When people think of the word poverty, they usually picture starving, homeless people, often resembling the sad commercials that feature poor malnourished kids. Although the aforementioned is indeed poverty, that is not always the representation of it. By definition, poverty is the state of being extremely poor, lacking the necessary resources to live a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. Poverty plagues a plethora of families in America. In America, there are certain guidelines that are the determinants of living in poverty, which considers yearly income and the amount of people in the household. It is more common than most people think as there are around 40 million people living in poverty, and those are just the people who were recorded for the census (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: UNITED STATES). Black Americans have the highest rate in poverty, totaling up to 21%, the largest percent in racial categories and the fifth largest in all categories. This statistic becomes more impactful when one realizes that Black Americans only make up 13.4% of the American population (U.S. Poverty Statistics). Poverty can be the main cause of numerous negative effects that can potentially ruin a person’s life. The main effects that will be discussed throughout this essay are interchangeable, as one effect can stem from another.
Poverty can influence poor academic achievement, physical and mental health problems, and it can make children more susceptible to crimes. These negative effects of poverty are demonstrated and supported through multiple theories that correlate with each other: Social Disorganization Theory, The Broken Mirror Theory, and The Problem Behavior theory. These theories, in short, highlight and discuss the negative effects of a broken community on a resident. The government neglects the fact that poverty can cause serious negative effects on people, especially on children who are still developing physically and mentally. The government does not adequately help these communities in need. I believe this is because minorities are a big percent of people who live in poverty. From prior experience, they do not care enough about minorities to do anything about it. The cycle of minorities living in poverty continues, suppressing the success of minorities in America. However, that is not a big deal to the government. A lot of black Americans are born into this lifestyle and the cycle just continues. Cyclical poverty automatically sets up young Black Americans back on their path to success or even takes them off it entirely, which is not fair.
Crime, or any illegal act, is evitable when a community is plagued with poverty due to its disorganization. The Social Disorganization Theory consolidates the former statement. The Social Disorganization Theory states that the scarcity of social resources and the ability to accommodate residents’ needs causes criminality due to the disintegration of social control. The lack of these essential resources dooms a community by creating a detrimental environment. The Broken Window Theory also supports this idea. The Broken Window Theory proposes that crime is encouraged by the disorganization of a community, as indicators of evident crime and anti-social behavior stimulate crime and disorder. Poverty can influence the susceptibility to crime. From this perspective, a child growing up in a crime infested community can encourage them to engage in illegal activities, as most of them think it is the norm. From another perspective, being exposed to crimes can damage your mental health, as it can cause anxiety and depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, fear and sleep disturbance. Experiencing high level of crime and violence and influences aggressive tendencies, such as delinquency and drug abuse (Belgrave & Allison). Drug use among children can arise due it being easily accessible in these types of communities.
The Problem Behavior Theory suggests that the drug use causes violent behavior, disinterest in school, and disobedience. Due the disorganization of the poverty infested communities, there is a lack of permissible alternatives and opportunities that benefit the children, so they tend to turn to illegal activities. Maintaining adequate health and wellness levels in your body is very important, at least if you plan on living a long happy life. People are able to a maintain sustainable and healthy lifestyles by making sure they are physically and mentally well. It also essential for a child, whose body is developing, to maintain a healthy environment. So, what happens when you are not healthy? The obvious reason is that you can get sick, but what about the effects to a developing child? Poverty can negatively alter brain development in children. According to a study, poverty is correlated to structural differences in several areas of the brain associated with school readiness skills. It states “Regional gray matter volumes of children below 1.5 times the federal poverty level were 3 to 4 percentage points below the developmental norm (P
