Explain Herbert Gans' idea that poverty may actually serve a ...

[rlane42]

Explain Herbert Gans' idea that poverty may actually serve a positive function in society.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

Differentiate between educational attainment and educational achievement.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[Mholman93]

Answer to Question 1

Gans suggested that poverty is persistent because it fills some important functions for maintaining the current social system. For example, the existence of poverty ensures that society's dirty work will be done. The poor provide work for those occupations that service them, such as social workers and penologists. The poor can be identified and punished as alleged or real deviants in order to uphold conventional norms of behavior.

Answer to Question 2

Educational attainment is measured by the number of years of school completed. Educational achievement is the skill level in reading, writing, and mathematics. These two measures are not always correlated. People often are moved through the school system without meeting certain minimum achievement criteria.

[rlane42]

Thank you

[Mholman93]

Happy to help you