The culture of poverty is a controversial anthropological and sociological theory that suggests poverty is not only an economic condition but also a self-perpetuating system of values, behaviors, and social norms that keeps communities trapped in poverty across generations.

🌍 Definition

• Culture of Poverty: A concept introduced by anthropologist Oscar Lewis in the 1950s–60s.
• Core Idea: Poor communities develop distinct cultural traits—such as fatalism, marginality, and lack of participation in institutions—that reproduce poverty.
• Scope: Applied to urban slums, rural poor, and marginalized groups worldwide.

🔑 Characteristics (as described by Lewis)

• Marginality: Feeling excluded from mainstream society.
• Present-Time Orientation: Focus on immediate survival rather than long-term planning.
• Low Participation: Limited involvement in political, economic, and educational institutions.
• Family Structure: High rates of single-parent households, informal unions, and unstable kinship ties.
• Fatalism: Belief that poverty is inevitable, reducing motivation for change.

📚 Anthropological & Sociological Significance

• Oscar Lewis’s Ethnographies: Documented families in Mexico City and Puerto Rico, arguing poverty created a distinct subculture.
• Policy Influence: In the 1960s–70s, the theory influenced welfare debates and anti-poverty programs in the U.S.
• Critiques:
  • Accused of blaming the victim by suggesting poor people’s culture perpetuates poverty.
  • Overlooks structural factors like inequality, racism, and economic systems.
  • Modern scholars emphasize poverty as shaped by structural violence and systemic barriers, not inherent cultural traits.
• Legacy: The term remains widely debated—some use it to highlight social reproduction of poverty, others reject it as stigmatizing.

🛠 Examples

• Urban Slums: Lewis argued slum dwellers developed survival strategies that reinforced marginality.
• Welfare Debates: U.S. policymakers used the idea to explain persistent poverty despite aid programs.
• Global Contexts: Applied to marginalized groups in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, though often criticized for ethnocentrism.

✨ Summary

The culture of poverty theory claims poverty creates its own self-reinforcing cultural system, but it has been heavily criticized for ignoring structural inequalities. Today, most anthropologists and sociologists stress that poverty is shaped more by systemic barriers than by cultural traits alone.