Analyzing the influences of cultural and structural factors that lead to differential behavior between poor and non-poor is a difficult challenge for sociologists interested in stratification and inequality. This is largely because they appear to be so strongly intertwined. Structural and cultural factors reinforce each other in complex ways. Pervasive cultural elements such as ideologies and values ​​are used to frame and interpret existing socioeconomic structures and their effects on individuals. Structural forces such as access to resources such as information, education and employment also shape cultural views and attitudes. STRUCTURAL AND CULTURAL FORCES Structural factors include organizational and institutional forces in society that determine relative social position such as the level of prestige of associations, roles and jobs, economic and labor market forces, technology, and laws (Wilson 2009 ). Structural factors also influence access to resources such as housing and education. Cultural factors include pervasive narratives and interpretations, as well as common understandings and applied meanings, within groups of people (Wilson 2009). Culture can be shared among groups of varying sizes, from families to nations. Cultural sharing is generally limited to those who share a common physical space (Wilson 1996:66). Social interaction at the individual level leads to the sharing of cultural values, understandings, and interpretations (Wilson 2009). Both structural and cultural factors have profound and complex effects on society, the individual and others. The relationship between structure and culture The relationship between structure and culture is essentially reciprocal. Cultural changes......middle of paper......rty and revenue; detailed statistics of cities, towns and counties; being a compendium of the seventh census; to which the results of each previous census are added, starting from 1790. DC: US ​​Census Bureau.US Misery Index. 2010. “The United States Unemployment Rate: Unemployment Rate Data Obtained from the U.S. Department of Labor.” Network. March 15, 2013.http://www.miseryindex.us/urbymonth.asp?StartYear=1970-01&EndYear=2011-01&submit1=Create+ReportWilson, William Julius. 1996. When work disappears: the world of the new urban poor. New York: Random House, Inc._____. 2009. Much More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City. New York: W. W. Norton & Company Inc. Young, Alfred A., Jr. 2004. The Minds of Marginalized Black Men: Making Sense of Mobility, Opportunity, and Future Life Possibilities. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.