"Social work students' perceptions on the causes of poverty in Jordan"

Abstract

The aim of the study was to explore the perceptions of social work students in Jordan with regard to the causes of poverty. The study was carried out of (98) students of 3d and 4th grade from social work students at Jordan University. The participant respondents had chosen from the students who had taken the courses of social problems, social work theory, and poverty. The triangulation methods of quantitative (questionnaire) and qualitative (focus group) were used as best methods of data collection for the current study. The main questions were: how social work students define poverty? How they view the causes of poverty? The main findings of the study revealed that poverty is related to the structural, individualistic and fatalistic theoretical understandings of poverty. The findings from the current study demonstrated the need for further researches, in the field of social work and its role in reducing poverty. This study also concurs with the findings from other research which provided several explanations of poverty causations. As the current study suggests, there is a need to improve the efforts of social workers form mezzo to policy level.