culture of poverty

is the idea that people entrenched in poverty become accustomed to their way of life and did not expect to be able to improve it, effectively perpetuating their own poverty.

culture of poverty. A theory developed by the anthropologist Oscar Lewis that in some societies (such as in Mexico) people in entrenched poverty became accustomed to their way of life and did not expect to be able to improve it, effectively perpetuating their own poverty. It has been challenged on the grounds that it blames the poor for social deprivation, rather than the system itself, and largely superseded in anthropological writing by later explanations. Also called the 'cycle of deprivation' (Morris 2012: 68) Morris, Mike (2012). Concise Dictionary of Social and Cultural Anthropology. Wiley-Blackwell Press.

culture of poverty, n.All

culture of poverty