Discussion on poverty theories

Rank the following perspectives of poverty in order of importance:

cultural capital (importance of acquired knowledge)
social capital (importance of associations)
Marxist (class conflict, base/superstructure, ideology)
Weber (multi-dimensional [economic, status, party], importance of skill)
Anticlassist (middle-class/poor conflict, Gans)
Feminist
Antiracist
Culture of poverty
Social structural (Wilson, globalization, deindustrialization)
Biological (Social Darwinism, Murray)
Welfare dependency (don't want to move 5 miles)




Rank the following solutions in order of importance:

Increase cultural capital (intensive funding to create enriched environments for the poor)
Increase social capital (remove network barriers, increase opportunities for association, e.g., mentoring and networking programs)
Abolish capitalism, create a society that removes the coercive elements of capitalism (e.g., Wright and Burawoy)
More responsible government (follow the model of Scandinavian countries)
Attack classism everywhere and in all its forms
Attack sexism everywhere and in all its forms
Attack racism everywhere and in all its forms
Transform the culture of the poor (Cosby)
Provide opportunities (Wilson)
Eugenics
Eliminate welfare

Optional take-home essay question

The question below is roughly the same as the in-class essay question on the midterm. You can choose to answer this question at home and hand it in on the day of the exam or write the answer in a blue book on the day of the exam. If you choose to answer it at home, it must be typed and double-spaced. If you choose to answer the question in class, the blue book must be blank. There is a possibility that you will trade blue books.

Think of a social problem that you would like to write a research paper on. Discuss this social problem with respect to our discussion on the characteristics of social problems. Also refer to chapter one in Mooney et al. and the Joel Charon article “An Introduction to the Study of Social Problems.” This question is worth 12 points