Dorota Lepianka

Popular explanations of poverty: A critical discussion of empirical research

Various authors point to the connection between public perceptions of poverty and institutionalised strategies of dealing with the poor. The way the general public perceives the poor, and especially the causes of poverty, is generally assumed to have a profound influence on the legitimacy of anti-poverty policies. Yet studies on popular perceptions of and attributions for poverty are relatively infrequent. Moreover, a considerable share of existing research appears conceptually and/or methodologically inadequate. This article provides a critical review of existing literature that is interwoven into the discussion of the two most common approaches to studying lay poverty attributions: the factor analytical approach and the forced-choice-question approach. With respect to the latter, we present an empirical analysis and interpretation of the four response categories that constitute the core of the forced-choice question included in Eurobarometer.

Popular explanations of poverty in Europe : Effects of contextual and individual characteristics across 28 European countries

In this contribution we describe and explain the differences in popular poverty attributions that exist within and between 28 European countries. On the basis of the existing literature we distinguish five predictors: awareness of the existence of poverty, personal experience of disadvantage, personal values, socio-demographic background and structural and cultural country-level characteristics. Using data from the European Values Survey (EVS) 1999/2000, we assess for most of these predictors the extent to which they relate directly to people’s partial ranking of popular poverty attributions. The results of rank-ordered logistic regression models show that differences in popular poverty explanations relate directly to whether one lives in a country with a Catholic tradition and a high level of poverty, their (subjective) experience of disadvantage and personal values. Furthermore, we find that the size of the various associations depends on people’s particular choices of poverty explanations.

How similar, how different? On Dutch media depictions of older and younger people

ABSTRACT By providing information on society at large, the media help to establish and maintain relations between various social groups, such as between younger and older people. They may also disturb the formation or maintenance of such relations, e.g. by stimulating the ‘othering’ of the out-group members. The aim of the present study was to trace how the different strategies of ‘othering’ are applied by Dutch news media in their portrayal of older and younger citizens. The analysis showed that the most notable discrepancies in the media coverage of the two age groups appear in (the nature of) their evaluation. While the negative descriptors of older characters relate more frequently to their (alleged) incompetence, the negative depictions of younger actors refer predominantly to their lack of benevolence. In the case of positive evaluations the reverse is true: older characters are more often presented as warm and younger people as competent. The results of the study are interpreted in the light of literature on social distance and (social) practices of ‘othering’.

Images of poverty in a selection of the Polish daily press

The social construction of poverty constitutes an important aspect of a country’s welfare culture. Still amidst studies on poverty measurement, dynamics, causes and consequences, enquiry into the social or cultural (re-)presentations of poverty remains relatively infrequent, especially in Continental Europe. The current study addresses the issue of social/cultural representations of poverty by investigating the media portrayal of poverty in Poland. Qualitative analysis of three dailies published in three research periods (2005–2007–2010) revealed marginalization of poverty in press reports. In the course of investigation, five dominant frames, each conveying a specific image of the poor and featuring them in a particular (social) role, were identified. The two primary frames were the injustice frame and the solidarity frame; the two secondary normality frames were the heroic and anti-heroic frames; the fifth – the instrumental frame proved rather marginal. The (social policy) implications of the media portrayal of the poor are discussed. Parallels between the poverty frames uncovered in Polish media and those revealed in other countries are sketched.

The Representation of Youth in the Dutch News Media

Research in social psychology shows that looking into the nuances in stereotyping is of vital importance due to unique emotional and behavioural reactions the different clusters of stereotypical representations may evoke. Media analysts, however, rarely apply a framework that would allow a systematic deconstruction of stereotypes conveyed in the media productions. In the current study, the Dutch news media representation of native and non-native youth is analyzed and compared. The results show considerable differences in news media portrayal of the two groups not only in the amount of (negative) attention they attract but, especially, in the content of their descriptions. While native youth is more frequently evaluated with reference to competence, non-native youth is more readily evaluated with respect to benevolence. The results of the study and the social consequences of Dutch news media representations of younger citizens are interpreted in the light of literature on social distance and (social) practices of ‘othering’.