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The Urban Poor Church & the Culture of Poverty. Reflections on Oscar Lewis’ Culture of Poverty and the Slum Church Applications of a theory published in Scientific American, Oct 1966 based on his book “La Vida” Viv Grigg, 2003. Church Styles in Context.
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The Urban Poor Church & the Culture of Poverty Reflections on Oscar Lewis’ Culture of Povertyand the Slum Church Applications of a theory published in Scientific American, Oct 1966 based on his book “La Vida” Viv Grigg, 2003
Church Styles in Context • Peasant Societies – Church as village • Feudal Lord - Pastor • Peasants – Congregation • Group (Consensus) Decision Making • Cities – Church as corporation • CEO – Pastor • Individual Decision Making “Slum dwellers are peasants of the city.”
Characteristics of the Culture of Poverty (Psychological) • The Church Response • To show their honor before God • To break their inferiority complex • To provide the opportunity to be somebody, the roles • Counselling through their emotional scars • I am a nobody because that is who I am, and nothing will change. Break the fatalism. • Accountability and good discipling relationships are the key. • Live in the present • Pervading sense of hopelessness (?) (subsequent studies disprove this theory for migrant communities, but reinforce it for d communities • Fatalism, helplessness, dependence, inferiority • High incidence of weak ego structure (?) • Confusion of sexual identification • Present time orientation • Little disposition to defer gratification or plan for the future • High tolerance for psychological pathology (deviant) • Pre-occupation with “machismo”
Non-integration Disengagement from marriage Hostility to basic institutions Hatred of police Mistrust of Government Cynicism towards established church Potential for political unrest Alternative institutions and procedures Do not belong to labor unions, political parties, could help them deal with poverty Involved in jails, armies, public welfare – these institutions do not change poverty Little sense of history Not class conscious Yet sensitive to symbols of status Characteristics of the Culture of Poverty(Relationship of Subculture to Major Institutions)
Produce little wealth Unemployment, underemployment Low wages Lack of property Lack of savings Absence of food reserves Chronic shortage of cash Frequent purchases of food at high prices Pawning of personal goods Borrowing at usurious rates Informal credit arrangements Use of secondhand furniture What Do Poor People’s Churches Look Like? (Economic) • The Nature of the Urban Poor Church • Breaking Debt Barriers • No More than 6th Grade education
Few legally married (value marriage as morally good, but limits options) Minimal Organization beyond extended family Gregariousness in community Low level of organization (less than peasant village, less than middle class) Sense of community and espirit de corps Sense of territoriality Early initiation into sex Mother-centered families Sibling Rivalry Little privacy Maternal deprivation Characteristics of the Culture of Poverty (Family & Community)
Leadership Development Among the Poor • The missionary as equipper • The key leader may be spiritually, in character, in terms of recognition by the group, the leader but have to deal with deep debt. • Leadership groups make decisions in different style to Western thinking – consensus vs top down, holistic vs linear task oriented.
