Poverty in the first person: undestanding the phenomenon in the city of Beja in Portugal

Abstract

This article is based on an investigation that seeks to explore the subjective and existential dimension of poverty, seeking to know how it is experienced in the first person. This is a qualitative study, inductive type. The instruments used were the semi-directive interviews to inquiring caseworkers from institutions of the city of Beja, also being built in-depth interviews to understand the experiences, speeches and life trajectories of people in situations of poverty. It was concluded that the daily lives of poor people, is highly influenced by the experience of poverty. In order to experience poverty, the role of family protection reflects a causal link between the level of family cohesion and the provision of emotional and material support. Thus, the incidence, intensity and durability are important indicators in the form of experiencing poverty. This can lead to the experience of this social phenomenon becomes a way of life, where the acceptance and resignation make “being poor” as a fact gradually assimilated by those who live. Conversely people who live this situation more recently tend to not take it as identity element, for fear of social stigma, because that pushes the demand for out of poverty.