Culture Of The Inner City Ghetto example essay topic

March 17, 1998 Black Studies 137 E Final 1. b) According to Wilson, there is a positive relationship between structuralopportunities and culture". 'Culture' may be defined as the sharing of modes of behavior and outlook within a community... To act according to one's culture... is to follow one " 's inclinations as they have been developed by influence or learning from other members ofthe community that one belongs to or identifies with" (Wilson, p. 66). The culture of the inner-city ghetto has ghetto-related behaviors, which often represent certain cultural adaptations to the blockage of structural opportunities in the inner-city. Wilson says that we need to recognize the importance of the structural constraints in our society and avoid the notion of a "culture of poverty". There can be jobless families who live in neighborhoods with high rates of employment or low rates.

We need to realize that the constraints of opportunities are part of the structure of our society. Just because someone is part of a certain culture, it does not make them poor. However, being part of a particular culture may affect the structural opportunities for that group. Wilson says, .".. some elements of culture should be seen as situation ally adaptive - that is, they provide members of a group with models of behavior that apply to situations specific toth at community" (p. 71).

Members of a certain culture may need to act according to the community they live in. Because of the joblessness in the inner-city ghettos, the Black community needs to try and adapt to the constraints on the opportunity that they have. The structural problem of the labor-force is the marginal economic positions of some people due to structural constraints, limited opportunities and the cultural problem of collective beliefs in the neighborhood. Because of these constraints of structuralopportunities, the culture of the inner-city constantly needs to think of these restricted opportunities and economic constraints and make the decisions they can, given their limited choices. 2. a) America's perception of welfare is to place the responsibility on the individual. Our society tries to blame ghettos and poor people for being on welfare.

They seem to think that these people have no work ethic and it is their fault that they do not have jobs. However, in a survey, Black residents of inner-city ghettos said that they believed hard work is necessary in order to get ahead in life. However, our society still overemphasizes " the negative aspects of persistent joblessness and the receipt of welfare by playing on the key individualistic and moralistic themes of this dominant American belief system. Accordingly, the tragic nature and social causes of such problems are lost on a public that holds truly disadvantaged groups, such as inner-city Blacks, largely responsible for their plight" (pp. 158-159).

Welfare simply means providing for one's well-being. However, for some reason, our society has a negative image of welfare. They blame the poor people for not getting jobs, rather than the lack of opportunity that our society has. A recent survey suggested that this huge public sentiment against welfare is because of the belief that "the moral characteristic of individuals, not inequities in the social and economic structure of society, is at the root of the problem" (p. 161).

This survey data also shows that this negative attitude toward welfare has increased over the years. When many people think of welfare, they automatically assume it is a young, unmarried Black woman with children. People still believe this stereotype even though there are almost as many whites as Blacks on welfare. It is sad to see how many people are so ignorant and closed-minded. We need to stop blaming individuals for their joblessness and try to change the lack of opportunities our society has.