Theories of Poverty and Anti-Poverty Programs in Community Development

In this paper I explore how five competing theories of poverty shape anti-poverty strategies. Since most rural community development efforts aim to relieve causes or symptoms of poverty, it makes a difference which theory of poverty is believed to be responsible for the problem being addressed. In this paper five theories of poverty are distilled from the literature. It will be shown that these theories of poverty place its origin from 1) individual deficiencies, 2) cultural belief systems that support subcultures in poverty, 3) political-economic distortions, 4) geographical disparities, or 5) cumulative and circumstantial origins. Then, I show how each theory of poverty finds expression in common policy discussion and community development programs aimed to address the causes of poverty. Building a full understanding of each of these competing theories of poverty shows how they shape different community development approaches. While no one theory explains all instances of poverty, this paper aims to show how community development practices that address the complex and overlapping sources of poverty more effectively reduce poverty compared to programs that address a single theory. * Revision of papers presented at the meetings of the Community Development Society (2001) and the Rural Sociology Society (2003). Research Assistance from students, Vlade Stasuc and Christine McReynolds is greatly appreciated