Theory of Setting Theoretical Review
deprivation determined against an independent standard of measurement. Meanwhile, relative deprivation is a condition when it is based on a comparison
with the resources of other groups as cited by Turner, 2006, p.503. Deprivation happens when one social group or individual does not have
enough resources to survive or fill the minimum standard to live. Relative deprivation is that similar situation but when it is compared to another group.
Usually deprivation is seen in economy aspect. However, it is not just economy, but there are also deprivation of civil rights, social influence, choices of
geographic location, religious freedom, and other less trangible resources. There are questions about what kind of resources that can be considered as
lacking related to deprivation. The sociologists Hans S. Park and T. David Mason categorize deprivations into those affecting survival needs, belongingness needs,
leisure needs, and control needs. It is not the outsider’s objective measure of deprivation that is important, but the group’s own internal sense of lack as cited
by Turner, 2006, p.349. Charles Booth and SeebohmRowntree state that poverty supposedly
absolute in the sense that it was said to be understood as lack of sufficient money to meet basic physical needs to subsist and survive. Peter Townsend state that
poverty in terms of exclusion from the living conditions, and inability to participate in the activities, is taken for granted by the wider society because of
lack of material sources. His definition uses the relative approach, but it is understood as an objective condition rather than a subjective feeling as in W.G.
Runciman’s formulation as cited by Turner, 2006, p.462. Runciman linked
relative deprivation to social inequality along the three dimensions. They are social class, social status, and power as cited by Turner, 2006, p.504.
Amato and Monge 1990 state that human life has a close relationship with pain and suffering. They are part of human life. Pain and suffering are
always be there, in every part of a person’s life. From those many pain and suffering forms, it can be ranged from menial labor to tragedy. Pain and suffering
define people’s consciouness, pervade their memories, incite their conscience, and the substance of their best stories. Pain and suffering are at the core of people’s
moral lives p.1. Similar to deprivation, “poverty refers to the status of individuals, families,
or households whose income or consumption falls below a determined or fixed standard of need or within a stated fraction of a social average.” There are a
number of principal terms of poverty, two of them are absolute poverty and relative poverty. Absolute poverty is “conditions under which one’s consumption
or income falls below a fixed or objective standard of need, based on subsistence or minimum comfort levels.” Relative poverty is “a measure of poverty achieved
by comparing one’s condition to a social average, for example, one-half the average or median income of society at large” “Poverty: Analysis and
Overview”. Beaudoin 2007 states that in the basic level, poverty can be described as complete destitution, it is absolute poverty or extreme poverty. It is
the lack of basic elements needed for human survival, such as food, water, proper clothing, and shelter p.4.