Inner-City Poverty

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-This anthology of opinion was culled from newspapers, periodicals, reports, and documents, published mainly in the late 1990s. The authors discuss contributing factors to this problem, generalizations that have become associated with it, and possibilities that might help to alleviate it. Generally, the authors represent two major schools of thought in terms of assigning responsibility. The cultural/behavioral theorists view the conduct and values of the poor as decisive; the external-factor theorists focus on racial discrimination and the shortage of economic opportunities in the inner city. There is extensive discussion of the work of Charles Murray, who favors the first theory, and William J. Wilson, a proponent of the second. This title covers much ground and is generally well balanced. Selections deal with links between race and poverty; interaction between crime, drugs, single parenthood, and poverty; the effects of the welfare system on clients; the plight of immigrant youth; the accuracy of Census Bureau figures on income and poverty; efforts to establish a "Living Wage"; experiments in welfare reform; corporate involvement in job training; proposed government support of faith-based initiatives; and options for housing the poor. An extremely useful volume for research and reports.-Libby K. White, Jewish Vocational Services, Baltimore, MD Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information.