Crime As a Result of Poverty

There are many key factors that lead to many people in the united states to live in poverty that include lack of resources, not enough education, no jobs, conflict, and non-governmental structure. Poverty is something that makes up most of the population here in the United States but what many people don’t understand is the difficulties that come with being poor. Not having any money is not the only issue there are many more that come that include family problems, Health and illness, housing, education, and crime.

In America, people need to eat so that they get the nutrients and energy that they need but when these people get enough food, they will not have the strength and ability to work because they don’t have energy. Clean water isn’t always a privilege when it comes to places located in poverty areas. Contaminated water can contain many contaminants that can cause poisoning, Diarrhea, and may make you throw up. All these things can be treated with by a doctor but for people who don’t have much, they would have to travel and spend money on medicine.

Education is key to growth and development but a majority of the population doesn’t have access to proper education and materials needed to succeed. Most of the extremely poor don’t have the opportunity for a decent education. According to an article written in Kristen Myers, it states that “there’s a lot of barriers stopping children from going to school. Many families can’t afford to send their children to school and need them to work.” Education is something that should be valued and that’s because education is something that can open give many opportunities and resources to a family. Poverty would cease to exist if many of these people would have the basic education they deserve, this tool would set them up for success. Although they seek money, money is something that is needed to make ends meet.

The functionalist perspective is defined as the view that society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole. What this means is that under a functionalist viewpoint, they believe poverty is how the society is structured. Functionalists believe that there needs to be a way to create a system put into place that pushes people to be successful and this would allow for wealth to be gained. If the society we have today could be designed in a better and more efficient way, poverty would be eliminated and there would be no more issues involved with poverty.

A family is everything but when families that are not poor, running a family under these circumstances can cause stress. Things like children, and paying the bills can cause stress. Families that are poor have more stress because of their situation, the ordinary stresses a family encounters in life become even more intense in poor families. The various kinds of family problems don’t usually happen with wealthier families because they have more resources than poor families.

The poor are more likely to have children with health problems, but treating these children cost money and with no money comes with inadequate medical care. Poor children are more likely to have bad nutrition, which leads to health, behavioral, and cognitive problems. These problems happen their ability to do well in school and land stable employment as adults, helping to ensure that poverty will persist across generations.

As I continue with poverty the living situations are not always very ideal when you don’t have very much money, they tend to be in places that are run down, are not in safe neighborhoods, and with these living conditions it comes with lack of job opportunities, good schools, and other amenities that come with having money. In our social housing is a problem that occurs on a national level, this is the type of stuff the simulation helped me realize clearly.

In conclusion, even though the simulation was an educational tool to help me better understand the situation a majority of the population in this country goes through, I believe it has given me a little understanding of the struggle. In Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed case she actually played the role, putting herself in that situation even though she was far from the poverty line. Things like making sure my house was close to work to better cut the cost of transportation, the food, the bond that these people all create by working day in and day out. It’s truly amazing to be able to come together under so much stress, their dedication to making ends meet should be inspiring to the rest of the world.

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