The Impact of Trauma and Urban Poverty on Family Systems - Research Paper Example

The Impact of Trauma and Urban Poverty on Family SystemsFamilies are required to meet their daily needs in order for them to lead a quality life. Families living in poverty are likely to encounter many problems, which range from poor housing, lack of enough food and many other economic stresses that accompany poverty. Trauma and stress will affect parenting effectiveness because the poor families will live under stressful conditions, and this translates to decrease in family cohesiveness (Collins et al, 2010).

Poor families are also large, and this means that providing for the large family with the limited resources becomes an obstacle; hence, this increases the instances of stress and trauma within the family. A poor family is faced with severe conditions of stress and it will often be involved in chaotic lifestyles because of the scramble for the limited resources. Poverty will translate to the family being unable to meet their daily needs, parents will be unable to have control on the family, and quarrels and misunderstandings are likely to occur.

Poverty has been blamed for many cases of breakup in families because everyone wants to go his or her own way to find a favorable life.Poverty affects a child’s physical development in that the poor family cannot afford proper nutrition to foster growth of the child. Poor families will only afford meals once or twice in a day, and for a child to grow, proper nutrition is necessary. Poverty also means that the family will not be able to access proper medical attention and in case of sickness, inferior treatment methods will be used, and the child’s health will deteriorate hence undermining proper physical development (Eamon, 2001).

Poor quality housing because of poverty can contribute to frequent illnesses in children because they may be living in dirty environments, and this stunts physical development.Proper nutrition is imperative for development of cognitive capabilities and since with poverty comes poor nutrition, the children in the poor families will be malnourished. Being malnourished implies that body organs will lack sufficient energy for body organs and tissues to be healthy and functional. If the body organs and tissues do not function properly, this translates to poor cognitive capabilities since the body cannot respond satisfactorily to external factors.

This is because illnesses are likely to set in the child’s body hence causing a holdup in cognitive development of the child.Poverty can affect a child’s social emotional development in that the child will be in a surrounding where there lacks proper interactive space. The stress at home will be translated when the child relates with their peers, and this may come in the form of rejection and conflicts. Poverty in the family will mean that the child will not be able to have access to certain educational and interactive spaces, and this profoundly undermines their confidence levels.

The poor child will also attend schools with few resources, have low performance and poor behavior, and this will translate to the children having inferior behaviors when compared to a child from a rich family (Cooper, Masi & Vick, 2009).I will apply what I have learnt on family poverty in my work with children in the future by ensuring that I understand the social economic status of the children I encounter. This will help me in ensuring that I do my best to make all children under my care learn and develop irrespective of the social class.

ReferencesCollins, K., Connors, K., Davis, S., Donohue, A., Gardner, S., Goldblatt, E., Hayward,A., Kiser, L., Strieder, F. & Thompson, E. (2010). Understanding the Impact of Trauma and Urban Poverty on Family Systems: Risks, Resilience, and Interventions. Baltimore, MD: Family Informed Trauma Treatment Center.Cooper, J., Masi, R. & Vick, J. (2009). Social-emotional Development in Early Childhood. National Center for Children in Poverty.Eamon, M. (2001).The Effects of Poverty on Children’s Social-Emotional Development: An Ecological Systems Analysis.

Social Work, Vol. 46(3).