Poverty

The Dispositional Model of Poverty

The dispositional model of poverty assumes that the poor are of little value and thus deserving of their fate. The embracement of such beliefs results in poor people being stigmatized and subjected to various forms of class-based prejudice and discrimination.

The theoretical conceptualization under which the dispositional model of poverty has been expressed has taken a variety of forms. One such variation is the culture of poverty thesis, which proposes that poverty is transmitted across generations, resulting in poor people adopting values, beliefs, and behavioral practices that differ from those of the dominant group.

The culture of poverty perspective and the dispositional model from which it is derived are problematic in terms of offering viable solutions for the eradication of poverty. How a problem is conceptualized determines what is done about it. Effective interventions directed at eliminating poverty must transcend a person-blame orientation and address the situational forces responsible for creating and maintaining impoverished social conditions.

The Situational Model of Poverty

The transcendence of the dispositional perspective requires the development of a sociocultural consciousness, one that acknowledges the situational basis of poverty. A sociocultural consciousness, and the situational model from which it is derived, assumes that poverty is a product of social conditions and that its elimination is contingent on transforming such conditions. A prominent expression of this situational view is the conflict perspective, the origins of which are Marxian in nature. At the heart of this perspective is the notion of class conflict, which results from the unequal distribution of wealth and power. The solution to poverty, as advocated by proponents of conflict theory, is the redistribution of wealth.

Models of Poverty and Their Relevance for Explaining the Differential Rates of Poverty among Racial and Ethnic Minorities

When poverty is defined in absolute terms—that is, according to some fixed standard, usually the lack of money to purchase a minimum amount of food, shelter, and clothing—then disparities in the rates of poverty between European Americans and various racial and ethnic groups may be observed. For instance, although in the year 2000, 11% of European Americans fell below the poverty line, the rates for African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Native Americans were 24%, 23%, and 26%, respectively. The explanations posited for the differential rates of poverty between European Americans and other ethnic groups are based on the model of poverty that one embraces. Whereas the dispositional model attributes the differential poverty rates among the various ethnic groups to factors such as personality or cultural or genetic deficiencies, the situational model attributes the differential rates of poverty to more sociostructural causes: institutional discrimination and increased immigration and population diversity, for example.

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