In order to understand the ‘Underclass’ debate, one should start by determining the origin of this term and considering its definition. Gans (1995) argues that the ‘underclass’ was coined in 1963 by Gunner Myrdal, a Swedish economist, to refer to workers losing their jobs in the aftermath of deindustrialization. However, the meaning of ‘Underclass’ took a different shape when later popularized in the US. Indeed, Moynihan (1965) with his report on the Negro family published following ghetto rioting in the US gave to the term a behavioral aspect. Soon after this report, ‘underclass’ started to be used to describe the traits and behavior of poor people rather than their economic situation (Gans, 1995). Similar to Lewis’ (1966)‘culture of poverty’…show more content… Lewis’ ‘culture of poverty’ gives a detailed review of the cultural traits that characterize the poor and keep on perpetuating their poverty regardless of actions taken to improve their situation. Auletta (1991) argues that ‘underclass’ includes “the passive poor, usually long-term welfare recipients,” “the hostile street criminals”, “the hustlers”, “the traumatized drunks, drifters, homeless shopping-bag ladies and released mental patients”. In other words, it includes all those threatening the safety and stability of society. Murray (1989) maintains that the underclass do not refer to a ‘degree of poverty, but to a type of poverty’, i.e, to a certain way of behaving characterizing the poor. Similarly, Jencks (1989) argues that “low income may be a necessary condition for membership in such a class, but it is not…show more content… Wilson (1990) asserts that the cultural traits of this group are the consequence of social exclusion and unemployment and not the reason behind them. He also insists that these traits are "not self- perpetuating" and would disappear if faced with proper care (Wilson, 1990). Walker (1990) rejects the ‘blaming the victims’ tendency that denies the existence of social inequality. Following the same line of reasoning, Harrington (1997) explains that the poor “made the mistake of being born to the wrong parents, in the wrong section of the country, in the wrong industry, or in the wrong racial or ethnic group.” Gans (Gans, 1995) attempts to deconstruct the stereotypes essentalizing the poor and confining them to a specific way of behaving undermining thus the arguments of the behaviorist
