Once heralded as "the land of opportunity," America has become, for increasing numbers of her inhabitants, a nation of disappointment and hardship. In a land characterized by innumerable economic, environmental and social problems, poverty is escalating to the point where approximately one-third of the population is composed of the poor and the near poor. Persistent Poverty provides a comprehensive and critical analysis of one of America's most disturbing social problems.In a clear, uncompromising style, Richard H. Ropers, Ph.D., a noted authority on the plight of the poverty-stricken, unravels a skein of government inconsistencies in handling the mounting effects of poverty, homelessness, the welfare system, and the gradual polarization of our class system, resulting in the gradual erosion of the middle class. After examining various "blame-the-victim" and "blame the system" theories of inequality, Dr. Ropers asserts that such poverty results primarily from long-term economic, social, and political policies and is not necessarily derived from the supposed deviant behavior of the poor.With a staggering 70 million Americans living just above or below the poverty line, the author advises that urgent attention be paid to the structural roots of poverty in light of significant increases in the rate of crime, juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, domestic violence, and unemployment. As an objective focus on the enormous scope of poverty, this groundbreaking work offers keen insights into the argument that despite substantial efforts to alleviate similar plights worldwide, the United States cannot provide sufficient care for her own impoverished citizens.Sociologists, educators, politicians, urbanologists, public officials, and concerned citizens will all benefit from this provocative and thoughtful appraisal.