Underclass is a term similar to Karl Marx's concept of Lumpenproletariat. Underclass is a group that is not in a regular economic or social relationship with the rest of the community. Underclass refers to the chronically unemployed, those who live on the proceeds of petty crime, panhandlers, or bag ladies.
American sociologists use this term since a large underclass is thought to pose a threat to the stability of society because they are not adequately connected to the institutional and cultural regulation that is experienced by most social members. The segment of the population occupying the lowest position in a class hierarchy, below the working class is considered underclass, lumpenproletariat, for example. The term underclass became popular during the latter half of the 20th century in the writings of social scientists, and American journalists.
Myths about Race and the
Underclass - Concentrated Poverty and "Underclass" Behaviors -
Yvette Alex-Assensoh, Indiana University-Bloomington.
Urban Affairs Review, Vol. 31, No. 1, 3-19 (1995).
The prevalent view held by both academics and policy makers is that underclass behaviors
are predominantly characteristic of African-American communities.
Concern about such behaviors has
expanded partly because the underclass phenomenon has diffused down the urban hierarchy to
small- and medium-sized cities. This article demonstrates that in two areas of
concentrated poverty in Columbus, Ohio, so-called underclass behaviors are not associated
with race.
Hispanic Women in Texas:
An Increasing Portion of the Underclass
Juanita M. Firestone, Richard J. Harris, University of Texas at San Antonio
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 16, No. 2, 176-185 (1994)
This research analyzes data from the 1980 and 1990 Current Population Survey files and
attempts to determine whether human capital or cultural explanations provide a viable framework for
understanding the experience of Hispanic women in Texas.
Latinos, Poverty, and the
Underclass: A New Agenda for Research
Douglas S. Massey, University of Chicago.
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 15, No. 4 (1993) SAGE Publications.
In the 1980s scholars interested in Hispanic issues sought to advance research by ensuring
that Latinos were included in the debate on the urban underclass. It is argued that Blacks
and Latinos differ in such fundamental ways that the underclass model, which was developed
primarily to describe the situation of inner-city Blacks, cannot legitimately be employed
to understand the social problems and economic problems of contemporary Hispanic groups in the
United States.
Thinking about the `Underclass': Towards a Political Economy of
Policing
CHRIS CROWTHER, Sheffield Hallam University, UK,
Theoretical Criminology, Vol. 4, No. 2, 149-167 (2000).
This article critically examines the relevance of behavioural and structural
versions of the 'underclass' and argues that this distinction should be deepened
in order to understand the policing of this population. The jobs that are created by the resultant changes in the labour market are
not likely to be filled by the underclass who will be doubly disadvantaged by the
subordination of social policy to economic policy and crimefighting. Also, as a
consequence of neo-liberal-led reforms of the police service the organization no longer
has the resources and government support to control and manage the 'underclass'.
The ‘chav’ phenomenon: Consumption, media and the construction of a new
underclass - Keith Hayward, University of Kent, UK, Majid Yar, University of Kent, UK,
Crime, Media, Culture, Vol. 2, No. 1, 9-28 (2006).
This article argues that the decline of the ‘underclass’ discourse in the UK,
and the rise of the ‘chav’, are not unconnected. We contend that there are
numerous homologies between the meaning content, objects and tenor of these two
terms, and suggest that the ‘chav’ represents a popular reconfiguration of the
underclass idea.
The Family and the Urban Underclass - An Integrative Framework
ROBERT F. KELLY, Wayne State University - Journal of Family Issues, Vol. 6, No. 2,
159-184 (1985).
The major innovation of the concept of an underclass is that it treats dependent
welfare women and poor urban male criminals as a single social group. This synthesis is best
exemplified by the National Supported Work Demonstration. A major limitation of the
synthesis is that it lacks a clear articulation of the influence of the family in
underclass behavior. A theoretical framework is presented here that integrates family
theory with the synthesized economic theory of the underclass. The integrated framework is
used to examine the impact of current and proposed child support enforcement practices on
the underclass.
Urban Industrial Transition and the Underclass
JOHN D. KASARDA, Department of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill
The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 501, No. 1, 26-47
(1989).
Underclass blacks, with exceptionally
high rates of school dropout, are especially handicapped. Within underclass neighborhoods,
few households have private vehicles, which are shown to be increasingly necessary for
employment in dispersing metropolitan economies. Reasons for the success of recent Asian
immigrants in transforming cities are considered, and policies are suggested to rekindle social mobility in the black underclass.
Puerto Ricans and the Underclass Debate -
MARTA TIENDA, University of Chicago - The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 501, No. 1,
105-119 (1989).
This article uses data from the Current Population Surveys of 1975, 1980, and 1985 and the
1980 census of population to investigate why the economic status of Puerto Ricans has
declined more than that of Mexicans and Cubans.
Employment Histories and the Concept of the Underclass -
Lydia Morris, Sarah Irwin -
Sociology, Vol. 26, No. 3, 401-420 (1992).
By comparing the work histories
and characterising features of these three groupings the paper sets out to explore the
theoretical and empirical validity of the notion of the underclass, focusing specifically
on two competing definitions: nonparticipation in the labour market, and systematic
disadvantage in the labour market. Those affected are thus located between the two contrasting
positions of long-term unemployment, and relatively secure employment. The existence of
such a grouping is argued to undermine a definition of an underclass purely in terms of
unemployment.
About and Beyond the 'Underclass': Some Notes on Influences of Social Climate on
British Sociology Today - John Westergaard - Sociology, Vol. 26, No. 4,
575-587 (1992).
The concern of this article is with the influence of fashion and social climate on social
speculation. The `underclass' notion is a nice example of fashion.
Polarisation, Underclass and the Welfare State - Bill Jordan, Exeter
University - Marcus Redley, University of Surrey -
Work, Employment & Society, Vol. 8, No. 2, 153-176 (1994).
The authors argue that too little scholarly attention has been given to the divergence
between better-off and poor people's practices over work and welfare. This dimension of
polarization - the way higher-income couples orientate towards property, occupational and
private welfare, and low-income couples towards means-tested benefits, in their employment
decisions - has important implications, both for the underclass debate and for the future
of the welfare state.
Urban housing and the role of 'underclass' processes: the case of Ireland
Brian Nolan, Christopher T. Whelan, The Economic and Social Research Institute,
Dublin -
Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 10, No. 1, 5-21 (2000).
The potentially most fruitful set of
hypotheses focuses on the unintended consequences of social change. A combination of weak
labour force attachment and social isolation is perceived to lead to
behavior and
orientations that contribute to a vicious circle of deprivation. In examining the value of
this conceptual framework in the Irish case we proceed by measuring directly the
social-psychological factors which are hypothesized to mediate the 'underclass' process. Controlling for the critical social-psychological factors we found that net effect was
reduced by less than a quarter and concluded that the remaining effect is more plausibly
attributed to the role of selection than to underclass processes.
The creation of a new underclass in China and its implications
Dorothy J Solinger, Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University; School of
Social Sciences, University of California,
Environment and Urbanization, Vol. 18, No.1 (2006) Environment and Urbanization.
The emergence of a new urban underclass in China is a major challenge confronting the
Communist Party, and its potential for fomenting instability has unnerved the Party.
The Underclass, 'Social Isolation' and 'Concentration Effects'
The culture of poverty revisited - Andrew
H. Maxwell, Department of Anthropology, Montclair State College
Critique of Anthropology, Vol. 13, No. 3, 231-245 (1993)
It is said that these concepts refer to the community-level effects of economic
restructuring in the United States. For this reason it is argued that such concepts differ
from Oscar Lewis's culture of poverty
thesis; they do not imply a self-perpetuating,
autonomous cultural entity. In attempting to clarify this aspect of the discussion I will
examine the conceptual foundations of Wilson's view of 'the underclass'.