Sociological Perspective on Child Poverty: A Critical Literature Review

Yıl 2020, Sayı: 62, 397 - 414, 25.12.2020

Fazilet Dalfidan

https://doi.org/10.26650/JECS2020-0005

Öz

The objective of this article is to comprehend how and from which perspective sociology focuses on child poverty and to explore the way it poses the problem. In this context, the article reveals the main contents and general character of sociological perspectives on child poverty and discusses the deficiencies, limitations, and prejudices of the literature through an investigation into which approaches are adopted and which themes are focused on. A critical literature review method was used in the article. Two approaches emerged: the structural and phenomenological approaches. Based on these approaches, some results were obtained.These were that, within the structural approach, a child-oriented research approach is lacking since the focus is on such factors as family structure, race/ethnicity, space/neighbourhood, gender, social expenditures/support applications. The gender dimension particularly needs to be considered as a prominent theme in childcare. The quality of the relationship with the social policy field is significant for the literature in terms of both social policy as an integral dimension of child poverty as well as methodological limitation and constraint- lack of childspecific statistical data production. Finally, our research concluded that the number of macro-oriented studies that have adopted a structural approach was not high because of the limitation and constraint of statistical data production in the literature in Turkey.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Sociology, child poverty, literature, structural approach, phenomenological approach

Çocuk Yoksulluğuna Sosyolojik Bakış: Eleştirel Bir Literatür Değerlendirmesi

Öz

Bu makalenin sorunsalı sosyolojinin çocuk yoksulluğuna nasıl ve nereden baktığını, diğer bir ifadeyle sorunu ortaya koyuş tarzını anlamaktır. Bunun için alanda hangi yaklaşımların benimsendiği ve hangi temalara yoğunlaşıldığı incelenerek çocuk yoksulluğuna sosyolojik bakışın temel unsurları ve genel karakteri ortaya çıkarılmakta ve literatürdeki eksiklikler, sınırlılıklar, önyargılar tartışılmaktır. Makalede eleştirel literatür taraması yöntemi kullanılmıştır. Yapısal yaklaşım ve fenomenolojik yaklaşım olmak üzere iki yaklaşım ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu yaklaşımlardan hareketle bazı sonuçlara ulaşılmıştır: Aile yapısı, ırk/etnisite, mekan/muhit, toplumsal cinsiyet, sosyal harcama/destek uygulamaları gibi etmenlere odaklanan yapısal yaklaşımda çocuk-odaklı araştırma yaklaşımı eksiktir. Ön plana çıkan bir tema olan çocuk bakımında toplumsal cinsiyet boyutunun özellikle dikkate alınması gerekmektedir. Gerek metodolojik sınırlılık ve kısıt – çocuklara-özgü istatiksel veri üretiminin yetersiz olması – gerek sosyal politikanın çocuk yoksulluğunun ayrılmaz bir boyutu olması bakımından sosyal politika alanı ile kurulan ilişkinin niteliği literatür için önem taşımaktadır. Son olarak, Türkiye’deki literatürde istatiksel veri üretimindeki kısıt ve sınırlılıktan dolayı yapısal yaklaşımı benimseyen makro-yönelimli çalışmaların neredeyse yok denecek kadar az olduğu ortaya çıkmıştır.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Sosyoloji, çocuk yoksulluğu, literatür, yapısal yaklaşım, fenomenolojik yaklaşım

Kaynakça

• Abel-Smith, B., & Townsend. P. (1965). The Poor and the Poorest. London: Bell.
• Akıllı, H. ve Dirikoç, A. (2017). Türkiye’de kent yoksulluğu ve çocuk: Nevşehir örneği. Pamukkale Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 26, 197—224.
• Albanese, P. (2010). Child poverty in Canada. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
• Attree, P. (2004). Growing up in disadvantage: A systematic review of the qualitative evidence. Child: Care, Health and Development, 30(6), 679—689. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2004.00480.x.
• Attree, P. (2006). The social costs of child poverty: a systematic review of the qualitative evidence. Children and Society, 20(1), 54—66. https://doi.org/10.1002/CHI.854.
• Baker, M. (2002). Child poverty, maternal health and social benefits. Current Sociology, 50(6), 823-838. https://doi. org/10.1177/0011392102050006003.
• Bal, H. (2007). Toplumsal eşitsizlik temelinde çocuk suçluluğu: Isparta-Van karşılaştırması. Sosyoloji Dergisi Ülgen Oskay’a Armağan Özel Sayısı, 293—311.
• Barnes, S. L. & Bynum, M. S. (2007). The effect of child care on employment tardiness and absences for mothers: does marital status matter?. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 1—16). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Bayçöl, N. (2019). Aile yoksulluğunun çocuğa yansımaları: Sultanbeyli örneği. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Selçuk Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Konya.
• Bektaş, H. ve Şeker, M. (2019, Nisan). İstanbul’da çocuk yoksulluğu: mahalle ölçeğinde bir analiz. 34.Uluslararası Maliye Sempozyumunda sunulan bildiri, Antalya.
• Bilgin, R. (2009). Diyarbakır’da sokakta çalışan çocuklar üzerine sosyolojik bir araştırma. Elektronik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 8(27), 232—244.
• Bostic, A. (2016). Inequality, the welfare state, and demographic change. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (UMI No. 10141311).
• Booth, C. (1904). Life and labour of the people in london: first series: poverty. London: Macmillan and Co.
• Bourdillion, B. (2012). Introduction. In J. Boyden, & M. Bourdillon (Eds.). childhood poverty: multidisciplinary approaches (pp. 1—12). UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Bradbury, B. & Jantti, M. (1999). Child poverty across ındustrialised countries. ınnocenti occasional paper, economic and social policy series, No 71, Florence: UNICEF International Child Development Centre.
• Bradshaw, J., Hoelscher, P., & Richardson, D. (2006). Comparing child well-being in OECD countries: concepts and methods (Innocenti Working Paper No. 2006-03). Florence: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre.
• Bradshaw, J., Hoelscher, P., & Richardson, D. (2007). An index of child well-being in the european union. Social Indicators Research, 80(1), 133—177. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-009-9037-7.
• Cresswell, J. W. (2016). Araştırma deseni: nitel, nicel ve karma yöntem yaklaşımları (2. bs.) (S. B. Demir Çev.). Ankara: Eğiten Kitap Yayıncılık.
• Çoban, S. (2015). Türkiye’de risk altındaki çocuklar ve çocuk suçluluğu üzerine bir değerlendirme. Sosyoloji Konferansları, 52(2), 791—810. https://doi.org/10.18368/IU/sk.24682.
• Dalfidan, F. (2019). Çocukların yoksullukla baş etme stratejilerinin yeni çocukluk sosyolojisi bağlamında incelenmesi: İstanbul örneği. (Doktora Tezi, İstanbul), İstanbul Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, İstanbul.
• Davidson, P. R. (2007). Diversity in living arrangements and children’s economic well-being in single-mother households. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 29—51). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Daoud, A., Halleröd, B. & Guha-Sapir, D. (2016). What is the association between absolute child poverty, poor governance, and natural disasters? A Global Comparison of Some of the Realities of Climate Change. Plos One, 11(4), 1—20. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0153296.
• Dayıoğlu, M. (2007). Türkiye’de çocuk yoksulluğu: ölçüm yöntemleri ve yoksulluğun belirleyicileri. Tisk Akademi, 2(3), 82—105.
• Delamonica, E., Minujin, A., Davidziuk, A., Edward, D., & Gonzalez, E. D. (2006). Children living in poverty: overview of definitions, measurements and policy. New York: UNICEF Global Policy Section.
• Dercon, S. (2012). Understanding child poverty in developing countries: measurement and analysis. In J. Boyden, & M. Bourdillon, Childhood Poverty: Multidisciplinary Approaches (pp. 52—74). UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
• Dikici Bilgin, H. (2006). Working street children in turkey and romania: a comparative historical analysis in the context of new poverty. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Ankara.
• Doğan, V. (2011). Yoksulluğun unutulan yüzü: yoksul çocukların yoksulluk algıları. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Muğla Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Üniversitesi, Muğla. Ferris, A. L. (2006). Social structure and child poverty. Social Indicator Research, 78(3), 453—472.
• Figueira-McDonoug, J. (2007). Child care and the potential for breaking ıntergenerational poverty. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 71—82). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Firestone, J. M. (2007). Family context, ıncome adequacy, and child-care needs: the bottom line for san antonio’s future. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 52—70). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Gephart, M. A. (1997). Neighborhoods and communities as contexts for development. In J. Brooks Gunn, G. J. Duncan, & J. L. Aber (Eds.), Neighborhood Poverty: Context and Consequences for Children (pp. 1—43), NY: Russell Sage Foundation.
• Gordon, D., Nandy, S., Pantazis, C., Pemberton, S., & Townsend, P. (2003). The distribution of child poverty in the developing world. Bristol: Centre for International Poverty Research.
• Gürses, D. (2013, Eylül). Yoksulluğu yaşamak: çocukların gözünden yoksulluk, yoksunluk ve sosyal dışlanma. VII. Ulusal Sosyoloji Kongresi’nde sunulan bildiri, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman Üniversitesi, Muğla.
• Gürses, D. (2014). Yoksulluğu yaşamak: çocukların gözünden yoksulluk, yoksunluk ve sosyal dışlanma (Proje No: 111K339). Ankara: TÜBİTAK.
• Hango, D. W. (2003). The effect of neighborhood poverty and residential mobility on child well-being. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (UMI No. 3119237).
• Hoek, T. V. D. (2005). Through children’s eyes: an ınitial study of children’s personal experiences and coping strategies growing up poor in an affluent netherlands (Innocenti Working Paper 2005—06), Florence: Unicef Innocenti Research Centre.
• Irving, S. K. (2013). Child poverty, program participatıon, and educational and health outcomes: the role of race, ethnicity, and nativity. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (UMI No. 3576465).
• Işık, E. (2007). Kent yoksulluğu, sokak çocukları ve suç. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Kütahya.
• Jencks, C., & Mayer, S. E. (1990). The social consequences of growing up in a poor neighborhood. In L. E. Lynn, Jr., & M. G. H. McGeary (Eds.), Inner-City Poverty in the United States (pp. 111—186). Washington DC: National Academy Press.
• Jesson, J., & Lacey, F. (2006). How to do (or not to do) a critical literature review. Pharmacy Education, 6(2), 139—148.
• John, St. C., & Miller, S. M. B. (1995). The exposure of black and hispanic children to urban ghettos: evidence from chicago and the southwest. Social Science Quarterly, 76(3), 562—576.
• Kahraman, F. ve Sallan Gül, S. (2015). Türkiye’de çocuk yoksulluğu: gaziantep üzerine bir araştırma. Hitit Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü Dergisi, 8(1), 339—366. https://doi.org/10.17218/husbed.59837.
• Kelly, E. B. (2007). The work of coordinating child care for rural low-ıncome mothers. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 101—119). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Kılıç, F. (2009). Çocuk işçiliği ve ailenin rolü (Kütahya Örneği). (Yüksek Lisans Tezi). Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Kütahya.
• Land, K. C., Lamb, V. L., & Kahler-Mustillo, S. (2001). child and youth well-being in the United States, 1975—1998: Some Findings from a New Index. Social Indicators Research, 56(3), 241—320.
• Lichter, D. T., & Eggebeen, D. J. (1992). Child poverty and the changing rural family. Rural Sociology, 57(2), 151—172. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1549-0831.1992.tb00461.x.
• Lichter, D. T. (1997). Poverty and ınequality among children. Annual Review of Sociology, 23(1), 121—145. https:// doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.23.1.121.
• Lichter, D. T., & Crowley M. L. (2004). Welfare reform and child poverty: effects of maternal employment, marriage and cohabitation. Social Science Research, 33(3), 385—408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2003.09.001.
• Lindsey, D. (2009). Child Poverty and Inequality: Securing a Better Future for America’s Children. NY: Oxford University Press. Magadi, M. (2010). Risk factors for severe child poverty in the UK. Journal of Social Policy, 39(2), 297—316. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047279409990651.
• McCarty, A. T. (2014). Parental Social Networks, Mental Health, and Educational Disadvantage of Children in Poverty. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (UMI No. 3635876).
• McCarty, A. T. (2016). Child poverty in the united states: a tale of devastation and the promise of hope. Sociology Compass, 10(7), 623—639. https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12386.
• Mc Donald, C. (2008). Children’s lived experience of poverty: a review of the literature, Paddington, N.S.W.: The Benevolent Society. Merriam, S. B. (2013). Nitel araştırma: desen ve uygulama için bir rehber (S. Turan, Çev.). Ankara: Nobel Yayıncılık.
• Metin, B. (2015). Gelecek nesillerin yaşam fırsatları için ciddi bir tehdit: çocuk yoksulluğu. Sosyal Güvenlik Dergisi, 5(2), 166—188.
• Minujin, A., Delamonica, E., Gonzalez, E. D., & Davidziuk, A. (2005). Children living in poverty: a review of child poverty definitions, measurements, and policies. UNICEF’s Conference on Children & Poverty: Global Context, Local Solutions. New York: The New School.
• Minujin, A., Delamonica, E., Davidziuk, A., & Gonzalez, E. D. (2006). The definition of child poverty: a discussion of concepts and measurements. International Institute for Environment and Development, 18(2), 481—500.
• Morrow, V., & Pells, K. (2012). Integrating children’s human rights and child poverty debates: examples from young lives in ethiopia and ındia. Sociology, 46(5), 906—920. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038512451532.
• Morrow, V., & Vennam, U. (2012). Children’s responses to risk in agricultural work in Andhra Pradesh, India. Development in Practice, 22(4), 549—561. https://doi.org/10.1080/09614524.2012.672955.
• Munoz Salazar, P. (2000). Poverty, schooling, and child labor: a portrait of chile before and after democratization. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (UMI No. 9982379 ).
• Obioha, E. E. (2009). Becoming a street child in poverty ridden society: a descriptive case of Kaduna Metropolis, Nigeria, Journal of Social Sciences, 19(1), 41—49. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718923.2009.11892689.
• Öztürk, A. B. (2008). Kentteki çocuk yoksulluğu: keçiören örneği. (Yüksek Lisans Tezi)., Hacettep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü, Ankara.
• Pearce, D. (2007). Introduction. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. xi—xxiii). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Qvortrup, J. (1997). A voice for children in statistical and social accounting: a plea for children’s right to be heard. In A. James, & A. Prout, Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood (pp. 83—100). Washington DC: Falmer Press.
• Rahbari, L. (2016). Transnationality of child poverty: the case of ıranian and afghan street children in Tehran. Asian Journal of Humanities and Social Studies, 4(5), 347—352.
• Redmond, G. (2008). Children’s perspectives on economic adversity: a review of the literature, Innocenti Discussion Papaers 2008—01, Florence: Unicef Innocenti Research Centre.
• Ridge, T. (2002). Childhood poverty and social exclusion-from a child’s perspective. UK: The Policy Press. Roelen, K., & Gassman, F. (2008). Measuring child poverty and well-being: a literature review. Netherlands: Maastricht University.
• Roets, G., Roose, R., & Bouverne- De Bie, M. (2013). Researching child poverty: towards a lifeworld orientation. Childhood, 20(4), 535—549. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568212475101.
• Rowntree, B. S. (1942). Poverty and progress: a second social survey of York. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
• Sampson, R. J., Morenoff, J. D., & Gannon-Rowley, T. (2002). Assessing “neighborhood effects”: social processes and new directions in research. Annual Review of Sociology, 28(1), 443—478. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev. soc.28.110601.141114.
• Scott, E. K. (2007). Conflicts between wage work and care work: how single-parent families of children with disabilities manage to juggle competing demands. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 120—137). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Tekola-Gebru, B. (2009). Looking beyond poverty: poor children’s perspectives and experiences of risk, coping, and resilience in Addis Ababa (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (UMI No. 898752411).
• Timberlake, J. M. (2003). Effects of residential segregation on racial ınequality in children’s exposure to neighborhood poverty and affluence. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Thesis. (UMI No. 3108120).
• Timberlake, J. M., & Michael, J. (2007). Children’s exposure to neighborhood poverty and affluence in the United States, 1990–2000. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 136—164). London: Praeger Publishers.
• Unicef, (2004). The state of the world’s children 2005. New York: UNICEF House.
• Wagmiller, R. L. (2007). Children and the changing social ecology of economic disadvantage in urban America. In B. A. Arrighi, & D. J. Maume (Eds.), Child Poverty in America Today: Families and Children (pp. 163—181). London: Praeger Publishers.
• White, H., Leavy, J., & Masters A. (2003). Comparative perspectives on child poverty: a review of poverty measure. Journal of Human Development. 4(3), 379—396. https://doi.org/10.1080/1464988032000125755.
• Wilson, W. J. (1987). The truly disadvantaged: the ınner city, the underclass, and public policy. Chicago: University Chicago Press.
• Voss, P. R., Long, D. D., Hammer R. B., & Friedman S. (2006). County child poverty rates in the us: a spatial regression approach. Population Research Policy Review, 25(4), 369—391. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-0069007-4.