Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

On the face of it, the association of poverty and disrepute seems obvious. Poverty's material misery is to be avoided, just as is the diffuse sense of shame that attaches to those who “never had what it took,” or “should have made it, but didn't.” Indeed, the commandment to succeed is central to Merton's (1968: 185–214) theory of deviance. His “Anomie and Social Structure” posits an endorsement of success among all classes and an equal aversion to failure. Hence, his “anomic adaptations” Conformity, Innovation, Ritualism, and Retreatism (Rebellion is another matter) revolve around achieving success or in finding an alternative route to success. Modern poverty, then, carries with it a moral stain as vexing as material uncertainty itself. Our understanding of poverty's disrepute is further complicated by the fact that poor persons are labeled disreputable even as disrepute has become increasingly associated with today's ruling elites ( Lasch 1995 : 25–49). Moreover, nostrums describing the poor as “good and hard-working” merely confuse the issue. Too often, these shibboleths shield contempt for the poor and our own fear of falling. David Matza has cut through this casuistry by defining the disreputable poor as being those who for extra-economic reasons remain unemployed even during periods of high labor demand and, who by dint of that fact, become objects of moral censure ( Matza ... log in or subscribe to read full text