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SOC1023G Social Problems: Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 1 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not References Davis, K., & Moore, W. (1945). Some principles of stratification. American Sociological Review, 10, 242-249. Mooney, L. A., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (1997). Understanding social problems. Cincinnati, OH: Wadsworth. Mooney, L. A., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2000). Understanding social problems (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: Wadsworth. Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 2 Devotions For I was hungry and you wouldn’t feed me; thirsty, and you wouldn’t give me anything to drink. . . Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty. . . and not help you? . . . When you refuse to help the least. . . you were refusing help to me. And they shall go away into eternal punishment. . . Jesus is speaking Matthew 25:42, 44b, 45b, 46a (The Living Bible) Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 3 Devotions There will always be some among you who are poor. . . Deuteronomy 15:11a (The Living Bible) You will always have the poor among you. . . Jesus is speaking Matthew 26:11a (The Living Bible) Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 4 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not “. . . the war on the poor is best ended by jobcentered economic growth that creates decent public and private jobs” (Herbert J. Gans 1992:462) Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 5 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Education is very important in breaking the cycle of poverty. Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 6 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not As Christian sociologists, we need to proactively solve the macro problems of poverty---BUT---remember, there will always be a certain percentage of the population who need direct help from others---and as Christians we are commanded to help them---in fact, according to Jesus, we cannot call ourselves Christians unless we help them! Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 7 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Social Stratification Close system Allows for little change in social position--individuals are born into a social position and remain in that position over a lifetime Open system Allows for considerable social mobility--individuals can move from one social position to another Is the United States an open or closed system? Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 8 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Components of Inequality Inequality has three major components Wealth The sum of an individual’s material resources including but not limited to income, land, real estate, trusts, stocks, and bonds--total assets Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 9 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Prestige The social esteem or respect an individual commands because of specific attributes, personal qualities, or achievements In the United States, prestige tends to be associated primarily with one’s occupation Power The ability of an individual to achieve desired goals despite resistance from others Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 10 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Karl Marx argued that power is based in economics. Max Weber believed that there are other sources of power, particularly the power of those who run bureaucracies. Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 11 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Social status The combination of the three components of wealth, prestige, and power Usually all three correlate with each other A surgeon is a good example. Sometimes one can rank high in one area and average in others. A college president is near the top of the ranking order for prestige, but ranks lower in the areas of wealth and power. Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 12 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Social class Refers to groups of people who share a similar position or social status within the stratification system Usually wealth is the strongest component that determines social class Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 13 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Life Chances The opportunity to obtain all that is valued in society (Max Weber) Happiness Health Income Education Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 14 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Lifestyle The distinct subculture associated with a particular social class Example upper middle class Car: Range Rover, Leisure: Playing with computers Example lower middle class Car: Geo, Leisure: Sports Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 15 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not: StructuralFunctionalist Perspective (Order Paradigm) Kingsley Davis and Wilbert More (1945) The distribution of resources in society is a consequence of different individual abilities Each task requires different levels of expertise and knowledge, and a differential reward system helps to assure that the person who performs a particular role is the most qualified Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 16 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not: StructuralFunctionalist Perspective (Order Paradigm) Structural-functionalist suggest that offering differential rewards for different occupational roles is both functional and necessary for society’s survival People are motivated to work harder to achieve success, and those who are unable to succeed are limited to undesirable jobs that no one would otherwise want to perform Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 17 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not: StructuralFunctionalist Perspective (Order Paradigm) Even though there are elements of this perspective that do not sound very Christlike, there have been numerous experiments in communal living and socialistic systems--most have been either total failures or unsuccessful in raising the standard of living--therefore, from a macro viewpoint of society, this perspective is correct in real world application Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 18 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not: Symbolic Interactionist Perspective (Pluralist Paradigm) In a society that values success (symbol), the poor are defined as failures. Such definitions result in lower self-concepts and higher rates of depression, frustration, and despair. As a result, many of the poor are docile and dependent, a psychological condition known as learned helplessness. Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 19 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not: Conflict Perspective (Conflict Paradigm) Inequality of society is a consequence of the continuous struggle between the bourgeoisie [boor zhwa ze] (owners of the means of production) and the proletariat [pro li tare at] (workers). From a conflict perspective, social status is ascribed rather than achieved. Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 20 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Poverty Absolute poverty Chronic absence of the basic necessities of life Food Clothing Shelter Relative poverty Refers to not being able to live up to the standard of living considered normal to members of society How do you define “normal?” Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 21 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Poverty Line Federally defined dollar amount below which individuals or families are considered officially poor Specific amount is calculated by estimating how much money is required to provide a nutritionally adequate diet and then multiplying that number by three based on the assumption that Americans spend one-third of their income on food The number of individuals in the household affects the level of poverty identified for that family Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 22 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Feminization of Poverty The growing trend for women to be poorer than men Causes Lower paying jobs for women Care of dependent children Increase in divorce rates Increase in the number of unmarried births Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 23 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Rural Poverty The poverty rate is higher in small towns and rural areas than in urban areas The rural poor live in remote places and are less visible--the “forgotten poor” Causes High unemployment Fewer job opportunities Lower wages Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 24 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Working Poor 60% of the poor are employed or living with someone who is employed at least part of the year Rising educational requirements in the workplace is one of the causes of the working poor Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 25 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Unemployed Of the poor who are unemployed, 50% do not work because of age, disabilities, illness, or the inability to find employment after being displaced or fired Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 26 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Underclass A persistently poor and socially disadvantaged group Causes and/or traits Unskilled Uneducated or undereducated Dysfunctional families Antisocial behavior Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 27 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not Homelessness Causes Substance abuse Deinstitutionalization of the mental ill Few family ties Housing shortage Poverty Unemployment Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 28 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not There is a well known Nazarene theologian (still living) who conducted an experiment several years ago regarding the homeless. He dressed and lived as a homeless person for a period of time. He visited several Nazarene churches to see how they would react toward him. Several of the churches neither welcomed him nor offered to help him. What would Jesus say about this and how does this story relate to James chapter 2? Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 29 Unit 10: The Have and the Have Not We Have Two Levels of Responsibility As Christian sociologists, we need to continually work on eliminating the causes of poverty at the macro level As individual Christians, we need to meet the physical needs of the poor that are in our community (micro level) Thursday, May 25, 2017 © 1998-2002 by Ronald Keith Bolender 30