THEORECTICAL PERSPECTIVES OF POVERTY-INDIVIDUALISTIC THEORY

Who is the main proponent of the Individualistic Theory of Poverty?

Herbert Spencer

What is Herbert Spencer’s theory and what phrase did he introduce?

Social Darwinism and coined the term "survival of the fittest."

What are the basic assumptions of the Individualistic Theory of Poverty?

• Blames the poor for their poverty

• People who receive low income do because they are unable/unwilling to provide for their own well-being.

• Neither society nor social groups is to be blamed for individuals’ poverty

• Society should not provide for the poor

What was Herbert Spencer’s view on the poor?

He viewed the poor and those that pity them negatively, describing them as good-for-nothings, vagrants, criminals and immoral individuals.

He also stated that helping them would be unnatural as it prevents them from experiencing the consequences of their actions.

According to Spencer where does the key to why individuals are poor lie

In the examination of their moral behavior

What was Spencer’s stance on government intervention in poverty?

Government’s should provide them with little to no aid as providing more may encourage laziness, moral decline and harm to the economy

According to the Individualistic Theory, why was poverty necessary for society?

Without poverty, the incentives to work would be missing (the hardworking get rewards while the lazy go through poverty).

How is the Individualistic Theory of Poverty evaluated by modern sociologists?

• Poverty is a characteristic of the society and not a characteristic of the individual.

• Poverty is closely related to the inadequacies in the system rather than the generosity of the system.

• The individualistic theory is seen as an ideological smokescreen designed to hide the injustices that the poor suffer.