Sweating It Out

Sweating it Out explores poverty in the United States through the viewpoints and arguments of academic and political 'experts,' low-income adults from Louisiana, and the Bible and Christian theologians. Each group presents their theories on poverty, the groups affected by poverty, and how the problem of poverty should be addressed. In detailed chapters, Michael Landon presents each group's opinion on the causes of poverty, which include stress or mental illness, personal irresponsibility, social injustice, and family upbringing, among others. Sweating it Out is not only an investigation of poverty in America, but a resource for people of faith, academics, politicians, social workers, and low-income Americans on how to combat poverty.

Part 1 Introduction Part 2 Section I: What the Experts Say Causes Poverty Chapter 3 1. The Culture of Poverty Chapter 4 2. Economic Ethos Chapter 5 3. Personal Irresponsibility Chapter 6 4. Dependency Theory Chapter 7 5. U.S. Adaptations of Culture of Poverty Chapter 8 6. U.S. Structural Problems Chapter 9 7. Stress Model Chapter 10 8. Summary of Experts' Explanations Part 11 Section II: What Low Income Adults Say Causes Poverty Chapter 12 9. The Context of Hammond, LA Chapter 13 10. Bob and Carla's Story Chapter 14 11. Don's Story Chapter 15 12. Evelyn's Story Chapter 16 13. Mary's Story Chapter 17 14. Olivia's Story Chapter 18 15. Conclusions about Informants' Explanations for Poverty Part 19 Section III: Biblical & Theological Reflections on Poverty Chapter 20 16. Biblical Definitions and Presuppositions about Poverty Chapter 21 17. The Old Testament on Poverty Chapter 22 18. The New Testament on Poverty Chapter 23 19. Christian Reflections on Poverty Part 24 Section IV: Implications & Suggestions for Action Chapter 25 20. Implications for Christians Chapter 26 21. Suggestions for Christian Action Part 27 Author's Biographical Sketch Part 28 Index