Constructed Fear of Poverty: The Power of Identity and the Identity of Power Among Youths
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7187/GJAT122021-4Keywords:
Youth, Identity, Poverty, Fear, InequalityAbstract
While discussing youth, less attention is paid to their fear towards the issue of poverty and how this fear could affect their identity formation. This paper aims to outline how urban youth construct their fear of poverty and how this issue is affecting their identity formation. The research was conducted using both the quantitative and qualitative designs. 720 respondents were involved in the survey. 30 of these respondents were chosen to be involved in three Focus Group Discussion sessions. This study demonstrated that youth’s idea of fear is based on real situations and the ‘possible fear’ is to avoid this threat in the first place. The results identified that economic situation is the main contributing factor for one to be in poverty followed by the lack of education, lack of governmental support and lack of societal support. Finally, this study shows that by identifying this fear, it is hoped that the youths will have stronger confidence in their identity and self in relation to the current world context.
References
Alcock, P. (1997). Understanding Poverty. Macmillan, London.
Atkinson, A. and Bourguignon, F. (1982). The comparison of multidimensioned distributions of economic status, Review of Economic Studies, 49:183–201.
Bauman, Z. (1988). Freedom. Open University Press, Milton Keynes.
Blackwood, DL. Lynch RG. (1994). The measurement of inequality and poverty: A policy maker’s guide to the literature. World Development, 22:567-578.
Burke, P J., & Tully, I T. (1977). The measurement of role/identity. Social Forces, 55:880-897.
Borooah, Vani Kant and Carlos Carcach (1997). Crime and fear. British Journal of Criminology, 37:635- 657.
Chilton,M., Chyatte, M., Michelle & Jennifer Breaux (2007). The negative effects of poverty & food insecurity on child development. The Indian Journal of Medical Research, 126(4):262-72.
CY Piaw, 2006. Kaedah penyelidikan. McGraw Hill (M) Sdn. Bhd, Malaysia.
DeHaan, L. & MacDemid, S. (1996). Identity and Poverty. Garland, New York.
Deleeck, H. Van Den Bosch, K. & De Lathouwer, L. (1992). Poverty and the Adequacy of Social Security in the EC. Avebury, Aldershot.
Denzin NK, Lincoln YS (1994). Introduction: Entering the field of qualitative research. In Denzin NK, Lincoln YS (Eds) Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Eichler, D. (2001). Armut, Gerechtigkeit und soziale Grundsicherung – Einfuhrung in eine komplexe Problematik. Wiesbaden, Westdeutscher Verlag.
Elder, G. H., & Caspi, A. (1988). Economic stress in lives: Developmental perspectives. Journal of Social Issues, 44: 25–45
Erikson, Erik H. (1968). Identity: Youth and Crisis. No. 7. WW Norton & Company.
Grotevant, H. D. (1987). Toward a process model of identity formation. Journal of Adolescent Research, 2:203–222.
Gupte, J. (2013). Urban Settings as an Opportunity for Realizing all Child Rights, South-South Cooperation for Child Rights Working Papers 3, Kathmandu: UNICEF ROSA/UNICEFEAPRO, www.ids.ac.uk/publication/urban-settings-as-an-opportunity-for-realizing-all-childrights
Hall, G.S. (1904). Adolescence: Its psychology and its relations to physiology, anthropology, sociology, sex, crime, religion, and education. (Vols. 1 & 11). D. Appleton & Co, New York.
Hebel, J. (2004). Poverty: Concepts and Analysis. In: Poverty Alleviation: Concepts and Experiences – Focused on Cases in Indonesia. Gottingen, Curillier Verlag.
Kolm, S.C. (1977). Multidimensional egalitarianisms, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 91:1–13
Maasoumi, E. (1986). The measurement and decomposition of multidimensional inequality, Econometrica, 54:771–779.
Michener, H. A., & Delamater, J. D. (1999). Social psychology (4th Ed.). Harcourt Brace, Fort Worth, TX.
GJAT provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
