Locus of control and culture of poverty. An appraisal of Lawrence M. Mead’s ideas in ‘Culture and Poverty’

Lawrence M. Mead presented an interesting argument as to why poverty exists in the United States. He problematizes the culture of the poor of which ethnic minorities over-represent. By referring to the geographic regions from which these ethnic minorities came from, he globalised the question of poverty in the US. This invites a global policy debate rather than a US-centric policy debate. Indeed, Mead so freely made references to Africa and the African culture severally throughout his commentary. It is against this backdrop that I show that Mead was right to a large extent on the question of inner-driven individualised orientation. However, he overestimates its influence and misreads what culture is. He presented the culture of poverty as the antecedent of poverty. It was concluded that manipulating both internal drive (internal locus of control) and the structure of society is a more effective way to tackle poverty.

Facilitators, Barriers and Structural Determinants of Physical Activity in Nulliparous Pregnant Women: A Qualitative Study

Backgrounds: Reduced physical activity in pregnant women is highly stemmed from their misconceptions and attitudes during pregnancy. This study aimed to recognize the facilitators, barriers, and structural factors that influence activity among pregnant women.Methods: This qualitative study was conducted from January to June 2020 in nulliparous pregnant women. Forty participants selected randomly from the Pounak Health Center of Tehran City, Iran, were answered open-ended questions about the obstacles that deprived them of physical activity during pregnancy. Data were analyzed by MAXQDA 12 software. Results: 620 primary codes, 42 secondary codes, 11 sub-themes, and 6 themes were extracted. These themes were divided into the PEN-3 categories; facilitators, barriers, and structural factors. The nurture factors as facilitators had communication and support from others as sub-themes. Barriers consisted of socio-cultural (participate in pregnancy ‎class with a companion; social beliefs; culture of poverty), socioeconomic (financial problems), and individual factors‎ (physical, psycho-emotional, and spiritual dimensions) and structural factors consisted of environmental (equipment) and organizational (possibilities in health ‎centers) factors. Conclusion: Lack of awareness and misinformation, accessibility obstacles, and economic problems are ‎the most physical activity barriers during pregnancy. Being among other pregnant women ‎and the physicians' recommendations are the most facilitators of physical activity during ‎pregnancy.‎

Landed versus Landless: Stigma & Astigmatism towards the Subaltern in South Bay Suburbia in Los Angeles County

The last few years have seen an increased interest in the casual theories surrounding houselessness. To date, no study has explicitly looked at the connection between public policy, social stigma, and the unhoused in Los Angeles County: three components of criminalization. In the first section, the concept of the (sub)culture of poverty is explored and lay bare. Next, a purview of socio-political theory regarding the inculcation of social norms onto the unhoused subaltern: then, biological determined racialism and classism are discredited. Last, a case study of the municipality of Torrance shows the prevalence of this inculcation of social stigma and the inaction in public policy. These ideological theories of biologically and culturally determined houselessness, devoid of any reality, inculcate the community, stymie public policy solutions, and exacerbate the unhouseds’ material conditions.

Local Regulation on Homelessness and Beggars in Yogyakarta: Human Rights and Maqasid of Sharia Perspectives

The existence of vagrants and beggars as a sub-culture of poverty is a separate problem for the government and the people of Yogyakarta in general. This research was conducted to examine and analyze the effectiveness of the Yogyakarta City Government Regional Regulation No. 1 of 2014 concerning the handling of homeless and human rights beggars in the review of maqasid shariah and seeks to find the crucial factors that influence the effectiveness of the DIY city government regulation based on a human rights perspective. humans in the view of maqasid syariah. The facts in the field were collected using qualitative methods with a sociological normative juridical approach and technical analysis using analytical descriptions. The results of this study are the Role and Functions of the Social Service in tackling Homeless and Beggars in the Special Region of Yogyakarta which has been procedurally fulfilled based on the Yogyakarta Regional Regulation No. 1 of 2014, but conceptually has not been fully implemented in the DIY City Regional Regulation No. 1 of 2014. In the perspective of human rights, in terms of quantity, the regional regulation has guaranteed the fulfillment of the rights of the homeless and beggars, the implementation is in accordance with standard operational procedures in the field. According to the Maqasid syariah perspective, the government's program to overcome sprawl has realized the maqasid syariah, namely the maintenance of religion (hifz din), reason (hifz al-aql) maintenance of the soul (hifz al-nafs) maintenance of offspring (hifz al-nasl) maintenance of property ( hifz al-mal)

Strategies and Optimizing the Role of Productive Waqf in Economic Empowerment of the Ummah

<p><em><span lang="ES">The understanding and empowerment of waqf assets among Muslims has undergone significant changes in both paradigm and operational practices. The development of productive waqf aims to achieve social justice and improve the welfare of people. Therefore, productive waqf has two visions at once, destroying unequal social structures and providing fertile land for the welfare of the people. This research method uses a qualitative method with a descriptive-analytical approach. The data used were secondary data, namely, literature studies or relevant previous research results. The results of his research show that waqf plays an important role as an instrument to empower the economy of the people. Waqf has played an important role in the social, economic, and cultural development of society. There are at least four basic problems with the Islamic da'wah movement. First, the problem of poverty, both in terms of the economy and limited facilities and physical needs, creates a culture of poverty. Second, the twisting of the kemikinan prompts the symptoms of underdevelopment. Third, there was an exclusive and involutive attitude. Finally, the weakness of the institutions for accommodating participation and the weakness of the cooperation mechanism to wage a systematic struggle. Thus, waqf is an alternative that is expected to provide solutions to these problems. Therefore, the optimal management of waqf objects is required.</span></em></p>

Exploring Association between Self-Reported Financial Status and Economic Preferences Using Experimental Data

Research on economic behaviour of individuals in different financial statuses such as being in a good financial standing or in a threatening financial situation are inconclusive. Some evidence suggest that the culture of poverty may shape and dominate the economic preferences of those who are poor and even make them being prone to trembling and making mistakes thereby making decisions that do not maximize their utility. Other evidence suggest that the poor exercise extra caution and fail to maximize utility. This study investigates the association between self-reported financial status and economic preferences in a developing country setting using data from an incentivized experiment and a survey. Extended random effects panel probit regression models are employed as an analytical strategy. The study established a positive association between being financially broke or very broke and being risk averse. In addition, a positive association is found between being financially ‘very broke’ and impatient. Such findings illustrate the importance of psychology of poverty in economic preferences and in decision-making in general, even as poverty is temporary as represented by self-reported financial status.

Temporal structures of the poor: Social mobility and the struggle for the future in Chile

Since the ‘culture of poverty’ studies in the 1960s, temporal structures have become essential for understanding poverty and its reproduction. Most studies in this field have characterised poverty by a strong presentism, a neglect of the future, and a lack of agency in shaping the course of life. This article provides a novel approach to make sense of the intersection between time and poverty by empirically analysing the work that the poor perform to distinguish, link and valuate their past, present and future and make sense of their lives as stories of social mobility. Drawing on the biographical narratives of poor men and women from urban Santiago and rural Maule in Chile, we argue that the temporal structures of the poor intertwine a pragmatic presentism with the aspiration of social mobility through the sacrificial structure of an extended self. These findings reveal that the poor are not passive subjects of destiny but agents of a dynamic and open-ended story, and that their biographies are structured not only by the fatalism of the repetition of the past but also by a dramatic struggle for the future.

Viewing the Contamination of Student Achievement Through the Lens of Poverty

This chapter addresses the growing number in the underserved population of school-age children and their families who live in poverty and raises awareness as to how that factor directly contaminates student achievement. It is important to understand the federal definition of poverty and the attendant unique social environment. This chapter highlights an appreciation for the history of American race relations and its role in poverty-related behavior, as well as examines the inherent biases prevalent in American communities and schools that work to restrict opportunities for underprivileged families and children. It explores the impact of changing a culture of poverty through the lens of schools and role models, subsequently understanding multidisciplinary approaches for eliminating policies that alienate and exclude the poor. It includes best practices in pedagogy, services, and support for marginalized populations that will illuminate for the practitioner how the contamination of student achievement occurs and empowers them to assist those trapped by poverty.

Oscar Lewis’s Blind Spot

This article deals with the question of the applicability of Lewis’ concept of the culture of poverty to the situation of the socially excluded localities in urban setting inhabited by Roma (“Roma ghettoes”). The “Roma ghettoes” are shown to be places of a specific cultural pattern which emerged in the process of reaction and adaptation to the long-lasting poverty of its inhabitants. This pattern matches most of the parameters of the culture of poverty - with the exception of an elaborated system of kinship. An analysis of its role in “Roma ghettoes,” however, shows that the complex system of kinship does not prevent poverty, but may re/produce it.