The concept of the 'culture of poverty' was put forward by the anthropologist:

The idea of the "culture of poverty" was given by the American anthropologist Oscar Lewis (1914-1970).

About the culture of poverty:

• Lewis developed the idea in the late 1950s and the 1960s, based on his studies of poor families in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
• His famous books include "Five Families: Mexican Case Studies in the Culture of Poverty" (1959), "The Children of Sanchez" (1961) and "La Vida" (1966).
• He argued that people who live in poverty for a long time develop a particular way of life, with their own values, attitudes and behaviour.
• These include a feeling of helplessness, dependence, a focus on the present rather than the future, and low participation in social institutions.
• According to him, this culture can be passed from one generation to the next, so that poverty continues even when economic opportunities improve.

Criticism of the idea:

• Many scholars criticised it for blaming poor people for their poverty, instead of looking at structural causes such as unemployment, low wages, discrimination and lack of education.
• Others say that the behaviour of poor people is a response to their circumstances, not a cause of their poverty.
• The debate influenced social policy, especially in the USA during the "War on Poverty" of the 1960s.

Related concepts:

• "Vicious circle of poverty": Ragnar Nurkse.
• "Cumulative causation" and "Asian Drama": Gunnar Myrdal.
• "Capability approach" and "entitlement" view of famines: Amartya Sen.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Gunnar Myrdal wrote "Asian Drama" and won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1974.
• ✗Ragnar Nurkse is known for the "vicious circle of poverty".
• ✗Amartya Sen is known for the capability approach and his work on famines.