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especially successful in defining underclass as behavioural deficiencies.37 After the
terms revival in media scholarly work made extensive use of it as well. Howevet>
no one could agree to one definition, so the usage and definition of the term
varied greatly. The variety can be divided into three different categories; persist'
ence-based, behaviour-based and location-based. The persistence-based categorf
measures long term poverty and intergenerational poverty. The longer the term
of poverty targeted, the smaller the group gets. This category is dominated by
the elderly and disabled. In behaviour-based research non-normative behaviour
is measured such as crime, welfare dependency, teenage pregnancy and jobleSS'
ness. If behaviour-based research is not combined with other variables it becomes
inclusive to other socio-economic groups. Therefore behaviour-based research is
combined with location-based research. Location-based research concentrates ofl
certain neighbourhoods, usually multi-ethnic ones. These neighbourhoods are cat-
egorized as either; “bad” meaning non-normative behaviour, or “poor” meaniog
high levels of poverty. The results of this is that the term underclass has become
increasingly more racialized, concentrating on black and minority ethnic neigh'
bourhoods.38 It also means a renewal of the categories of; deserving poor and uO'
derserving poor. One example of this is the sociologist William Julius Wilson vho
at first defined the underclass as a .class of people that scored under the federh
poverty line. Later in his work he became more specific, defining the underclass ss
a subsection of the black community who has a large proportion of single mothe^
and street corners males (criminals), with this the term is gendered and racialized-
One political scientist who was especially influential in introducing the wor
underclass to the UK is Charles Murray. He has been propagating a largely be'
havioural understanding.40 Charles Murray is also one of the authors of the highty
controversial 1994 book The Bell Curve Intelligence and Class Structure in A.merican Tifi-
In the book it is argued that low intelligence and low IQ is a stronger precursU
to poverty than social economic background. In several places it is argued that iQ
is largely hereditary and genetic, and that white people have higher IQ than blac
people. Almost all social ills or deviances are explained as a consequence of 1°"
IQ, thus poverty levitation becomes less important, because everything from loog
term unemployment, to illegitimate children, failed marriages and bad parentmg
are seen as results of low IQ. The authors contribute the three later factors to die
low IQ of mothers, essentiafly meaning that a bad home means a stupid motlief'
The underclass is conceptualized through these unwanted behaviours and low c°g
nitive ability.41 It is also argued in the book that high rates of unwanted behavioufí’
37 Robert Aponte, “Deíinitions of the Underclass”, p. 120-124.
38 Ronald B. Mincy, “The Underclass: Definidon and Measurement”, p. 450-452.
39 Robert Aponte, “Definidons of the Underclass”, p. 122-130.
40 Moritz Sommer, “The Rioter’ as ‘Pleb’”, p. 27-28.
41 Richard J. Herrnstein and Charles Murray, Tbe Bell Curve (Free Press 1996),
p. 127 138-142,156,166, 203, 221, 267.
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