and why people are poor

Cycle of deprivation is a theory popularized in the 1970s to explain the persistence of poverty and

other forms of socio-economic disadvantage through generations. The theory postulates that “family

pathology” is the principal mechanism for transmitting social deprivation intergenerational, and that

this explains the persistence of large families, born poor, bad nourishment, ill health, misses school,

few qualifications, low paid, difficult work, and criminality for money, criminal record,

unemployment, bad area to live in household and communities, early parenthood and family break up.

There have been theories of a “cycle of disadvantage” since the early 1970s. An early focus on

parenting moved on to more economic issues around employment, and then to other environmental

factors such as housing. Partly because it is unkind and unhelpful to refer as “deprived”, and partly due

to the niceties around apportioning public and private blame, there has been relatively little rigorous

work on cause and effect in deprivation. Consequently there is no universally-accepted model of a

cycle of deprivation.

View of deprivation have been coloured by the 38 measures in the United Kingdom

Government’s Index of Multiple Deprivation. This overall impression from the Index is that so-called

“deprived areas” show; (1) Higher unemployment and lower incomes leading to (child) poverty, (2)

Lower educational attainment, (3) Poorer quality housing, (4) Poor health levels, including depression

and (5) Higher levels of crime. Conversely, more affluent areas appear to show the reverse of this,

particularly in matters of educational attainment, housing and health.

It is noticeable that some neighborhoods persist in higher “deprivation” scores over time, as

some measures seem to worsen and become more entrenched. This reinforces the idea of a “cycle of

deprivation”, but the sheer number of deprivation measures does not help illuminate cause and effect,



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nor clarify any tipping points that might reverse such a cycle, and in fact tends to diffuse the response

to deprivation.

In essence, the argument is that deprivation and welfare dependency are, if not quite the fault

of the poor, then certainly without serious structural origins. Poverty causes people to spend moretimes obsessively worrying about short-term problems which can make matters worse according to a

study that could explain why being poor leads to cycle of deprivation.

Poor individuals often engage in behavior that reinforces their poverty, such as excessive

borrowing at high interest rates, but rather than being a result of personality disorders or their poor

environment, scientists suggest it may actually because by the way people have to divide their time

when resources are scarce.

Why people are poor? What factors those contribute to poverty especially in third world

countries? There are several factors that contribute or causes of third world poverty such as trade,

work and globalization, war or conflict, debt, land, health, food and education, gender and

environment.

In fact, third world countries lose out through unfair trade agreements, lack of technology and

investment, and rapidly changing prices for their goods. Better communications and transport have led

to a “globalized” economy. Companies look for low-cost countries to invest in. This can mean that,

though are jobs, they are low paid. Third world countries also known with their history about war and

conflict like civil war. When a country is at war, basic services like education are disrupted. People

leave their homes as refugees. Crops are destroyed.

Third world countries also have to pay interest on their debts. This means they cannot afford

to spend enough on basic services like health and education, nor on things like transport or

communications that might attract investment. If first world countries have land that can grow their

own food production, but in the Third World countries have had their land taken over by capitalist for

large business, often to grow crops for export.

Affordable or free health care is necessary for development. In poor countries the percentage

of children who die under the age of five is much higher than in rich countries. HIV/AIDS is having a

devastating effect on the Third World countries. For examples, HIV is now the single greatest threat to

future economic development in Africa. AIDS kills adults in the prime of their working and parenting

lives, decimates the work force, fractures and impoverishes families.

Affordable, secure food supplies are vital. Malnutrition causes severe health problems, and

can also affect education. Without education, it is difficult to escape from poverty. This becomes a

vicious circle; people who live in poverty cannot afford to send their children to school. When we



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measure poverty in poor countries, the differences between the level experienced by men or boys, and

women or girls. Women may be disadvantaged through lack of access to education; some countries

they are not allowed to own or inherit land, they are less well paid than men.

A child born in an industrialized country will add more to pollution over his or her lifetimethan 30-5- children born in the Third World countries. However, the Third World child is likely to

experience the consequences of pollution in a much more devastating way. For example, annual

carbon dioxide emissions have quadrupled in the last 50 years. This contributes to global warming,

leading to devastating changes in weather patterns. Bangladesh could lose up 17 percent its land area

as water levels rise.

As a conclusion, that is critical factors to break cycles of deprivation and poverty. First, all

agencies need to be engaged to co-ordinate their mainstream activities in the target areas, particularly

at family level to help address people-based issues. Second, an equal effort needs to make to identify

and deliver radical changes that will improve long-term working and living prospects in the target

areas, and boost local confidence. Finally, local people need to be involved throughout this process to

be partners in decision-making as well as in joint working, and to take the lead in their own futures.

how true the cycle of deprivation and why people are poor.docx

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