The terms of poverty, which is lack of material belongings, that is, lack of economic resources such as it is difficult to achieve an adequate level of living. Hence we can say that poverty divides the population between those who have an adequate level of living and those who do not. Subjective poverty refers to the perception and experience of poverty as felt by a person. Deprivation on the other hand refers to loss of opportunities and privileges that are normally available to the general population. It means lack of basic necessities for the survival of an individual. This can take the form of inadequate environmental conditions, impoverished experiences and characteristics of the socially disadvantaged sections.
The causes and consequences of poverty are mentioned:
Poverty needs to be understood as a cause as well as consequence. It is caused by several factors and in turn causes several other problems. An important aspect of poverty is deprivation. Deprivation, a lack of opportunity, reduces access to availability of resources and is due to poor economic conditions. For example, education and employment have a two way relationship with reduced opportunity to be gainfully employed. There are many consequences of poverty. They interact with each other to bring about physical and psychological effects on the persons. Let us examine some of the key consequences of Poverty.
(i) Malnutrition and Development: Malnutrition influences both physical growth and affects psychological development. A good diet helps a child to be active and happy. Malnutrition and social impoverishment are major factors that bring about mental retardation. Children of poor families start life with a handicap of limited food supply, widespread infections, poor health, inadequate stimulation, and lack of education and awareness among parents.
(ii) Socialisation Patterns: Socialisation patterns under poverty conditions are characterised by inadequate stimulation, poor or no schooling, lack of role models, and lack of social and emotional support from the peer group. Lack of such aspects has a detrimental influence on the cognitive and emotional development of the growing child.
(iii) Personality Development: Different personality patterns are suggested for the deprived and non-deprived groups. Highly deprived children are likely to be high on neuroticism and introversion, and low on extraversion than non-deprived children. Deprivation is also related to social maladjustment, immaturity, and withdrawal. It also predisposes children to delinquency, and proneness to more external and chance orientation than non-deprived young adults.
(iv) Motivational Consequences:The experiences of rewards and punishments helps in the formation of one’s motivational orientation, poverty condition leads to low need for achievement, low extension need, and a high need for dependence.
(v) Mental health: There is increasing evidence of a strong association between poor mental health and the experience of poverty and derivation. The type and extent of mental health problems range from health problems, adjustment is higher if the individual is a migrant and comes from a low socio-economic status. Although mental illness occurs in all ages, gender and backgrounds, the risk is higher among the poor and homeless, unemployed, and with low education.
(vi) Psychological Interventions: There are many causes and consequences of poverty. It affects the individual, group and society. Psychologists work with the idea that human development is shaped by the experiences faced by the individual. The aim towards helping the person then is to train the individual by building up and increasing support to the deprived person in terms of cognitive, motivational and behavioural skills. Such guidance will increase the competency levels for effective functioning in society.
