Nonprofit organizations have become a necessary staple in the lives of people and communities experiencing poverty. Many of these organizations provide services that they think their communities need. The solutions and services these organizations provide are incumbent on what the organizations think causes poverty. Although the motivations behind these organizations have good intentions, their approach to poverty could further jeopardize people and communities by not providing proper or necessary services that have the ability to help people get out of poverty. To explore how organizational values and perspectives on poverty are operationalized, I examined one nonprofit grassroots organization in Tampa Heights, Tampa, Florida. I applied the following four theories of poverty: individual, cultural, political-economic, and geographic to explain how participants discussed poverty in Tampa Heights. Interviews revealed that while many participants subscribed to multiple theories of poverty, each participant held one dominant view. This finding, among others, exposed the complexities of how individuals understand poverty as well as how nonprofit organizations approach these multifaceted issues. Thus, indicating the need for a clearer explanation of how and why people use these theories or combinations of theories to explain both causes and solutions to poverty.

<p>This master’s paper first presents some of the principal theories and concepts developed by the poverty researchers Rowntree, Titmuss, Townsend, Sen and Lister. These theoretical frameworks are then related to two documents from the EU and Sweden concerning combating poverty and social exclusion, bearing on the establishment of the ‘Year 2010 against Poverty’. Finally, I discuss the value in practice of these theories and policy documents, as regards reducing poverty in Europe.</p><p>It has become clear in this investigation that the theories and concepts from earlier research are still relevant to the formulation of contemporary policy programmes, and that earlier research helps us to avoid old traps in fighting poverty. Central terms, perspectives and theories in this thesis are ‘absolute’ and ‘relative’ poverty, inequality of social structures, human rights and wellbeing, the capability for overcoming poverty, the multidimensional nature of poverty, and the need for a future woman-friendly and cosmopolitan citizenship. The two policy documents contain different perspectives; such as rights, gender equality, integration and accessibility perspectives, together with the underlying empowerment perspective. In addition, the multidimensional nature of poverty is strongly emphasised. Policy documents have a limitation to their political and economic frames, and in order to avoid this, researchers should have a more active involvement in policy formulation, basically as in the case of official inquiries. Goal-oriented cooperation between policy, research and poor people themselves is crucial to achieving the reduction of poverty in Europe.</p>

This master’s paper first presents some of the principal theories and concepts developed by the poverty researchers Rowntree, Titmuss, Townsend, Sen and Lister. These theoretical frameworks are then related to two documents from the EU and Sweden concerning combating poverty and social exclusion, bearing on the establishment of the ‘Year 2010 against Poverty’. Finally, I discuss the value in practice of these theories and policy documents, as regards reducing poverty in Europe. It has become clear in this investigation that the theories and concepts from earlier research are still relevant to the formulation of contemporary policy programmes, and that earlier research helps us to avoid old traps in fighting poverty. Central terms, perspectives and theories in this thesis are ‘absolute’ and ‘relative’ poverty, inequality of social structures, human rights and wellbeing, the capability for overcoming poverty, the multidimensional nature of poverty, and the need for a future woman-friendly and cosmopolitan citizenship. The two policy documents contain different perspectives; such as rights, gender equality, integration and accessibility perspectives, together with the underlying empowerment perspective. In addition, the multidimensional nature of poverty is strongly emphasised. Policy documents have a limitation to their political and economic frames, and in order to avoid this, researchers should have a more active involvement in policy formulation, basically as in the case of official inquiries. Goal-oriented cooperation between policy, research and poor people themselves is crucial to achieving the reduction of poverty in Europe.