Sociology 
Sociology 110 Response Paper 1
1.
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Hanna Mengistu
How would he respond to the Culture of Poverty Thesis, Positively or negatively?
Explain.
!
The key assumption of culture of poverty thesis is that “the adaptations of one [poor] generation become the inherited culture of the next, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty.” This is to say poverty in minority groups like African Americans is a result of lack of work ethic and low aspirations that are passed down from generation to generation. D’Souza’s position is similar to the thesis in most aspects.
!
In response to why “…African Americans do poorly in comparison with other groups.”
(D’Souza, 123), D’Souza says he supports the culturalist position, which he describes as
!
… the cultural position. This view holds that there are cultural, which is to say behavioral, differences between groups. These are observable in every day life, they can be measured by the usual techniques of social science, and they can be directly related to academic achievement and economic success. (D’Souza, 125)
!
From his culturalist point of view is that African Americans don’t do as well as other groups because of their behavior as a group particularly their politically agitated attitude.
To prove his point, he refers to recent immigrants who are doing better than African
Americans because they don’t dwell on the past and don’t have victim mentality. Hence he would support the culture of poverty thesis for stating culture passed down from generations is the cause of inequalities between different groups in the US.
!
The culture of poverty thesis blames culture for inequalities rather than societal problems such as racism. D’Souza would agree with this since he thinks that group differences shouldn’t be attributed to racism. He answers the question “How could racism operate in such a way that it enables poor whites and Asians to score higher on Math tests than upper-middle-class African-Americans?” (D,Souza, 125) by
1.
!
Hanna Mengistu
How would he respond to the Culture of Poverty Thesis, Positively or negatively?
Explain.
!
The key assumption of culture of poverty thesis is that “the adaptations of one [poor] generation become the inherited culture of the next, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty.” This is to say poverty in minority groups like African Americans is a result of lack of work ethic and low aspirations that are passed down from generation to generation. D’Souza’s position is similar to the thesis in most aspects.
!
In response to why “…African Americans do poorly in comparison with other groups.”
(D’Souza, 123), D’Souza says he supports the culturalist position, which he describes as
!
… the cultural position. This view holds that there are cultural, which is to say behavioral, differences between groups. These are observable in every day life, they can be measured by the usual techniques of social science, and they can be directly related to academic achievement and economic success. (D’Souza, 125)
!
From his culturalist point of view is that African Americans don’t do as well as other groups because of their behavior as a group particularly their politically agitated attitude.
To prove his point, he refers to recent immigrants who are doing better than African
Americans because they don’t dwell on the past and don’t have victim mentality. Hence he would support the culture of poverty thesis for stating culture passed down from generations is the cause of inequalities between different groups in the US.
!
The culture of poverty thesis blames culture for inequalities rather than societal problems such as racism. D’Souza would agree with this since he thinks that group differences shouldn’t be attributed to racism. He answers the question “How could racism operate in such a way that it enables poor whites and Asians to score higher on Math tests than upper-middle-class African-Americans?” (D,Souza, 125) by