Understanding Poverty

Elizabeth Seale is Professor of Sociology at SUNY Oneonta.

People in poverty suffer daily under misconceptions about economic hardship and its causes. Providing the most comprehensive consideration to date of poverty in the United States, Elizabeth Seale tackles how we think about issues of culture, behavior, and poverty, cutting straight to the heart of debates about social class. The book addresses tough questions, including how being poor affects individual behavior, and how we can make sense of that in a larger social and political context. The central premise is that to understand the behavior and lives of people in poverty, one must consider their relational context, especially relations of vulnerability and the human need for dignity. Poverty is a social problem we should address as a society by changing social relations that, as a matter of course, cause unnecessary and immense suffering. To do so, we must directly confront our lack of regard for people in poverty by recognizing that they are in fact worthy of an effort to induce major social change.
This critical introduction to poverty will be an important read for undergraduate students and above in sociology wanting to learn more about the growing social problems of poverty, inequality, and stratification.

1. On Understanding
 
Poverty in the U.S.
 
My Research Experience
 
How We Think and Talk about Poverty
 
A Relational Approach
 
What a Relational Approach Contributes
 
Relations of Vulnerability and the Desire for Dignity
 
Aims and Overview of the Book
 

2. Who Are the Poor?
 
Defining and Measuring Poverty
 
Mobility
 
Diversity
 
Similarity to and Difference from the Nonpoor
 
Conclusion
 

3. Family and Parenting
 
Single Mother Households
 
Young Moms
 
Child Maltreatment
 
Conclusion
 

4. Culture
 
Historical Context
 
Culture of Poverty and Policy
 
Problems with the Culture of Poverty Arguments
 
Contemporary Research on Culture and Poverty
 
A Culture of Dependency or a Culture of Blame?
 
Conclusion
 

5. Structure and Social Relations
 
How Structure Creates Poverty
 
Social Policy: Punishing the Poor
 
The Limits of Structuralism
 
A Relational Approach
 

6. Opportunity and Personal Autonomy
 
Going to College
 
Finding (Better) Employment
 
General Autonomy
 
Conclusion
 

7. Vulnerability and Dignity
 
The Relations of Poverty
 
Changing Our Thinking about Poverty
 
The Significance of a Relational Approach
 
Conclusion