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A Culture of Poverty with Special Reference to the Aboriginal Community of Australia and the Former South African Dispensation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Johann le Roux
Johann le Roux*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Education, Health & Professional Studies, University of New England, Armidale, NSW
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Extract

Cultures of poverty represent a worldwide phenomenon of considerable topical interest. The term designates a social grouping with low socioeconomic and cultural levels (viewed from the dominant culture's perspective), and scant social and economic status. Consequently families in disadvantaged environments are subjected to adverse factors such as poverty, cultural and geograpical isolation, membership of a non-technological cultural group, physical deficiencies, and the high mobility and uprooting of families caused by migrant labour and rapid industrialisation and resultant urbanisation. Although the various social groups in cultures of poverty may differ worldwide in certain respects, they do share some of the following common indicators: low economic and social status, a low level of education, poor housing, limited privacy, insufficient or unsuitable food, inferior occupations or unemployment, limited community involvement, and a limited potential for upward social mobility. These characteristics are indicative of social groups that are caught up in a spiral or syndrome of poverty, deprivation and cultural destitution because of their disadvantaged milieu and psychosocial impediments. For this reason they are seriously handicapped in their efforts to achieve optimal self-actualisation, to improve their chances in life, and to make an invaluable, meaningful and constructive contribution to a dynamic technocratic society.

Type
Section D: Discussion Papers
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , April 1997 , pp. 42 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1997

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