Deprivation

 The removal, denial, or unavailability of something needed or

desired. (APA Dictionary)

 Deprivation is the state of being kept from possessing, enjoying, or

using something: the state of being deprived.

 Sociological analysis defines deprivation broadly as inequality of

access to social goods. It includes poverty and wider forms of
disadvantage. It refers to denial of access to resources required for
self-development and fulfillment of basic necessities. Resources
can be social, economic and cultural and basic necessities vary
from one culture to another.

 “In general, deprivation refers to a condition in which people lack

what they need” …the lack of economic and emotional supports
generally accepted as basic essentials of human experience. These
include income and housing, and parental care for children,”
 How is deprivation different
from poverty?
 Globally, poverty is more often than not, expressed in
economic terms, while deprivation can have other dimensions
as well. According to Pierre Bourdieu, it is lack of adequate
social, cultural, symbolic and economic capital.
 Thus, deprivation is a broader phenomenon than poverty.
 When compared to exclusion, deprivation is of resources,
exclusion is from social participation.
 One may face deprivation despite relatively good economic
condition. People in war torn areas, like West Asia and some
African countries, suffer from multiple deprivations in the
form of non-access to health, education, sanitation, housing,
etc. due to absence of a peaceful political atmosphere.
 In other cases, cultural norms can also lead to
deprivations.
 For example, in Islamic countries and many other
orthodox patriarchal societies, women are not
allowed to take education and other social activities.
Some traditional societies like India also have rigid
social stratification like caste, which also lead to
multiple deprivations for those in the lower strata.
Similarly, racism and ethnocentric practices also
deprive one section of population from amenities of
life as it is still a case in South Africa. Thus,
deprivation can also be due to structural factors.
 TYPES OF DEPRIVATION
 According to Tripathi (1982) there are different types of deprivation on
account of different criteria such as social, economical, political,
educational, environmental etc,, apart from various need deprivation such
as food, water, sleep, sex etc,. Instead of independently considering these
criteria sometimes these are clubbed together to form a particular type of
deprivation. Such clubbing is done under the headings

 (a) Organismic Vs. Environmental

 (b) Objective Vs, Subjective
 (c) Absolute Vs. Relative.
 (a) Organismic Vs, Environmental

 It is said that deprivation is the property of either organism

or environment. When an individual lacks fulfillment of
needs such as food, water, sleep, sex etc., he feels
organismic deprivation . This refers to deprivation that
arises from internal factors or deficits within an individual's
own organism or biological system. For example, a child
born with a genetic disorder that impairs their ability to
produce certain hormones might experience organismic
deprivation.
 On the other hand, environmental deprivation arises from
external factors in an individual's surroundings or context
Remaining deprivations may be identified as environmental.
For example, there exist some differences in economic
condition and educational status etc., between the residents of
rural and urban areas, slum and non slum areas. Residents of
rural areas or slum dwellers are deprived of the environment
enjoyed by the residents of urban areas or non-slum dwellers
and this is termed as environmental deprivation.. An example of
environmental deprivation is a child growing up in a household
with limited access to educational resources, where they do not
have books, educational toys, or opportunities for intellectual
stimulation.
 (b) Objective Vs. subjective :

 Objective deprivation creates a basic need in individual's mind

which is required to satisfy the psychological functioning.
Objective deprivation is based on measurable, tangible indicators of
lack or deficiency. For instance, an objective measure of
deprivation could be the number of meals a person misses in a week
due to food insecurity.
 The difference between objective and subjective deprivation is
very slight. In the subjective deprivation the particular individual
will have to know his wants and if he is not satisfied with these, he
will feel deprived. Subjective deprivation, on the other hand, is
based on an individual's perception or subjective experience of lack
or deprivation, regardless of whether it aligns with objective
measures. For example, a person might feel emotionally deprived
even if they have a stable social support system if they perceive
 (c) Absolute Vs. Relative

 Absolute deprivation refers to the lack of life necessities i.e. food,

water, shelter and fuel. It means the loss or absence of the means to
satisfy the basic needs for survival – food, clothing and shelter. An
example of absolute deprivation is a community experiencing
extreme poverty where people lack access to clean water, adequate
food, and shelter.
 Relative deprivation refers to deprivations experienced when
individuals compare themselves with others. In this case,
individuals who lack something compare themselves with those
who have it, and in so doing feel a sense of deprivation.
 For example, when you can only afford a compact economy car but
your co-worker, while getting the same salary as you, drives a
fancy luxury sedan, you may feel relatively deprived.
 Consequently, relative deprivation not only
involves comparison, it is also usually defined in
subjective terms. The concept is intimately linked
with that of “reference group” – the group with
whom the individual or set of individuals
compare themselves.
 First formal definitions of relative deprivation
has been presented by British statesman and
sociologist Walter Runciman, who listed four
required conditions:
 A person does not have something.
 That person knows other people who have the
thing.
 That person wants to have the thing.
 That person believes they have a reasonable
chance of getting the thing.
 Relative Deprivation Theory
 As defined by social theorists and political scientists, relative
deprivation theory suggests that people who feel they are being
deprived of something considered essential in their society (e.g. money,
rights, political voice, status) will organize or join social movements
dedicated to obtaining the things of which they feel deprived. For
example, relative deprivation has been cited as one of the causes of the
U.S. Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, which was rooted in Black
Americans' struggle to gain social and legal equality with white
Americans.

 In some cases, relative deprivation has been cited as a factor driving

incidents of social disorder like rioting, looting, terrorism, and civil
wars. In this nature, social movements and their associated disorderly
acts can often be attributed to the grievances of people who feel they
are being denied resources to which they are entitled.
 Critiques of Relative Deprivation Theory

 It fails to explain why some people who, though deprived of

rights or resources, fail to take part in social movements
meant to attain those things. During the Civil Rights
Movement, for example, Black people who refused to
participate in the movement were derisively referred to as
“Uncle Toms” by other Black people in reference to the
excessively obedient enslaved person depicted in Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
 Proponents of relative deprivation theory argue that many of
these people simply want to avoid the conflicts and life
difficulties they might encounter by joining the movement
with no guarantee of a better life as a result.
 Relative deprivation theory does not account for people
who take part in movements that do not benefit them
directly.
 Some examples include the animal rights movement,
straight and cis-gendered (antonym for transgender)
people who march alongside LGBTQ+ activists, and
wealthy people who demonstrate against policies that
enable poverty or income inequality. In these cases,
participants are believed to act more out of a sense of
empathy or sympathy than feelings of relative
deprivation.
 ECOLOGICAL MODEL OF
DEPRIVATION
 Durganand Sinha (1977) has presented an ecological model for understanding
the development of children in Indian context. Ecology of the child could be
viewed in terms of two concentric layers. The “upper and the more visible
layers” consist of home, school, peer groups, and so on.
 The most important ecological factors influencing development of the child in
the visible upper layer constitute the:

(i) home, its conditions in terms of overcrowding, space available to each

member, toys, technological devices used, etc.,
(ii) nature and quality of schooling, facilities to which the child is exposed,
and
(iii) nature of interactions and activities undertaken with peer groups from
childhood onward.

These factors do not operate independently but constantly interact with one
another. Since these are also embedded in a larger and a more pervasive setting,
 The elements of the surrounding layer of ecology constitute the:

(i) general geographical environment. It includes space and facilities

for play and other activities available outside the home including
general congestion of the locality and density of population,
(ii) institutional setting provided by caste, class, and other factors,
and
(iii) general amenities available to the child like drinking water,
electricity, means of entertainment and so on.

The visible and the surrounding layer factors interact with one
another and may have different consequences for development in
different people. The ecological environment can change or
alter during any time of the individual’s life-span. Therefore, to
understand differences in the functioning of an individual, it is
important to see the individual in the context of her/ his experiences.
 MEASUREMENT OF
DEPRIVATION
 SCALES

G. Misra & L.B. Tripathi in 1978 constructed a Prolonged

Deprivation Scale (PDS) to assess the life conditions and experiences
across 15 areas i.e., housing condition, home environment, economic
sufficiency, food, clothing, formal educational experiences, childhood
experiences, rearing experiences, parental characteristics, interaction
with parents, motivational experiences, emotional experiences,
religious experiences, travel and recreation and miscellaneous socio-
cultural experiences. A factor analysis revealed two factors i.e.,
physico economic deprivation and experiential deprivation. The scale
is a 96-item 5-point Likert - type scale developed through testing on
100 15–25 yr old village residents in India.
 K. Pandey (1988) has developed a deprivation scale related to
the deficiencies in social, emotional, economic, parental and
educational areas.

 Upadhyaya (1986) developed an inventory to assess the

deficiency in home and school environments.

 Tharakan (1992) has developed an SES measure including

education, occupation, social participation, monthly income
and material possession.

 G. Misra and B.K. Tiwari's (1986) measure of home

environment consists of seven factors i.e., intellective
stimulation at home, perceived home environment, verbal
interaction, parental concern, perception of school environment
and parental pressure.
 Amar K. Singh (1983) has used an additive index
of social advantage/ disadvantage consisting of
four components i.e., (i) income: high/low, (ii)
social status: high/low caste or tribe, (iii) sex
male/female, and (iv) place of residence:
urban/rural.
 PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT OF
DEPRIVATION

1. MALNUTRITION AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACT

 Malnutrition of various degrees is a condition most frequently
associated with the population living in poverty and adverse
socioeconomic circumstances. Although early and severe
malnutrition occurs with considerable frequency in the poorer
populations of developing countries (upto 20 per cent in some
instances), the most widespread type of malnutrition is that of
mild-to-moderate chronic undernutrition which is most readily
noted in some retardation of physical growth as well as in
psychological development. It is, therefore, but natural that
most studies of psychological impact have been on mild-to-
moderate chronic malnutrition.
 Studies conducted in India and other parts of the developing world provide
considerable evidence that physical development of children (especially
height and weight) go hand in hand with development of other areas such as
language and cognition, visual-motor coordination, intelligence, and
immediate memory. The general finding seems to be that apart from
physical growth, malnutrition adversely affects many psychological
processes: apathy, withdrawal, responsiveness, reduced curiosity d
exploratory behaviour, attentional deficiency and learning disabilities.
Physical growth and development of cognitive and linguistic behaviour
seem to go together. Undernourishment often shows itself in verbal
reasoning, comprehension, conservation tasks, perceptual skills,
inadequacies in social competence and communication. Evidence of the
impact on I.Q. is somewhat ambiguous, though there is clear indication that
the undernourished even with normal intelligence has poor academic
performance.
 Findings on the relative influence of malnutrition and social factors are not
always consistent. However, there is strong evidence that unfavourable early
child-care practices and dysfunctional patterns of caregiver-infant interaction
contribute to the level of behavioural development. Suitable educational
interventions on mothers bring about marked improvement in cognitive and
language development (Murlidharan & Kaur, 1987). Importance of social
influence and enriched enduring learning environment in counteracting the ill-
effects has been brought out in several studies. Therefore, intervention has to be
concerned both with nutritional supplementation and environmental enrichment
of an enduring character. If the enrichment is temporary, it results in
"punarmusko bhaba" phenomenon (go to the original state). Lastly,
psychological and physical effects of malnutrition are generally not irreversible
if appropriate measures are taken early. Potential long term effects of early
malnutrition may be greatly attenuated and even eliminated by creating
favourable environment for the child. On the other hand, effect may be
compounded by less favourable environmental conditions.
 2. IMPACT ON COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING

 Effects of poverty on cognitive domain have focused on

intelligence, perceptual and cognitive skills, learning and
mediational processes, memory, concept formation and
Piagetian conservation, language skills, and academic
performance (Sinha, 1990, pp. 77-97). Though the findings
are sometimes conflicting, there is strong indication of
general impairment in cognitive functioning due to poverty
conditions. Most of the cognitive processes that are adversely
affected are highly relevant to school performance and any
deficiency caused in them proves as impediment to the child.
On language, effects of poverty result in discontinuity
between the school and the child (Sinha, 1990, pp. 83-85).
 As for the educational sphere, effect is reflected in very low enrolment,
irregular attendance, high dropout rate and poor academic record. There is
ample evidence for adverse effects on academic performance even when the
factor of intelligence is controlled. Significant role of parental support and
family in compensating for the adverse effects of poverty on school
performance has been highlighted in many studies. Lastly, comparison
between privileged and underprivileged children exposed to the environment
of 'superior' schools on their performance on perceptual and cognitive tasks
of varying complexity has revealed an interesting but significant
phenomenon called the "broomstick effect" (Sinha, 1977). As illustrated in
the graphs (Figures 3.3-3.6), though better facilities of 'superior' schools do
enhance the performance level of disadvantaged scheduled caste children
(SC), the differential between advantaged non-scheduled caste (NSC) and
the disadvantaged groups tends to get accentuated with increase in age and
grade causing a kind of cumulative deficit.
 3. PERSONALITY AND MOTIVATION

 Impact on personality and motivation of individuals existing in

deprived conditions has been analysed. Deprivation has been found
to be associated with neuroticism and introversion, social
maladjustment, immaturity, autism, alienation and withdrawal. The
disadvantaged were more external and chance-oriented and
displayed greater aggression.
 Findings on motivational dimensions appear more significant and
useful. The disadvantaged tend to have low and stagnant level of
aspiration, display low goal- discrepancy index, greater fear of
failure and absence of risk-taking. They possess low need for
achievement, autonomy, lack of initiative and aggression, and
greater need for affiliation, succorrance, abasement and nurturance.
It has also been observed that they are low in decision- making,
responsibility, emotional stability and friendliness, but high on
anxiety. Deprivation has adverse effect on self- concept, and is
negatively related to self-esteem.
 Adverse effects on the motivation of deprived
children are often associated with "socialisation
of apathy and underachievement"- -a projection
of similar motivation among their parents. The
disadvantage also gets reflected in time
orientation, locus of control and reactions to
success and failure.
 4. POVERTY AND ROSENTHAL EFFECT
 A very serious phenomenon that is associated with the performance of the
poor and deprived especially in the academic sphere is the "Rosenthal
Effect" (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1969) which is often referred to as "self-
fulfilling prophecy" or "Pygmalion effect". It is a widespread phenomenon
that teachers entertain expectations and beliefs about the abilities and
performance of their pupils. In this respect, fixed labels like class, caste,
and untouchability (Dusek & Joseph, 1983; Sharma & Tripathi, 1988) are
frequently used in categorizing pupils. Depending on attitudes regarding
these, certain expectations go along with the labelling, which in turn
influence our thinking and behaviour vis-a-vis the pupils in a significant
way (Panda, 1988, p. 298). The pupils in their turn perform according to
the expectations of their teachers. In essence, teachers get less from the
disadvantaged because they expect less. The labelling of the "poor" as
lacking in abilities and expecting them to fare poorly in examinations
make an unintended impact on teacher-behaviour and affect students'
performance adversely (Rath, Dash & Dash, 1979, pp. 93-96).
 The mechanism of how this expectation or unintentioned bias operates
need not be discussed. But the phenomenon is there, and has serious
implication for the academic behaviour of pupils of deprived groups.
 5. ATTRIBUTIONAL STUDIES
 Search for causal explanation of social and natural events is an
indispensable part of human thinking process. Analyses of causal
attribution of poverty in general reveal that low income people
attribute it more to fate and luck than the high income ones. The
former also tend to blame themselves more for their poverty (Y.
Sinha, Jain & Pandey, 1980). Attribution of failure to self and success
to external factors (Rath & Sircar, 1960). self-blame and low self-
image were found to be strong among the disadvantaged.
 They attributed success more to luck, God and chance (1.e.,
externalise it) while the advantaged attributed failure to luck and
other 'external' factors (Sinha, 1980). The most significant factor
distinguishing the two groups was that of "controllability" (Misra &
Jain, 1988). The opposite was the case with the disadvantaged who
blamed themselves more for failure and at the same time took less
credit for success which were attributed more to "uncontrollable"
causes. Thus, the disadvantaged felt more self-pity, discouraged, and
a sense of guilt thereby building a mechanism of self-
discouragement (Sinha, 1980).
 Thus, in case of the poor, the reinforcing effect of
success was not as much as it should have been
because credit for it was not perceived to lie in
oneself. On the other hand, failure was largely
attributed to oneself, which was shattering and
damaging to the self-esteem. The poor was a
loser in both cases- a kind of a "no-win"
situation.
 CONCEPT OF PROLONGED DEPRIVATION

 The significance of social and economical deprivation is very great. In course

of this study, many evidences from literature of different countries have been
obtained. It has its importance in an individual's life by way of controlling his
behaviour pattern.
 Now the deprivation may be a temporary factor or it may be present in an
individual's life for a long period of time. Langmeier (1972) defined
deprivation as "insufficient satisfaction of basic needs, for a prolonged
period" .
 Similarly Misra and Tripathi. (1977) attempted to study prolonged deprivation
and say "that accumulation of experiential variety and extent is the outcome of
relatively longer period in a natural setting.

 From the very definition of prolonged deprivation it may be said that

prolonged deprivation emphasises mainly on organismic and environmental
factors.
 Scientific study of prolonged deprivation of adolescents assumes
special significance in the contemporary world as the prolonged
deprivation ascribed for school going pupils is one of the important
conditions for socio-economic development of the country.
 It has been proposed to study the economical, sociological
psychological or some other aspects of prolonged deprivation with
a notion that it will provide an index for devising a new criterion
for differentiating the deprived boys and girls from the non-
deprived boys and girls in rural as well as in urban areas. The range
and variety of cognitive function of an individual are determined by
his social class, race, ethnic group, caste and socio-economic
status.
 Academic achievement depends upon many factors but the most
important one is intelligence. Next comes achievement motivation.
All these related factors should be taken into account if one intends
to study the effects of socio-economical deprivation on academic
achievement.