Teorija kulture siromaštva Oscara Lewisa na primjeru umirovljeničke populacije u Hrvatskoj

The paper takes Oscar Lewis' theory of culture of poverty as a starting point, which states that certain attitudes and characteristics of poverty are "learned", that is, passed from generation to generation. The qualitative method examined the attitudes of two groups often perceived as poor - pensioners and students. Pensioners talk about self-perception within society and express their own views on (unfavorable) economic conditions in Croatia. Students were selected to compare views on the same topics. Certain characteristics such as feelings of helplessness, lack of trust in the system and institutions and going abroad as a solution to the problem of unemployment in the Republic of Croatia appear as topics of conversation in both generations of respondents, who have similar attitudes. These topics can be linked to some of the categories that Lewis cites in defining a culture of poverty, but only in traces. It is not possible to speak of poverty in Croatia as a separate culture, as perceived by the author.