Giving Back Control: Long-Term Poverty and Motivation

Traditionally, the poverty policy debate has been dominated on one side by those who focus on restricted opportunity as a cause of persistent poverty and on the other side by those who blame the "deviant" attitudes and values of the poor themselves. As the debate has gone historically, any observed difference in attitudes (beliefs in personal efficacy, future orientation, passivity, etc.) has been taken as evidence in favor of the cultural, attitudinal model of the cause of poverty. The policy implications of the cultural models have usually fallen within the conservative social policy agenda. As a result, many have been reluctant to discuss the possible motivational deficits of the persistent poor that limit their ability to achieve self-sufficiency. As is argued here, out of fear of "blaming the victim," we have failed to recognize the full implications of victimization. This article seeks to develop a social-psychological framework for understanding attitudinal deficits produced by constrained opportunities and stigmatizing labels. Applying the psychological theory of control, the article uses the learned helplessness model not only to help understand motivational deficits of the persistent poor but also to point to the therapeutic value of choices in helping to restore the person's sense of control through the welfare system.