Institutional Distancing (Essay Sample)

According to Lotto (2002), there are three types of distancing from the poor: cognitive distancing, institutional distancing, and interpersonal distancing. Cognitive distancing involves holding negative attitudes and stereotypes towards the poor, for example, by believing that they are likely to engage in criminal activities or that they are responsible for their poverty. Generally, cognitive distancing embodies negative stereotyping, which promote the notion that poor people are poor because of some failings on their part.
Cognitive distancing may maintain at the personal or group level due to ignorance about the underlying social inequalities that prevent the poor from improving their situation. For instance, poverty may be due to lack of access to better educational opportunities to facilitate social mobility as opposed to a poor person’s intellectual inadequacy. Thus, middle or upper-class people may hold negative attitudes toward the poor because they are unaware of the role that inequalities play in promoting poverty.
Institutional distancing involves social exclusion in education, healthcare, or housing. This form of distancing occurs when members from the upper and middle classes enjoy exclusive services that are inaccessible to the poor. For instance, private and better-equipped learning institutions are inaccessible to the poor because they are costly. This form of distancing prevents the poor from acquiring quality education that can help them access better earning opportunities.
Institutional distancing is also prevalent in housing, whereby the rich live in exclusive high-end neighborhoods and gated communities. Such communities enjoy better social amenities such as water, sanitation and security, which are unavailable to poor neighborhoods.
Institutional distancing may persist due to fears about the consequences of mixing with the poor. These fears are fueled by negative stereotyping, for example the perception of the poor as lawless and socially inferior. Consequently, the upper and the middle class avoid sharing resources and facilities with the poor for fear of undesirable consequences, such as crime.