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Review Article | DOI: https://doi.org/http://doi.org/14.2018/
*Corresponding Author: Paul Andrew Bourne, Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Manchester, Jamaica, E-mail: paulbourne1@gmail.com
Citation: Paul Andrew Bourne, Reconsidering Culture and Poverty- Article Review. J.Journalism and IntellectualProperty, DOI: http://doi.org/14.2018/1.10003.
Copyright: © 2018 Paul Andrew Bourne et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Received: 14 April 2018 | Accepted: 07 June 2018 | Published: 14 June 2018
Keywords: culture,poverty,socio-economic programmes ,social mobility
The authors—Small, Harding and Lamont—examined the issues of culture and poverty from an in-depth constructivist paradigm. They expanded the discourse of poverty by evaluating the matter from an historical perspective. By so doing the authors perused historical literature on the study of poverty, the historical premise of the issues and provided balanced perspectives—giving historical framework, contemporary perspectives and providing justification for their disparities. Small, Harding and Lamont expanded the discourse of poverty by highlighting cultural stereotypes, researchers’ unconscious acceptance of the historical subjectivity, and indicating how elitists have framed and biased the discourse of poverty. The authors argue that the concept of “culture of poverty” which was promoted by scholars as Oscar Lewis (1966) and Ryan (1976) that some people are poor because their cultural-orientation and that simply changing their culture will transform them into other social classes—lower-middle class to upper class—is by a cultural stereotype.
Small, Harding and Lamont borrowed value-orientation from Talcott Parsons and ably used it to enlighten the discourse of policy alleviation (or not). They believed that people’s value system will guide their actions and can be used to validate a perspective, and so they will interpret the world and all therein from this paradigm. Hence the concept of culture has been framed by people’s value-orientation over the decades and set a premise for choices and decisions—this is framed many studies over the decades as well as policies to alleviate poverty. Nevertheless, alternative modes of research from values have been used to frame a new thinking on the matter which is contrary to the culture poverty perspective.
Education is a process of social and physical transformation. Although it may be costly to invest in each individual, it is a social good outweigh the initial private cost. Education improves the social capital of the individual and the society, which means that its benefits transform one’s current inabilities and social conditions. Education, therefore, is a key for social mobility and this offers insights into how it may retard poverty. Minorities are less likely than hegemonic class to have private health insurance and other provisions including money to change their present situation, and so it is education that provide the engine that changes social realities. Simply put
“Individuals, families and groups in the population can be said to be in poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the type of diet, participate in the activities and have the living conditions and amenities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged or approved, in the societies to which they belong. Their resources are so seriously below those commanded by the average individual or family that they are in effect, excluded from ordinary living patterns, customs and activities” (Townsend 1979: 31)
Townsend’s outlook as well as that of Friedman, Todaro and others provide evidence that education transforms the human capital and this transformation is what holds the key to poverty reduction and retardation.
Clearly Auctoresonline and particularly Psychology and Mental Health Care Journal is dedicated to improving health care services for individuals and populations. The editorial boards' ability to efficiently recognize and share the global importance of health literacy with a variety of stakeholders. Auctoresonline publishing platform can be used to facilitate of optimal client-based services and should be added to health care professionals' repertoire of evidence-based health care resources.
