Showing papers on "Poverty published in 1990"

The Impact of Economic Hardship on Black Families and Children: Psychological Distress, Parenting, and Socioemotional Development

Abstract: Family processes affecting the socioemotional functioning of children living in poor families and families experiencing economic decline are reviewed. Black children are of primary interest in the article because they experience disproportionate shares of the burden of poverty and economic loss and are at substantially higher risk than white children of experiencing attendant socioemotional problems. It is argued that (a) poverty and economic loss diminish the capacity for supportive, consistent, and involved parenting and render parents more vulnerable to the debilitating effects of negative life events, (b) a major mediator of the link between economic hardship and parenting behavior is psychological distress deriving from an excess of negative life events, undesirable chronic conditions, and the absence and disruption of marital bonds, (c) economic hardship adversely affects children's socioemotional functioning in part through its impact on the parent's behavior toward the child, and (d) father-child relations under conditions of economic hardship depend on the quality of relations between the mother and father. The extent to which psychological distress is a source of race differences in parenting behavior is considered. Finally, attention is given to the mechanisms by which parents' social networks reduce emotional strain, lessen the tendency toward punitive, coercive, and inconsistent parenting behavior, and, in turn, foster positive socioemotional development in economically deprived children.

Linking economic hardship to marital quality and instability.

Abstract: Utilizing a sample of 76 white middle-class couples from a rural midwestern county in the US this study examines 2 central propositions: 1)the negative impact of economic hardship on a spouses marital quality (happiness/satisfaction) or marital instability (thoughts or actions related to divorce) is in part a function of its influence on the effective quality of marital interactions and 2) this process is particularly applicable to the hostile irritable response of men to financial difficulties. A series of analyses supported these propositions. Economic pressures had an indirect association with married couples evaluation of the marriage by promoting hostility in marital interactions and curtailing the warm and supportive behaviors spouses express toward one another. The hypothesized process was most pronounced for husbands whose behavior was more strongly associated with economic problems than wives behavior. Findings from the study are consistent with previous research that identifies negative affect as a principal behavioral correlate of marital distress; however the results also suggest that more research needs to be done on the role of warmth and supportiveness in promoting marital quality. (authors)

Framing responsibility for political issues: The case of poverty

Abstract: How people think about poverty is shown to be dependent on how the issue is framed. When news media presentations frame poverty as a general outcome, responsibility for poverty is assigned to society-at-large; when news presentations frame poverty as a particular instance of a poor person, responsibility is assigned to the individual. Similar framing effects are documented in the 1986 General Social Survey where the amount of public assistance deemed appropriate for a poor family varies with the description of the family. In concluding, the implications of framing for the study of public opinion are considered.

The ecology of inequality: minorities and the concentration of poverty 1970-1980.

Abstract: This article examines trends in the geographic concentration of poverty among whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Asians in 60 US mentropolitan areas from 1970 to 1980 It describes changes in the distributional structure of income, the extent of income inequality, and the degree of spatial segretation by income These factors are then related to levels and trends in poverty concentration Concentrated urban poverty is confined principally to blacks outside the West and to Hispanics in the Northeast Poverty concentration among these groups does not reflect a tendency for upper-status minority members to live apart from the poor but an interaction between changes in the distributional structure ov income and patterns of racial/ethnic segregation The occurence of rising poverty under conditions of high racial/ethnic segregation explains the growing spatial isolation of poor blacks and hispanic in US urban society

Inner-city poverty in the United States

Abstract: This volume documents the continuing growth of concentrated poverty in central cities of the United States and examines what is known about its causes and effects. With careful analyses of policy implications and alternative solutions to the problem, it presents: * A statistical picture of people who live in areas of concentrated poverty. * An analysis of 80 persistently poor inner-city neighborhoods over a 10-year period. * Study results on the effects of growing up in a "bad" neighborhood. * An evaluation of how the suburbanization of jobs has affected opportunities for inner-city blacks. * A detailed examination of federal policies and programs on poverty. Inner-City Poverty in the United States will be a valuable tool for policymakers, program administrators, researchers studying urban poverty issues, faculty, and students.

World development report 1990 : poverty

Abstract: This report is the thirteenth in the annual series addressing major development issues. This report is about the poor. It is thus about the fundamental issue in economic development the eradication of poverty from the world. The report defines poverty in broad terms, to include literacy, nutrition, and health, as well as income. The evidence suggests that rapid and politically sustainable progress on poverty has been achieved by pursuing a strategy with two equally important elements. The first is to promote the efficient use of the poor's most abundant asset labor. It calls for policies that harness market incentives, social and political institutions, infrastructure and technology. The second element is the provision of basic social services to the poor (e.g. primary health care, family planning, nutrition, and primary education). The report concludes that eliminating poverty altogether is not a realistic goal for the 1990s, but that reducing it greatly is entirely possible. Using plausible assumptions about the global economic environment, and with some policy improvements, the report projects a fall of one third in the number of people in poverty by the year 2000.

A Fuzzy Approach To The Measurement Of Poverty

Abstract: Well-known indices for the measurement of poverty traditionally refer to income (or to other economic variables, such as consumption) and to the conventional definition of a poverty line (see, e.g., Sen 1976; Carbonaro 1982; Foster 1984; Atkinson 1987; Hagenaars 1987; Pyatt 1987; Dagum et al. 1988; Cerioli 1989).

Poverty and Opportunity Structure in Rural America

Abstract: Rural areas have a disproportionate share of the US poverty population. Like poor urban communities, the persistence and severity of poverty in rural America can be linked to a limited opportunity structure which is the outcome of both past social and economic development policies and current economic transformation. Many rural communities lack stable employment, opportunities for mobility, investment in the community, and diversity in the economy and other social institutions. They are increasingly socially and spatially isolated and particularly vulnerable to adverse effects from structural economic change. This study reviews research on rural poverty and traces its relationship to its historical roots in social, political, and economic inequality and to current economic restructuring. Relevant sources of information on rural poverty include classic community and regional analyses, studies of rural-urban migration, regional development and underdevelopment, economic restructuring, and labor market analysis.

The principles of targeting

Abstract: In response to calls for finer targeting of spending to alleviate poverty in developing countries, this paper discusses the principles of targeting. The ideal solution is that all transfers go to the poor. However, this is unrealizable because of three factors: (a) the costs of administration and data collection; (b) individual responses and incentive effects; and (c) considerations of political economy. The best strategy will probably lie somewhere between the two extremes - the ideal solution and universal intervention - mediated by these three considerations. Two types of targeting, although short of the ideal may be useful in certain contexts. With statistical targeting (using indicators), programs target key indicators such as a region, occupation, or the crops grown. Self-targeting uses differences in needs, tastes, or incomes as a device for achieving self-selection by only the poor into poverty alleviation programs. Real progress in understanding how targeting works best can be made only through country specific research that quantifies the costs and benefits of targeting using data that has increasingly become available for many developing countries - and research that is sensitive to the political realities of reform.

Universities and the future of America

Abstract: Since World War II, says the author, industrialized nations have come to depend so heavily on expert knowledge, scientific discovery, and highly trained personnel that universities have become "the central institution in postindustrial society." "If universities are so important to society and if ours are so superior, one might have thought that America would be flourishing in comparison to other industrialized countries of the world. Yet this is plainly not the case...Our economic position in the world has deteriorated [and] we have climbed to the top, or near the top, of all advanced countries in the percentage of population who live in poverty, commit crimes, become addicted to drugs, have illegitimate children, or are classified as functionally illiterate." In light of these results, "it is fair to ask whether our universities are doing all they can and should to help America surmount the obstacles that sap our economic strength and blight the lives of millions of our people." Having posed this question, Derek Bok reviews what science can do to bring about greater productivity, what professional schools can do to improve the effectiveness of corporations, government, and public education, and what all parts of the university are doing to help students acquire higher levels of ethical and social responsibility. He concludes that Universities are contributing much less than the should to help the nation address its most urgent social problems. "A century after the death of Cardinal Newman, many university officials and faculty members continue to feel ambivalent about deliberate efforts to address practical problems of society. And though competition drives university leaders and their faculties to unremitting effort, what competition rewards is chiefly success in fields that command academic prestige rather than success in responding to important social needs." Bok urges academic leaders, trustees, foundations, and government agencies to work together to help universities realign their priorities "so that they will be ready to make their full contribution when the nation turns its attention again to the broad agenda of reform...Observing our difficulties competing abroad, our millions of people in poverty, our drug-ridden communities, our disintegrating families, our ineffective schools, those who help to shape our universities have reason to ask whether they too have any time to lose. "

The Constitution of Poverty: Toward a Genealogy of Liberal Governance

Abstract: The discourse of the poor the problem of idleness the policing of the poor population, subsistence, poverty the Malthusian effect from morality to economy the moral economy of Adam Smith the condition of poverty pauperism and the labour-market pauper-land the mechanisms of prevention.

Urban Planning and the Post-Colonial State in Africa: A Research Overview

Abstract: Rapid urbanization has been perhaps the most dramatic of the social phenomena that marked the end of the colonial era in Africa. From a situation in 1950 in which the total urban population was no more than 28 million, the figure had by 1984 jumped to well over 125 million, representing a sharply increasing proportion of the total population (World Bank, 1986a). Yet, after an initial period when urbanization was welcomed as a positive tendency in the modernization of the continent (Friedmann, 1961) there is today some ambivalence as to the contributions of urban centers to the overall development of the continent. There are those (Santos, 1971; Bardinet, 1977) who argue that urban centers have failed to serve as a major force in the economic transformation of African countries but have, instead, highlighted their economic dependency and the negative social consequences that go with this. Others (Collier and Lai, 1980; Mabogunje, 1983) argue that much of the limited development that has been achieved in these countries has been due in no small measure to non-farm activities of these urban centers. Cities and towns are therefore apprehended not as the cause but only as the scene of social and economic problems, their role being to draw attention to endemic poverty and social degradation which otherwise remain buried and unobtrusive in the rural areas. When it comes to the role of urban planning and policies in resolving these problems, the pervading impression is of the failure of governments in most African countries to make any appreciable impact on the situation, a fact which has in turn provoked serious debates as to the nature of the post-colonial state in Africa (Hyden, 1983).

Youth Gangs: Continuity and Change

Abstract: No region of the United States is without youth gangs. Gangs exist in many large and middle-size cities and are spreading to suburban and smaller communities. Youth gangs increasingly create problems in correctional and school settings. Compared with nongang offenders, gang members are responsible for a disproportionate percentage of serious and violent offenses and engage in the sale and distribution of drugs. Race or ethnicity and social isolation interact with poverty and community disorganization to account for much of the gang problem. The gang is an important social institution for low-income male youths and young adults from newcomer and residual populations because it often serves social, cultural, and economic functions no longer adequately performed by the family, the school, and the labor market. Four major policy emphases for dealing with gangs have evolved: local community mobilization, youth outreach, social opportunities, and, most recently, gang suppression. Improved policies require the i...

Education and Development: Evidence for New Priorities

Abstract: Education has been recognized as critical to the success of economic policies, equitable income distribution and the reduction of poverty. However, just when more and better education is needed, much of the world's population is being left behind. As successful participation in the world economy becomes more knowledge-intensive, many countries face the challenge of improving their educational systems. To varying degrees they must : a) bring their education up-to-date in transmitting knowledge and skills for dealing with the problems of the future; b) equalize access to high quality schooling; c) raise the level of math, language, and science acquisition; d) improve the effectiveness of educational resources; e) develop new approaches to schooling the disadvantaged; and f) develop mechanisms for the generation, acquisition, and application of appropriate knowledge.

Public Beliefs About the Causes of Homelessness

Abstract: Using data from a survey of Nashville, Tennessee, residents, we show that public beliefs about the causes of homelessness emphasize structural forces and bad luck over individualistic factors. Our analysis also demonstrates: 1) the complex intrapersonal organization of these beliefs, 2) the degree to which they are influenced by one's social statuses, religious and political values, and exposure to homelessness, and 3) their implications for policy attitudes. Studies in the U.S. and abroad have found that members of the public explain social inequality in an individualistic manner: whether successful or not, people are deemed responsible for their own socioeconomic fate (for a review, see Kluegel & Smith 1981). This individualistic orientation is especially evident in Americans' beliefs about the causes of poverty. A decade apart, Feagin (1975) and Kluegel and Smith (1986) asked national survey samples to rate the importance of an extensive list of reasons for "why there are poor people in this country." The rankings of reasons yielded by the two surveys were nearly identical, with personal traits (such as a lack of thrift, effort, or talent) considered more important than structural factors (a shortage of jobs, inadequate schools, etc.). Though using noncomparable measures, other researchers have produced similar results (Centers 1949; Huber & Form 1973; Nilson 1981). One feature common to the inquiries into causal beliefs about poverty is the generic handling of the concept of poverty itself. Despite their many faces, "the poor" have been presented to survey respondents as an undifferentiated whole. Given the time constraints on the normal interview, that procedure makes sense *We thank Richard Appelbaumn, Karen Campbell, Joe Feagin, Jack Gibbs, Janes Klutegel, Mark LaGory, R.S. Oropesa, and two anonymous referees for their reactions to earlier drafts of this article. Camnpbell, Steven Meinbresse, Kate Monaghan, and the Vanderbilt students in Lee's graduate survey-methods workshop and Camnpbell's undergraduate methods course helped design and conduct the survey portion of the research. Financial suipport was provided by Metropolitan Social Services of Nashville-Davidson County and the Tennessee Departnent of Human Services. Direct correspondence to BarrettA. Lee, Departnent of Sociology, 201 Oswald Tower, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802. i The University of North Carolina Press Social Forces, September 1990, 69(1):253-265 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.180 on Sat, 27 Aug 2016 04:45:10 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms 254 / Social Forces 69:1, September 1990 from a practical standpoint, but it leaves much to the imagination. When employed as a general stimulus, "poverty" may call up images ranging from welfare mothers to migrant laborers, depending upon a respondent's background, level of information, racial attitudes, and so on. In short, the generic approach precludes attention to the possibility that different types of poverty are interpreted differently by the public. In this article, we focus on causal beliefs about urban homelessness, arguably the most visible form of poverty during the 1980s. Our analysis uses data from a local survey to address five questions: 1. Is homelessness, like generic poverty, most often explained in individualistic fashion? Portrayals of the homeless in American popular culture have long stressed laziness, immorality, wanderlust, heavy drinking, and other character deficits as reasons for one's descent to the lowest rung of the stratification ladder (Bahr 1973). Similarly, from the perspective of the "dominant ideology" (Huber & Form 1973), the extreme failure symbolized by a lack of shelter must be judged the individual's own fault in a society where everyone is assumed to have an equal opportunity to succeed. Countering such ideological and cultural pressures to blame the homeless are recent treatments by advocates, scholars, government officials, and the media (Hombs & Snyder 1982; Newsweek 1984; U.S. Conference of Mayors 1987). The messages the public receives from these sources attribute the dramatic rise of the "new homeless" to a convergence of structural changes in housing availability, the economy, mental health policy, and welfare provision. 2. How are causal beliefs about hoinelessness organized at the intrapersonal level? Theory suggests that the holding of multiple beliefs about inequality may be common, given the range of social and psychological functions the beliefs serve (Kluegel & Smith 1986). Yet the generic poverty literature has often relied on closed-ended, forced-choice survey items and summary indexes that obscure belief patterns or configurations. Consequently, the reader is left with the impression at odds with what the most careful studies show (Kluegel & Smith 1986; Nilson 1981) that a person believes in either individual or structural causes of poverty, but not both. 3. Do one's social statuses influence beliefs about homelessness? According to previous research, being white, older, male, and of higher income increases the propensity to favor individualistic over structural beliefs about the roots of poverty (Feagin 1975; Gallup Report 1985; Huber & Form 1973; Kluegel & Smith 1986; Nilson 1981; Oropesa 1986). These findings conform to the principle that status advantages heighten people's stake in the system and support of the dominant ideology. The results obtained for education are less straightforward, perhaps because of the dual role it plays as socioeconomic measure and indicator of "contact with liberal and humane values" (Kluegel & Smith 1986:89). Region of residence has mixed effects as well. 4. Mhat other potential antecedents of causal beliefs warrant examination? People's religious and political values may shape their thoughts about the causes of homelessness. While recent advocacy by religious groups on behalf of the homeless has pushed some members toward a structural position, the lingering influence of the Protestant Ethic could actually strengthen the conviction that poverty of any kind reflects one's efforts in this life, thus encouraging an This content downloaded from 157.55.39.180 on Sat, 27 Aug 2016 04:45:10 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Beliefs About Homelessness / 255 individualistic orientation (Feagin 1975; Nilson 1981). The likely influence of political values on causal beliefs is easier to anticipate conservatives should be more inclined than liberals to hold the poor responsible for their lot but little empirical work bears specifically on this point. No research of which we are aware considers the everyday exposure of nonpoor urban residents to poverty and homelessness through informal conversations with friends, face-toface encounters on the street, and other sources. For each type of exposure, the central question remains the same: does the information obtained affect perceptions of why the homeless are homeless? 5. Are policy attitudes toward homelessness a function of what one believes about its causes? Both Feagin (1975) and Kluegel and Smith (1986) found proponents of the structural view more receptive than their individualistic counterparts to redistribution programs aimed at helping the poor. In parallel fashion, we would expect persons holding structural beliefs about homelessness to express more progressive policy attitudes concerning the importance of the issue and the desirability of various solutions. Interest in these attitudes goes beyond the merely academic: Burstein (1985), for example, has established a link between trends in issue-specific public opinion and the enactment of corresponding legislation. For the disenfranchised homeless, then, the causal beliefs to which others subscribe may have critical implications.

Means testing versus universal provision in poverty alleviation programs

Abstract: This paper contrasts the use of means-tested and universal schemes in the alleviation of poverty Using a class of poverty measures, the authors illustrate the trade-off from the fact that means testing is costly to both the government and the claimant, while universal provision entails a leakage to the nonpoor The paper provides numerical, as well as analytical, results Copyright 1990 by The London School of Economics and Political Science

Poverty and early childhood parenting: toward a framework for intervention

Abstract: The relationship between poverty and child rearing has been a persistent source of social concern in the United States. Drawing on available literature, this paper seeks to establish a conceptual approach to the interaction of these two complex variables. Appropriate interventions and strategies for their implementation are considered.

The economics of developing countries

Abstract: I. PRINCIPLES AND CONCEPTS OF DEVELOPMENT. 1. Introduction. 2. The Meaning and Measurement of Economic Development. 3. Economic Development in Historical Perspective. 4. Profile of Developing Countries. 5. Theories of Economic Development. II. POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND INCOME DISTRIBUTION. 6. Poverty, Malnutrition, and Income Inequality. 7. Rural Poverty and Agricultural Transformation. III. FACTORS OF GROWTH. 8. Population and Development. 9. Employment, Migration, and Urbanization. 10. Education, Training, and Human Capital. 11. Capital Formation, Investment Choice, and Technical Progress. 12. Entrepreneurship, Organization, and Innovation. 13. Natural Resources and the Environment: Toward Sustainable Development. IV. DOMESTIC RESOURCE POLICIES. 14. Sources of Capital Formation. 15. Monetary, Fiscal, and Incomes Policy, and Inflation. V. THE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS OF DEVELOPMENT. 16. Balance of Payments, Aid, and Foreign Investment. 17. The External Debt Crisis. 18. International Trade. VI. DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES. 19. Planning and the Market. 20. Stabilization, Adjustment, Reform, and Privatization. Name and Author Index. Subject Index.

Regional disparities, targeting, and poverty in India

Abstract: How much can India reduce poverty nationwide by manipulating the distribution of income between regions or sectors? What is the overall effect on the poor of targeting resources toward the poorer states of India - or toward the generally poorer rural sector Given real constraints on policy changes, it can be argued that the costs and the benefits of regional policies will tend to be borne widely within regions Some benefits are likely to leak to the nonpoor in recipient regions, and some costs to the poor in donor regions This paper's simulations suggest that the quantitative potential for alleviating national poverty through purely regional redistributive policies is small Even assuming no political problems, the maximum impact on poverty is no more than could be achieved simply by giving everyone a uniform (untargeted) windfall gain equal to about 15 percent of India's mean consumption And other considerations - including increased migration to areas of higher benefits - make it unlikely that the maximum impact will be attained in practice Greater alleviation of poverty requires supplementary interventions that reach the poor within regions, by reducing the costs borne by the poor in donor regions and enhancing benefits to the poor in recipient regions

Lay causal perceptions of Third World poverty and the Just World Theory

Abstract: This study investigated the factor analytic properties of Rubin and Peplau’s (1975) Just World Scale and a questionnaire of possible causes of Third World poverty. Three Just World factors emerged in contrast to Hyland and Dann’s (1987) four-factor solution. They were interpreted as “Pro Just World”, “Anti Just World” and “Cynical or Reserved Just World Belief”. Four poverty factors emerged, interpreted as “Blame the Poor”, “Blame Third World Governments”, “Blame Nature” and “Blame Exploitation”. The most important finding to emerge was that only the “Pro Just World” factor and significantly correlated with blaming the poor. Blaming the poor was significantly correlated with blaming Third World governments.