Poverty from the View Point of Conflict Theory - Literature review Example

Poverty from the View Point of Conflict Theory Among America’s most overlooked yet common social problems today is poverty. There are thousands of people in the United States of America living under poverty. According to Acemoglu and Robinson (2012), approximately 12.1% of all Americans were reported to be poor in 2002. The threshold of poverty in America, today is an income of about US 22350 dollars, for a family of four. Various theories have been advanced by many social scientists and theorists to explain poverty as a social problem. Notable among these is the Conflict theory that associates poverty with certain social changes and inequality. Some theorists have linked poverty and income differences in the society to the huge gaps in well-being, economic opportunities, life chances and welfare. Poverty being a social problem associated with the inherent inequality between various social groups in the society may be clearly explained in the light the Conflict Theory as in the essay. Poverty may be defined as the insufficiency of the standard amount of money or property, which is deemed acceptable by the society (Banerjee 2006). People are classified as poor if they lack sufficient resources to make ends meet or sustain their daily wishes. Today, the threshold of poverty in America is an income of 22350 dollars, for a family of four. The Conflict Theory of Poverty was developed by Marx and Weber, who perceived the world as a dynamic unit, which keeps undergoing transformation due to competition for the scarce resources. The general society comprises different social structures and institutions with different amounts of possessions/ wealth, power, and influence (Boundless 2014). According to the theory, social life is characterized by competition that focuses on the allocation of resources, power, fairness and all forms of social associations. These social structures arise from the conflict between various interests of these groups. These social groups are two; those considered as ‘elites’ and those referred to as ‘others.’ The elites are those individuals or groups that have more resources and use those possessions to hold a higher place and power in the social order. Such may include the government and large established companies. The ‘others’ on the other hand are those individuals or institutions that have little or no resources. Boundless (2014) observes that those who fall among the ‘others’ group are counted to be poor and have less power. They are often exploited by those who have more resources and hold a higher places and power in the society. As a result, there is prevalent inequality in the sharing of resources and power. The ‘Conflict theory’ is often credited by many for providing a better description of the social change, poverty and inequality compared to other theories advanced by social theorists. According to (Kerbo 2000), social conflicts may give rise to poverty in different welfare effects. These effects may be classified as direct, indirect and instrumental. The Direct effects refer to the immediate results of violence and exploitation exercised upon the weak and the poor by the rich or the mighty groups. In America and other societies, for example, there have been many cases of physical injuries, torture or even brutal killings inflicted on the poor/weak people by the rich/powerful. The civilian population and households have occasionally been victims of violence, looting and displacement by armies, rebel groups, and policemen. Such people may never work and get wealth due to the injuries, ailments, or loss of property arising from such acts. Their property and strength get lost through such brutality, and the result is a vicious cycle of poverty. Acemoglu and Robinson (2012), notes that Indirect effects are those results of conflict on the area institutions, social networks, political organizations and community interactions. In these places, people from various economic classes interact and the results of their interactions impact their welfare indirectly. Local institutions may include exchange markets, employment, insurance and credit. The Instrumental effects refer to those shocks in social interactions that take place between individuals and groups. Due to differences in political power, social influence or economic advantage, among people in the society, social interactions can cause dysfunctional institutions that promote inequality and poverty. People under wealth, power and influence may be classified as ‘elites’ while those under poverty and weakness may be classified as ‘others.’ The daily interactions between the elites/ rich and the others/poor reveal a big form of inequality as regards the benefits drawn by each of the two classes (Kerbo 2000). In their daily interactions, the rich tend to be more favored than the poor. There is some difficulty encountered by the poor/others in attempting to climb the welfare ladder to reach the position of the rich/elites. The reason for such a difficulty is the confines placed on the poor by the rich on certain aspects of the chain (Boundless 2014). These aspects may include opportunities of proper education, housing, property ownership or jobs. Those who fall under the ‘others’ category are usually more prone to exploitation and limitations by the ‘elites.’ The rich always turn out to be the owners of the key resources in society, like houses and food. Take an example of a poor person paying rent to a rich house owner for his entire adulthood. From the view of the conflict theory, the poor man, and the house owner are never equal in such an interaction. The interaction automatically benefits the rich property owner. Tenants and poor people in such relationships will keep serving the rich property owners without getting any merit or economic importance with the property. Another practical example is that of getting a proper education or jobs. The poor people may not be in a position to keep being in school. It is because they must labor or search for jobs to earn the money required to sustain their studies, themselves and their families (Kerbo 2000). There are many poor students today who even fail to graduate due to such challenges. It restricts their chances of getting good jobs as compared to the rich students. If they make it and graduate from High School, they face yet another challenge of finding the means of paying their College or University fees. Due to their economic status they may not qualify for grants or loans that are often given to students on a credit basis. In the end, these students may not get good jobs and hence their income will not be sufficient to enable them meet or sustain their daily wishes. Such associations between the two groups of people reveal that social interactions are about control and exploitation. The relationship spreads to a wide range of contexts including the workers and employers in Corporate Companies (Acemoglu and Robinson 2012). Many factory owners do believe that they have to underpay their workers to make more money. Many rich persons and organizations have amassed wealth through the exploitation of the weaker people or groups like workers and poor households. Carr and Sloan (2003) notes that human history has been characterized by this conflict, in which the mighty and the rich take advantage of the poor and the weak to hold their dominance. In essence, the Conflict Theory supposes that individuals or organizations in every capitalist society have a tendency to relate in an unhelpful manner, which brings little or no mutual benefit to them. Marxist sociologists and other like-minded theorists suggest that this problem can be solved by implementing a revolution to remove the political and economic supremacy of the ‘elite’ class. They should aim at restructuring the society into a more communal system of ownership under mass autonomous control. In conclusion, poverty is the insufficiency of the standard amount of money or property, which is deemed acceptable by the society. The Conflict Theory of Poverty refers to the external forces that put off people from achieving their goals. Such forces may hinder individuals from meeting the expenses of equal opportunities to prosper. People are classified as poor if they lack sufficient resources to make ends meet or take sustain their daily wishes. Poverty in the society is due to conflict propagated against the less privileged, especially by the elites above them. According to the perspective of many sociologists and theorists, the rich exercise authority over the poor in all sectors of the society. They utilize their resources and influence to gain more wealth and dominance over the poor. Wealth is thus amassed through the exploitation of workers. As opposed to other theories advanced by other social theorists, the ‘Conflict theory’ developed by Marx and Weber provides a better description of poverty as a consequence of social change and inequality. References Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. (2012). Why nations fail: The origins of power, prosperity, and poverty. New York: Crown. Banerjee, A. (2006). Understanding Poverty. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Boundless. (2014). The Conflict Perspective. Boundless Sociology. Retrieved from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/textbooks/boundless-sociology-textbook/sociology-1/theoretical-perspectives-in-sociology-24/the-conflict-perspective-156-974/ Carr, S., & Sloan, T. (Eds.) (2003). Poverty and Psychology: From Global Perspective to Local Practice. New York: Kluwer Academic. Kerbo, H. (2000). Social stratification and inequality: Class conflict in historical, comparative, and global perspective (4th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill. Read More