Question

What are the theoretical perspectives analyzing the social problems related to proverty, such as such as a functionalist, symbolic interactionist, or conflict-feminist perspective? Which is most useful.

Answer 1

The theoretical perspectives of social problems related to poverty are:

1) Functionalist: It is a framework that views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote peace and stability. The primary concepts here are collective conscience, value consensus, social order, education, family, crime and the media. The basic purpose is to study the functions that institutions may have in society. Poverty has it roots in the social system that is based on the issue of inequality.

2) Symbolic interactionist: This is a view wherein linguistic and gestural communication are the common ways of social behaviour.People's particular utilization of dialect makes images and implications for deduction and correspondence. Poverty is understood by looking at people's interactions and understandings in their day to day life. It does not seek to understand the reasons behind social stratification.

3) Conflict-feminist perspective: This theory interprets society as a struggle for power between groups engaging in conflict in order to achieve the limited resources. It sees social life as a competition, power hungry and based on inequality.This theory is weak in explaining social stability. The feminist perspective is derived from the conflict perspective with the addition of gender inequality and oppression on women added to it. It seeks to see how the social structure and it's various rules, deprive women and make them live a life of poverty.  

There is nothing as the most useful perspective. All three perspectives stand with their own theories. They give us three different points of view to look into a matter and thereby analyse it accordingly.