I've been working now in the social work field for two years, and sometimes it feels like my daily life is some kind of TV show. I work with people at rock bottom. People that have just about nothing else to lose.
The vast majority of our society then wants to point fingers, and place blame.... while I find myself constantly questioning how much of their situations are truly their own fault. How much of all of the problems that they have stem from the way that our own society has set up a system that causes these people to fail?
Throughout my small time in social services, Chicago's "Alteged Garden's," is a place I've traveled to often. Which is more or less a project on the south side. This means there is housing, schools, stores, and basically anywhere else that individuals would need to go right in this area - they really would never need to leave it. I got there early one day, it was beautiful outside, so I decided to roll down my windows and read until it was time for my meeting. Sitting there... about 10 minutes later, I am all of a sudden sick to my stomach. The smell is so bad- like a mix of garbage and a bunch of strong chemicals. Looking around I get a clearer picture- these people are surrounded by factories, and chemical plants. Their little "community" is surrounded by the things that people in "better" areas would be fighting to the death not have put near their homes.
I dare one to argue this is not dangerous. Each time I go out there, it's the same. Sometimes worse than other times, but I can still smell it. In college, we learned about "environmental racism," and it clicked for me that this is exactly what they're experiencing. With the poverty these people experience, who has the time to go to meetings and try and fight back against the city that is potentially poisoning them when the biggest concern could easily be "where will our next meal come from?" It simply goes back to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, you have to have the basic things for survival before you can be putting up a fight about chemical plants put near your home. It's how the system is set up.
How are these things impacting their bodies? How is it impacting their brains? Interesting that communities like this have very high levels of mental illness, and things such as MMR diagnoses. Then you see substance abuse at staggering rates, perhaps in many cases an attempt to self-medicate? Because of the poverty, how does one afford to go to the doctor and treat these illness that could very well be caused by the dangerous things placed around these people's homes. What if it's in the water, too?
What kills me though, is that then the rest of the people want to say "well, it's their fault, they sit around and do nothing- they need to get jobs and get their shit together." If there is one thing I've learned, it's that people truly "learn what they live and live what they learn." When we have people that are born into these "projects" - these areas that are literally set up to keep "those people" away from "the rest," how are they to know any better? These individuals more often than not fall into the same patterns that their parents are in, they feel the worry- the burden of poverty.
You see things in these areas like high rates of domestic violence, poverty, poor education, criminal behavior, child abuse/neglect, substance addiction. But why? Could it be they're all linked? You have children born into a home with two parents that struggle with income and keeping their family and home life a healthy environment. These parents grew up in strained situations as well, as their own parents were poorly educated and unable to maintain jobs. The financial worry places great stress on the children's parents, which often leads to violent fights. These two had also experienced domestic violence growing up as well, so to them this is "normal." The kids are then neglected because the father is out doing whatever "small jobs" he can on the side to bring in whatever amount of money he can. He cannot go out and "just apply for a job," due to his poor education and inability to read well enough to fill out an application for a job. He has a 7th grade education since he stopped attending school at this time (his parents did nothing to stop this), and his reading level never went above a 3rd grade level. The mother is depressed, so she begins to use drugs to try and manage this. The family has poor health care and she is unable to see a doctor about her symptoms. Due to her drug use, and the father never being home, the children are not properly cared for. Now who knows how the environmental racism issues could be impacting them as well. Could being exposed to these things alter brain chemistry, potentially adding to the mother's mental health issues? Mom could try and go out and get a job as well, but who then will be responsible for the children since child care is too expensive? Meanwhile the drug use and lack of income being brought in by the father leads to more aggressive violence in the home, contributing to the mother's depression and even further neglect of these children. The children are not attending school as they should be, since their mother never gets them there on time and doesn't take them the majority of the rest of the time. They cannot focus when they are in school, too worried about going home, and being hungry all day. The children simply anticipate the one free lunch they get when they do go to school. They are around other children likely growing up in very similar situations and these children begin to be an influence on their behavior and actions as well. This goes on for years-- and here you then have it, the children end up having children young themselves and the pattern begins all over again.
You must look at the entire picture. I am so unbelievably sick and tired of hearing people judging others, particularly people that are born into these kind of situations. It's so often assumed that these individuals are "lazy" and "stupid" and "expect everything to be handed to them." Realistically, how are they to know any better when born into places like The Garden's, and never have to leave it since everything is technically right there for them? You can't miss what you've never had. You can't just wake up and say "I am going to rise to the next social class today." It is not that simple. How are people to do this when they have their communities set up against them? Racist police officers, poor schools, poor health care? Not to mention issues like these dangerous chemical plants that are strategically placed in these areas because people with power know that the worry there is basic survival.
If I could rid the world of one thing-- it would be poverty without a doubt. It breeds violence, criminal behavior, drug addiction, hate, racism, ignorance. Do your research, try being educated instead of job opinionated. Some of us win the lottery of life, and some of us don't. If you think you're better than others because you happened to win, it's time for a reality check.
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