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Do Poverty Attitudes of Social Service Agency Directors Influence Organizational Behavior?

Indiana University, reingold{at}indiana.edu

Helen K. Liu

Indiana University

This article explores why people are poor and on welfare, according to social service agency directors who administer programs that serve current and former welfare recipients. Based on data from 295 local social service agency directors in Indiana, 75% of respondents believe educational and labor market barriers are important causes of long-term poverty and welfare, 44% believe cultural transmission or learned lifestyles are causes, 23% believe poor attitudes and work ethics as well as laziness or lack of motivation among the poor are causes, and 8% believe government assistance causes dependency among recipients and makes them poor. Evidence suggests that agency directors who believe that poor attitudes and behavior of the poor primarily cause poverty and welfare are more likely to be in organizations that did not ration services since welfare reform or engage in political activities designed to support these changes. In contrast, agency directors who maintain educational and labor market barriers as primary causes of poverty and welfare are more likely to be in organizations that have adopted new programs and developed collaborative strategies with other organizations since welfare reform.

Key Words: poverty attitudes • social services • nonprofit organizations

This version was published on April 1, 2009

Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Vol. 38, No. 2, 307-332 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0899764008316967


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