culture of poverty

the brainchild of the for-profit Aha Process Inc.'s CEO Ruby Payne, this term encompasses her ideas of "how poor people see and experience the world, how they relate to food, money, relationships, education, and other aspects of life. This, despite that research has shown again and again that no such culture of poverty exists. It's all too easy, for even the most well-meaning of us, to help perpetuate classism by buying into that mindset, implementing activities and strategies for 'working with parents in poverty' or 'teaching students in poverty' that, however subtly, suggest we must fix poor people instead of eliminating the inequities that oppress them" (Teaching Tolerance ). As a substitute, writer and educator Jonathan Kozol talks about savage inequalities, a more accurate term if you need one. See also underclass.