As humans cannot exist in a vacuum, people’s surroundings and the environment in which they live may affect both their personality and approaches to life, based on their education, family life, and job prospects. These circumstances help create the propagation of wealthy and poor people coming from their respective communities. Therefore, searching for a connection between social class and poverty, as well as other characteristics allows evaluating the evidence behind social classes’ complexity.
People rely on their environment to provide them with a social elevator, which may permit them to change their circumstances for the better. A study by Gibson and Barr (2017), aimed at making schools better for at-risk youth, found that middle-class staff were predisposed to hold a bias regarding lower-class students, demonstrated through the language they used. Thus, lower-class students could feel alienated and out-of-place in their school, resulting in them receiving a worse level of education.
The staff could likewise impart stereotypes regarding race and gender upon students, creating better circumstances for some and overlooking others, stalling their personal and professional growth. Furthermore, in impoverished communities women may be prevented from receiving an education at all, directly relating impoverishment and gender to each other (“The hidden reason for poverty the world needs to address now,” 2015). Therefore, the cyclical nature of poverty relies on not receiving help from the surrounding community but instead being held back by unyielding circumstances outside of one’s control.
It may be possible to state that in a multi-ethnic society, with little discrimination, circumstances of race and gender are unrelated to a lowered social class. However, the evidence, which may be collected in any country, demonstrates the detrimental effects of a lack of community closeness. Reducing classism in such environments may be possible through the provision of equal opportunities for all individuals, regardless of the characteristics they are born with, as well as institutions and support structures.
References
Gibson, E. L., & Barr, R. D. (2017). Building a culture of hope: Exploring implicit biases against poverty. National Youth-At-Risk Journal, 2(2), 39-50. Web.
The hidden reason for poverty the world needs to address now. (2015). Web.