scholarly journals Stigmatising the Poor without Negative Images: Images of Extreme Poverty and the Formation of Welfare Attitudes

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Béla Janky ◽  
Béla Janky ◽  
Boglarka Bakó ◽  
Péter Szilágyi ◽  
Adrienn Bognár
Keyword(s):  
Minority Group ◽  
Antisocial Behaviour ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Negative Images ◽  
Poor Person ◽  
Welfare Attitudes ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Vignette Experiment ◽  
Video Vignette

In the past two decades, many studies have warned of the role the popular media might play in the stigmatisation of the poor. Media reports about poverty often include references to antisocial behaviour, which make the principle of deservingness particularly conspicuous and could also strengthen the effects of ethnic stereotypes. We argue, however, that it could be misleading to place all the blame for stigmatisation on direct references to ‘undeserving’ behaviour. Media images of extreme distress themselves could have a selective stigmatising effect. Thus, even benevolent portrayal of the poor could erode sympathy. This paper presents the results of a video-vignette experiment on a sample of Hungarian students. The subjects watched one of four versions of a video interview with a poor person (none of them contained any references to antisocial behaviour) and then expressed their attitudes towards welfare payments. We found that support for welfare was higher where a version highlighted signs of extreme distress. But this was only the case if there were no mention of ethnic minorities. If the video report emphasized that Roma (Gypsies), the largest disadvantaged minority group in Hungary, lived in the neighbourhood, signs of their extreme hardship lowered the support for welfare payments.

The Relief of Poverty in Mid Nineteenth-Century Colyton

Rural History ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean Robin
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Present Form ◽  
Poor Law ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poor Person ◽  
The Welfare State

The welfare state emerged in 1948 when the National Assistance Act finally abolished the New Poor Law Forty-two years later, as politicians and bureaucrats struggle to keep increasing expenditure within bounds, the existence of the welfare state in its present form is under threat. Just over 150 years ago, the Old Poor Law was presenting parish ratepayers with a similar problem of rising costs, leading in 1834 to a fundamental reorganisation into the New Poor Law It may therefore be profitable to see how effective in practice the New Poor Law was when it replaced a system widely regarded as profligate, and to consider the extent to which benefits payable through the welfare state were available a hundred years or more ago.This study examines in detail how the New Poor Law, and other forms of relief, affected the whole population of the rural parish of Colyton, in south Devonshire, during the thirty years from 1851 to 1881. It will first describe the sources from which a poor person in Colyton in the mid nineteenth century could look for relief; next discuss how widespread poverty was and who the poor were; then look at what kinds of relief were available, under what conditions; and finally assess the comparative importance to the poor of the different agencies providing assistance.

PUBLIC LAW STATUS OF AN EXTREMELY POOR PERSON – A REVIEW OF ADAM PLOSZKA’S DOCTORAL MONOGRAPHY

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (XX) ◽  
pp. 321-335
Author(s):  
Alexander Martin Juranek
Keyword(s):  
Public Law ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
Global Level ◽  
European Level ◽  
Minimum Standard ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Constitutional Level ◽  
Legal Situation ◽  
Poor Person

The main purpose of this article is to refer to the Author’s considerations presented in his doctoral monography entitled “Public law status of an extremely poor person”. First of all, the appropriateness of the research hypotheses and questions adopted by the Author will be analysed with particular emphasis attached to the validity of the conclusions drawn in the context of the current social and economic situation in Poland. The second part is dedicated to considerations of a „strictly content-related nature”: from the analysis of solutions to counteract poverty at the global level, through the regional (European) level, to the national (constitutional) level. At this stage, reference will also be made to the standard of protection of the rights of the extremely poor suggested by the Author. The next part will analyse the extent of the discrepancies between the ‘minimum standard’ of protection suggested by the Author and the factual and legal situation of the poor. Conclusions in this area will be particularly useful for law application practice.

Intimate Transgressions and Communalist Narratives: Inter-religious romance in a divided Gujarat

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 1277-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
CAROLYN HEITMEYER
Keyword(s):  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Public Knowledge ◽  
Arranged Marriage ◽  
Social Conventions ◽  
Significant Challenge ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
Media Reports

AbstractIn this article, I examine the seeming paradox of Hindu–Muslim romantic affairs in the wider context of communalism in Gujarat in the wake of the 2002 anti-Muslim violence. At the outset, such affairs appear to embody the most extreme form of taboo, both in their defiance of conventional arranged marriage systems (where caste endogamy and shared religious affiliation play a paramount role) as well as in the wider socio-political context in which Hindus and Muslims are viewed as irreconcilable enemies, or at least oppositional in lifestyle, beliefs, and values. Yet, while media reports in recent years have highlighted similar cases of transgressive liaisons elsewhere in India which have been met with extreme violence, the couplings which I describe in this article, are in practice tolerated by kin and neighbours as an ‘open secret’ which, while public knowledge, has not incurred strong retribution. While love has often been presented as a force for emancipation from the constraints of social conventions and norms in the popular media, I argue that this ‘toleration’ of inter-religious liaisons in the cases I describe suggests the very opposite: namely, that they do not present a significant challenge to entrenched social divisions at the local level.

Private liability without wrongdoing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Stone
Keyword(s):  
Essential Role ◽  
Legal Liability ◽  
Corrective Justice ◽  
Private Law ◽  
Political Morality ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poor Person ◽  
Distribution Of Resources ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Prior Relationship

Rights-based theories of private law tend to be wrongs based and defendant focused. But many private law wrongs do not seem like genuine wrongs, at least when the background distribution of resources is unjust. A very poor person, for example, may be held legally liable for breaching a one-sided contract with a very rich person. When such a contract reflects and reproduces existing injustice, it is hard to view the poor person’s breach of such a contract as a genuine wrong against the rich person. Conversely, some obvious moral wrongs do not generate legal liability. There is, for example, no private law duty of rescue in the absence of a prior relationship in many situations in which most would agree that there is a moral duty of rescue. Thus, private legal liability seems not to track moral wrongdoing in significant respects, raising the question what instead justifies such liability. Instead of justifying private liability in terms of the defendant’s wrongdoing, as corrective justice and civil recourse theorists do, we should seek a justification in terms of the plaintiff’s moral permission to enforce her apparent rights. Switching our gaze from the defendant’s wrongdoing to the plaintiff’s moral permission to enforce her rights will not be normatively consequential if the plaintiff’s moral permission arises when and only when the defendant has wronged her. But, I argue, background injustice can drive a wedge between genuine wrongdoing and the plaintiff’s moral permission. Thus, by reconceptualizing private liability in terms of a plaintiff’s moral permission to enforce her apparent rights, private law may be justified by the essential role it plays in constituting non-ideal political morality.

A Conceptual Analysis of the Nixon Welfare Proposal

1970 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-166
Author(s):  
George Hoshino
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Analysis ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poor Person ◽  
Causes Of Poverty

Examination of the plan finds the focus still on the poor person and his presumed shortcomings, not on the societal and economic causes of poverty

scholarly journals 1MDB corruption scandal in Malaysia: a study of failings in control and accountability

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
David Seth Jones
Keyword(s):  
Money Laundering ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Internal Controls ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Regulatory Agencies ◽  
Political Will ◽  
International Network ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Media Reports

PurposeThe aim of the paper is to examine the various aspects of the 1MDB scandal including the extent and types of corruption that occurred and the action taken to deal with them. In doing this, the paper seeks to identify the reasons for the scandal and the lessons that can be learnt to avoid such a scandal in Malaysia and elsewhere in the future.Design/methodology/approachThe research for the paper is based on evidence from court hearings, reports of watchdog and regulatory agencies, media reports, and various articles and books written about 1MDB.FindingsThe paper shows that most of the scandal involved embezzlement, bribery, false declarations and bond mispricing relating to extensive borrowing by 1MDB, and entailed a global network of shell companies and individuals through which the illicit money was passed. It also shows weak governance in 1MDB, poor internal controls within banks, the failure of watchdog and enforcement bodies to take the necessary action partly due to political control over them, and overall the lack of political will to deal with the scandal.Originality/valueThe paper builds on the findings of other papers and books written on the 1MDB scandal. It does this by linking the corruption to the borrowings of 1MDB, the international network of money-laundering and bribery through which illicit money flowed, and the poor internal controls in the organisation. It also builds on previous research by highlighting the failure of banks to identify money-laundering and of watchdog and enforcement bodies to deal with the corruption. A further value of the paper is to identify the lessons that can be learnt about combatting corruption on such a scale.

Sexual Abuse in the Orthodox Jewish Community: A Literature Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 152483802090654
Author(s):  
Efrat Lusky-Weisrose ◽  
Amitai Marmor ◽  
Dafna Tener
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Religious Affiliation ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Orthodox Jewish ◽  
The North ◽  
Cultural Conservatism ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Meta Analyses

Sexual abuse is a cross-cultural phenomenon related to multiple cultural contexts including religious affiliation. The Haredi, or Orthodox Jewish community (OJC), constitutes a significant minority group of the worldwide Jewish population, characterized by cultural conservatism, steadfast loyalty to the community, and strict religious behavioral codes. To date, only few empirical studies (as opposed to multiple media reports) have dealt with the issue of sexual abuse within the OJC. Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we conducted a systematic review of the literature on sexual abuse within the OJC and its subgroups that addresses experiences and reports of victims, perpetrators, the Jewish and general community, and professionals in the North America, Israel, and Australia. Articles were collected from peer-reviewed databases and bibliographies; 13 quantitative and qualitative articles were included in the final sample. Three themes emerged: disclosure of sexual abuse, perceptions and attitudes toward the abuse, and its implications. Results indicated that alongside several findings that were specifically grounded in the context of closed collective or religious societies and the OJC in particular, most essentially reflected universal aspects of sexual abuse. The results suggest promoting context-informed interventions based on community knowledge and resilience, together with appropriate training in order to better understand the needs of the OJC and of closed communities in general.

Professionally Responsible Communication with the Public: Giving Psychology a Way

1997 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 675-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert B. Cialdini
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
The Media

The larger society, which has paid for social science, deserves a fuller and more meaningful exposure to what social scientists have learned with its money. Moreovei; social science would benefit in financial support and prestige from such exposure. The popular media constitute the most powerful vehicle for and the most formidable barrier against the professionally responsible communication of social science to the public. An approach for communicating responsibly with the public through the media is described. A central component of that approach seens dishonest but is shown not to be upon close analysis. It advises scientists to respond to the poor questions they may be asked by media representatives with answers to the good questions they could have been asked. Booming About Big Issues

scholarly journals Feasts and Famine: Modern Misconceptions of the Ancient Roman Diet

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Silas Logeson ◽  
Jennifer Rea
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Value ◽  
Popular Media ◽  
Critical Aspect ◽  
Imperial Rome ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Modern Media ◽  
Cultural Medium ◽  
Ancient Literature ◽  
Varied Diet ◽  
To Come

Ancient sources, modern scholarship, and modern popular media have misled audiences about the truth of the typical diet of the Roman lower strata. Modern movies and books, as well as ancient satire, a popular cultural medium of its time, put forth a stereotype of the lifestyle of rich citizens of Imperial Rome as contrasted with the poor Romans’ humble fare. Modern media, influenced by ancient satire, plays into stereotypes of the Imperial Romans stuffing themselves on dormice and grapes while their servants go hungry. The misconception in modern media may be created by a misreading of ancient satire, which is critical in nature. When the critical aspect of satire is misinterpreted, the elaborate and excessive meals are taken at face value rather than read as symbolic. In ancient satires, the depictions of both simple meals and fantastic banquets are exaggerated and must be interpreted as symbolic of the character serving or eating the meal.Modern representations of the ancient Romans’ diet, inaccurately influenced by ancient literature such as the satires of Horace, Juvenal, and Petronius, differ from recent findings of archaeologists in Herculaneum and Pompeii. The modern misrepresentation seems to come from a mistake in equating the food symbolic of the Roman upper strata with high nutritional value as well as equating the food symbolic of the lower strata to low nutritional value. An analysis of the food depictions in ancient literature and recent archeological findings suggest that poor Romans ate a healthier and more varied diet than is commonly believed.

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