Deprivation may be defined as a “state of observable and demonstrable disadvantage relative to the local community or the wider society or nation to which an individual, family or group belongs”. 

Deprivation has been distinguished from poverty because it refers to specific physical, environmental and social conditions, rather than general resource deficits. A person’s own feeling of deprivation arises out of the comparison of his or her situation with those of better off persons. However, this distinction between poverty and deprivation is not always clear. For example, child poverty is sometimes measured in terms of deprivation. This approach “establishes a set of basic services and capabilities and then measures the number of children who do not have access to this same ‘basket’ of services and capabilities”.

UNICEF’s working definition of child poverty, presented in The State of the World’s Children, is: “Children living in poverty [are those who] experience deprivation of the material, spiritual and emotional resources needed to survive, develop and thrive, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential or participate as full and equal members of society” (UNICEF, 2005). While some authors mark a clear definitional boundary between deprivation and poverty, others refer to the two terms interchangeably.

Deprivation may also take many different forms. People can be said to be deprived if they lack the types of diet, clothing, housing, household facilities and fuel and environmental, educational, working and social conditions, activities and facilities which are customary, or at least widely encouraged and approved, in the societies to which they belong.

What does it have to do with violence?

There is not a clear, unambiguous link between deprivation and violence against children. However, international research has identified links between poverty and child neglect and/or emotional or physical abuse. However, while there may be an association between poverty and certain forms of violence, this does not mean that poverty causes violence. The vast majority of families living in poverty do not maltreat their children and parents. As part of a child rights approach to poverty, which addresses non-economic as well as economic indicators of poverty, outcome measures may include exposure to violence.

Source: CRIN