Pursuit of Happiness
Professor Meade
Sociology 110
16 May 2013
Pursuit of Happyness and Poverty
Social Problem: Poverty - the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. (According to Dictionary.com)
Theories:
• Structural Functionalism – Poverty is natural & expected
• Symbolic Interaction – The way we view the poor, blaming the victim o We work to change the behavior, not the actual cause
• Conflict Theory – Poverty is unnatural and not the fault of the individual but rather the fault of society
Definitions:
• Persistent Poverty – you grow up poor and you stay poor
• Temporary Poverty – usually results from illness, divorce, or unemployment (2 years or less)
How Pursuit of Happyness relates to Poverty
• Gardners grew up in poverty
• Only “blue-collared” jobs were available to the “colored”
• They had poor housing, struggled to find food, limited funds to pay rent
• Chris Gardner faced “persistent poverty” but managed to make it “temporary poverty” by never giving up on his dream to become wealthy, to own a “Ferrari”
• Encountered inequality because even though he was able to get a job, all of his clients went to a “more-experienced” person – a white person
• Chris falls into the category of a person who has the experience, but no formal education
• Had a difficult time finding a home for him and his son
• Faced jail time
Political Views • Conservatives o Not that many people are living in absolute poverty o People should take responsibility for themselves o Work hard = success o Limit government involvement to help those who NEED help
• Liberals o Poverty is a societal problem and should work together to fix it o Recognize that poverty affects different groups rather than individuals o Income is distributed unequally and is heavily impacted by discrimination o Support government aide o Feel that many people don’t try for assistance because the culture of shame
The Pursuit of
Sociology 110
16 May 2013
Pursuit of Happyness and Poverty
Social Problem: Poverty - the state or condition of having little or no money, goods, or means of support; condition of being poor. (According to Dictionary.com)
Theories:
• Structural Functionalism – Poverty is natural & expected
• Symbolic Interaction – The way we view the poor, blaming the victim o We work to change the behavior, not the actual cause
• Conflict Theory – Poverty is unnatural and not the fault of the individual but rather the fault of society
Definitions:
• Persistent Poverty – you grow up poor and you stay poor
• Temporary Poverty – usually results from illness, divorce, or unemployment (2 years or less)
How Pursuit of Happyness relates to Poverty
• Gardners grew up in poverty
• Only “blue-collared” jobs were available to the “colored”
• They had poor housing, struggled to find food, limited funds to pay rent
• Chris Gardner faced “persistent poverty” but managed to make it “temporary poverty” by never giving up on his dream to become wealthy, to own a “Ferrari”
• Encountered inequality because even though he was able to get a job, all of his clients went to a “more-experienced” person – a white person
• Chris falls into the category of a person who has the experience, but no formal education
• Had a difficult time finding a home for him and his son
• Faced jail time
Political Views • Conservatives o Not that many people are living in absolute poverty o People should take responsibility for themselves o Work hard = success o Limit government involvement to help those who NEED help
• Liberals o Poverty is a societal problem and should work together to fix it o Recognize that poverty affects different groups rather than individuals o Income is distributed unequally and is heavily impacted by discrimination o Support government aide o Feel that many people don’t try for assistance because the culture of shame
The Pursuit of