HOW POVERTY AFFECTS CHILD DEVELOPMENT

How Poverty Affects Child Development

How Poverty Affects Child Development

In the early 1960's, the epidemic of juvenile crime began to take shape. The problem of juvenile crime is becoming an increasingly pressing matter in America. Anyone who watches the news on television, or reads the newspapers is well aware of the urgency and intensity of America's juvenile crime problem. Effectively establishing the causes of juvenile crime may help to deter it in the future. (Chomsky, 2001) A proper solution cannot be executed until the root causes and reasons are exposed. There are undoubtedly many factors contributing to juvenile crime, but the focus should be on those which contribute the most.

Two factors which can be considered to fuel this situation are the extremes of poverty and poor education. A growing number of juveniles from poor communities are increasingly becoming disinterested in becoming educated because there is a lack perception of any decent paying jobs available to them. By not going to school, these juveniles are not developing the proper mental framework with which they can make good choices in life. (Chomsky, 2001) The growing numbers of poor communities does not help the situation. It is well known that crime follows poverty. Americans should be concerned that juvenile crime is being fueled by a lack of education and poverty.

Poverty has three basic definitions which are absolute poverty, relative poverty and exclusionary poverty. An absence of the most basic resources such as food, shelter, and clothing constitutes absolute poverty. Relative poverty refers to those people who are poor when compared to the wealthier members of the society. Exclusionary poverty includes people without access to healthcare, proper nutrition, transportation, and opportunities for participating in community life. The references to poverty in this argument include individuals from all three categories. (Chomsky, 2001)

The biggest difference between the upper-class and lower-class communities is the quality of education the youths receive and economic security. In upper-class communities juvenile crime exists, but it is far less common and severe than in the impoverished communities. (Hall, 2006)Neighborhoods with a high concentration of poverty are at a much higher risk of having problems such as single-parent families, ineffective parenting, violent schools, high dropout rates, substance abuse, and high unemployment rates. Youths growing up in such an environment are experiencing violence daily and are destined to resort to violence themselves.

Poor communities have a tendency to be very unstable because of economic insecurity. Economic insecurity is caused by chronic unemployment. This is especially a problem in the inner-cities where, without jobs, people live impoverished and overcrowded lives. (Hall, 2006) Since they are not able to sell their labor, they resort to illegitimate markets such as drugs and prostitution. The illegitimate businesses emerge because the communities cannot effectively resist them, and they provide some social organization and economy.

Unemployment is not the source of frustration and desperation that eventually leads to violence. A lack of income is, because it forces people into situations that they would choose not to be ...