Psyc229-15B Essay Option 2
Child Poverty
In New Zealand one in four children are living in poverty: that is approximately 270,000 children not having their basic needs of food, shelter, healthcare and education met (Children’s Commissioner of New Zealand 2012, p1). When these needs are not being met, the child is in jeopardy of having a negative impact on their physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. In this essay I will discuss the how society sees child poverty and how it is both politically and socially constructed. I will also highlight the psychological and social determinants of poverty on children and explain the effects of these using theories from Bronfenbrenner and Erikson.
Poverty puts children at a disadvantage; …show more content…
Weiss-Gal, Benyamini, Ginzburg, Savaya, & Peled (2009) discuss individualistic, and structural causal attributions of poverty. The individualistic attribution is pathological in that it sees that the personality and behaviour of the individual is the cause of poverty (p.125). So it is the parent’s fault that the child doesn’t have enough to eat, or doesn’t have the proper clothing, it is seen that they are lazy or spendthrift, and/or are substance abusers, but no consideration is given to their circumstances. They go on further to explain that structural …show more content…
Power structures, politics and right wing policies, globalisation, discrimination and stereotyping are all at the root of this issue. In regards to how poverty impacts a child’s development, the short and long term effects of poverty were shown to be extremely significant. The evidence shown supports the fact that poverty can affect the physical, social, emotional and cerebral development of a child and that these can continue to have negative impact throughout their lives. The theories of Bronfenbrenner, and Erikson have been shown to be applicable to the social and psychological growth of a child, and the connection of poverty to those theories was presented. If one in four children are experiencing the hardship of poverty, then this social issue needs to be acknowledged by government with supporting policies put in place to make a change . Governmental and societal support for families, rather than discrimination and social exclusion could change the world for a
Child Poverty
In New Zealand one in four children are living in poverty: that is approximately 270,000 children not having their basic needs of food, shelter, healthcare and education met (Children’s Commissioner of New Zealand 2012, p1). When these needs are not being met, the child is in jeopardy of having a negative impact on their physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. In this essay I will discuss the how society sees child poverty and how it is both politically and socially constructed. I will also highlight the psychological and social determinants of poverty on children and explain the effects of these using theories from Bronfenbrenner and Erikson.
Poverty puts children at a disadvantage; …show more content…
Weiss-Gal, Benyamini, Ginzburg, Savaya, & Peled (2009) discuss individualistic, and structural causal attributions of poverty. The individualistic attribution is pathological in that it sees that the personality and behaviour of the individual is the cause of poverty (p.125). So it is the parent’s fault that the child doesn’t have enough to eat, or doesn’t have the proper clothing, it is seen that they are lazy or spendthrift, and/or are substance abusers, but no consideration is given to their circumstances. They go on further to explain that structural …show more content…
Power structures, politics and right wing policies, globalisation, discrimination and stereotyping are all at the root of this issue. In regards to how poverty impacts a child’s development, the short and long term effects of poverty were shown to be extremely significant. The evidence shown supports the fact that poverty can affect the physical, social, emotional and cerebral development of a child and that these can continue to have negative impact throughout their lives. The theories of Bronfenbrenner, and Erikson have been shown to be applicable to the social and psychological growth of a child, and the connection of poverty to those theories was presented. If one in four children are experiencing the hardship of poverty, then this social issue needs to be acknowledged by government with supporting policies put in place to make a change . Governmental and societal support for families, rather than discrimination and social exclusion could change the world for a